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A sharp drop in the Malta-based OKEx’s trading volume and stablecoin reserves – tether (USDT) in particular – may reveal an ongoing exodus of users after the popular derivatives exchange unexpectedly halted all crypto withdrawal activities.

26, and data from the analytics service CryptoQuant show that the amount of tether held in OKEx wallets dropped by 98% in less than a week to 6.69 million on Dec.

OKEx has a large user base in China, and tether, the world’s largest dollar-backed token, with total assets of $19.35 billion, is one of the most popular stablecoins used by Chinese traders.

The volume of tether traded on OKEx plunged 70%.

The sudden and significant decline in tether in reserves on OKEx could indicate that users are transferring their stablecoins elsewhere – possibly to a different exchange or to their private cold wallets, according to analysts and traders who spoke with CoinDesk.