A group of BitMart customers with frozen funds has organized to push for the return of their money. The group, assembled by the investment firm Echo Base, says it offered up to $10 million to help rescue the exchange but received no response. The creditors have now formed a formal committee to explore legal and bankruptcy options.

Why BitMart creditors formed a claimholder committee

Echo Base said on September 2, 2026 that it had organized an ad hoc committee of BitMart claimholders, according to its published statement. A "claimholder committee," also known as an "ad hoc committee," is an organized group of people owed money who join forces to negotiate collectively. The logic is straightforward: a single customer has little leverage against a large exchange, while a group representing many customers has considerably more. Ad hoc creditor groups have become a recurring feature of crypto insolvencies, having played prominent roles in past exchange collapse cases such as Celsius and FTX, where they influenced the direction and pace of bankruptcy proceedings.

Echo Base said the committee represents a significant and growing aggregate balance of frozen customer assets. That figure comes solely from Echo Base; no public asset total or creditor count has been disclosed.

To pursue recovery, the committee has retained two law firms, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP and Ashbury Legal PC. Echo Base said the group is evaluating legal, regulatory, and insolvency remedies. The situation stems from BitMart's decision to wind down its operations, after it previously told U.S. users to withdraw crypto before compliance checks. Wind-downs of this kind sit in an uncomfortable middle ground: they are not necessarily insolvencies, yet customers whose withdrawals stall face many of the same risks as creditors in a formal bankruptcy, which is why insolvency remedies are on the table even before any case is filed.

How the $10 million rescue offer turned into a creditor fight

The dispute follows a clear timeline. Echo Base said it submitted a written proposal to BitMart management on August 6, 2026, offering to commit up to $10 million to sponsor a pre-negotiated bankruptcy filing, per the named statement. A pre-negotiated bankruptcy means the key terms of a restructuring are agreed before the case is filed in court. For creditors, that can mean a faster, more predictable path to partial recovery rather than a long, contentious fight.

Two days later, on August 8, 2026, Echo Base said an affiliate delivered a formal demand. That demand concerned a July 24 withdrawal instruction that had not been executed and documented 15 contact attempts. According to Echo Base, BitMart did not respond to the proposal or the demand; no public BitMart response was found.

BitMart has told a more measured story. The exchange said on August 21, 2026 that it was developing a potential restructuring plan that could include a phased resumption of certain operations alongside distributions to creditors, in an official notice. It said it had appointed law firm White & Case as restructuring counsel and that it would try to provide a further update no later than September 9, 2026. The appointment of major restructuring counsel signals that the exchange is preparing for a formal process, but the notice itself committed to no timeline for distributions, no asset figures, and no claims mechanics.

The pressure traces back to BitMart's July 26, 2026 shutdown notice, which said all spot, futures, and other trading services would stop beginning August 26, 2026 at 01:00 UTC, and that trading platform operations would cease at 15:59 UTC on January 31, 2027.

That is the mismatch at the heart of the story: creditors are moving toward court action, while BitMart's public language remains preliminary and light on hard numbers.

What BitMart users and the BMX market should watch next

The most important missing element is proof. As of September 3, 2026, no public bankruptcy petition, insolvency case number, creditor claims portal, reserve report, or payout estimate had been found. Without those, creditors cannot yet know what they will recover. In past exchange insolvencies, recovery timelines stretched over years and payouts depended heavily on what assets and records were available when the formal process began, so the appearance of these documents would mark the point where expectations can start being anchored to facts.

The next hard date is September 9, 2026, when BitMart said it aimed to publish another update. That is the moment to watch for concrete restructuring details or formal claims instructions.

On the practical side, BitMart previously said withdrawals would remain available after the shutdown, although additional AML, sanctions, and Travel Rule reviews could lengthen processing times. In plain terms, users may still be able to request funds, but the review process can slow things down.

The BMX token tells a smaller story. BitMart's own token traded near $0.0549, up about 5.29% over 24 hours, with a market cap around $18.6 million. Broader sentiment sat at 65 on the Fear and Greed Index, in "Greed" territory. This price data is secondary to the recovery story.

The practical takeaway for regular users is simple: if your assets are stuck on BitMart, watch for the September 9 update and any official claims process, keep records of every withdrawal request, and treat unverified recovery promises with caution.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice. Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets carry significant risk. Always do your own research before making decisions.