Crypto exchange BitMart has appointed Alvarez & Marsal as its financial adviser, meeting the self-imposed Sept. 9 deadline it had set for an update, but the company did not publish the restructuring and business resumption roadmap it said it was developing — a shortfall that leaves users without the detail they have sought since the exchange moved to wind down.

Alvarez & Marsal, a global professional services firm known for restructuring and turnaround management, will work with BitMart's legal advisers to evaluate the exchange's assets, financial position, stakeholder issues and possible paths forward, according to Wednesday's announcement. The review will also consider proposals from unidentified third parties, BitMart said on X. Its scope touches directly on the questions hanging over the platform — what it holds, where it stands financially and which paths forward are on the table — the areas claimholders have pressed for visibility on since July.

BitMart said it will deploy a dedicated web portal within five working days to collect user feedback on its action plan and future direction, giving users a defined avenue to respond ahead of the rolling updates. Further updates on the feedback process and the action plan are expected to follow on a rolling basis over the next three weeks.

Echo Base, which organized an ad hoc committee of BitMart claimholders, called the appointment "the most encouraging step BitMart has taken since July."

"They are restructuring practitioners rather than sale advisors, and in most situations of this type their involvement signals a bankruptcy filing," Roshan Dharia, CEO of Echo Base, told Cointelegraph.

"What arrived was an advisor appointment and two new deadlines, with no reserve position, no asset inventory, no recovery estimate and no withdrawal timetable," he added.

BitMart has faced scrutiny over its financial position and its handling of customer assets since its July 26 wind-down announcement, which followed user reports of withdrawal delays. Neither BitMart nor Alvarez & Marsal responded to Cointelegraph's requests for comment on this story.

Attention now turns to the near-term markers BitMart has set for itself: the web portal due within five working days, rolling updates expected over the following three weeks, and a review weighing third-party proposals. Whether the still-unpublished restructuring and business resumption roadmap is released alongside them remains an open question.

Related: BitMart account demands founder explain funds status, Xia calls claims 'fabricated'