The White Whale, a pseudonymous crypto trader, has started a $2 million social media campaign against the centralized exchange (CEX) MEXC after claiming that over $3 million of their personal assets were frozen. The argument has brought attention to risk controls at exchanges and trader protection, which has led to a lot of discussion in the crypto community.
Fund Freeze and Campaign Information
The trader says that in July 2025, MEXC froze $3.1 million of his funds, even though there were no reports of him breaking the exchange’s terms of service or compliance rules. He says the freeze was caused by outperforming MEXC’s external market makers, which are companies that the exchange quietly partners with to provide trading liquidity. He is facing a proposed one-year review period with no clear updates.
The trader started a viral campaign to get things settled. They asked people to mint a free NFT on Base, tag MEXC leadership with #FreeTheWhiteWhale, and change their profile pictures. If the funds are released, the initiative will give $1 million to the first 20,000 NFT holders and another $1 million to vetted charities. All of this will be verifiable on-chain.
MEXC says that the limits were only put in place to control risk, not to make traders make more money. Representatives from the exchange said that they used advanced KYC and withdrawal reviews for “high-risk accounts or compliance-related concerns” and told regulatory authorities about “potential risks” in July and August.
The Market Maker Controversy
The White Whale says that the only possible reason for the freeze is that he outperformed MEXC’s market makers. This shows that there is still tension between traders and liquidity providers. Market makers are very important for keeping trading orderly. However, new research from Acheron Trading shows that most new crypto launches in early 2024 were affected by price manipulation or parasitic listing practices, which hurt price discovery and the experience of end users.
The White Whale campaign brings up ongoing issues with managing exchange risk and protecting traders’ rights in crypto markets. As the pressure builds, people who want clearer rules and more accountability in digital asset trading will be closely watching the outcome.
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