South Korean media reports that Bitmax, a Bitcoin treasury company, has secretly transferred all 550 Bitcoins it holds to a centralized exchange (CEX).

PANews reported on March 17th that, according to South Korean media outlet Maeil Business Newspaper, Bitmax, a KOSDAQ-listed company in South Korea, transferred all of its more than 550 Bitcoins to cryptocurrency exchanges such as OKX, Bitget, Binance, and Bybit before implementing a 4-to-1 gratuitous capital reduction. On-chain tracking shows that the transfers began on January 15th in batches of 100 or 50 Bitcoins, and were completed by February 5th. Bitmax confirmed that it had transferred the Bitcoins from its original custodian, Koda, to the aforementioned exchanges, but stated that it still holds all of the Bitcoins and declined to disclose the reason for the transfer. Currently, its official website still displays proof of balance based on Koda custody.

In March of last year, Bitmax announced its Bitcoin Treasury strategy, allowing investors to indirectly gain Bitcoin exposure by purchasing its shares. If it has sold the Bitcoin it transferred, it means the company has liquidated its previously advertised Bitcoin holdings without any prior announcement. Bitmax completed a 4-to-1 gratuitous capital reduction on March 9th to improve its financial structure. Since current regulations do not mandate disclosure, Bitmax is not required to report its Bitcoin sales to the Financial Supervisory Service of Korea.