Banned Crypto Exchange, Golix, Fails To Give Customers Cryptos, Fiat

It must be hard being a Golix customer right now. On the 29th of May, Golix promised customers they would start processing their withdrawals the following week.

Tomorrow it will be exactly 3 weeks since that promise was made but unfortunately nothing resembling a fiat withdrawal is yet to be processed.

Rubbing salt on the wounds…

It’s bad enough that customers can’t get their money back, but now it seems they can’t even move their cryptos out of Golix’s exchange to wallets off the exchange. That compounds the issue.

We wrote an article advising people not to keep their cryptos on exchanges but I’m sure anyone who is reading this and has their crypto stuck wouldn’t want to hear ‘I told you so.’ So less of that and more of trying to understand why Golix customers can’t move their cryptos.

About 10 days ago, in our communications with Golix they had stated that they are facing challenges with connecting their cold wallet but they said they would solve it within a day at the time. They are still facing technical challenges and said they will solve this issue today..

What’s the way forward?

I’m not sure how exactly the ban affects the exchange itself. For those who are trying to move their cryptos this is a bit worrying. The problem with silence is that it leaves us with too many unanswered questions. I certainly hope I’m wrong but there are a few red flags that are worrying, to me at least.

Going ahead with the ICO…

When Golix announced they would be going ahead with their ICO and launching in two other countries, I couldn’t help but feel something was amiss. They may have been planning to go into these territories anyway but continuing with the ICO whilst the issue with the RBZ was unresolved seemed a bit reckless.

What happened to the withdrawals?

As earlier indicated, Golix had promised that they would start processing withdrawals. We have to assume that this was on the 8th of June, customers were notified that there were challenges:

Over the past weeks fiat withdrawals have been put on hold due to ongoing engagements with our banks. This has seriously stifled our transaction flaw and hence we note with concern the urgency, as we have always provided timely withdrawals, you have to access your money.

At this point we will like, to repeatedly and publicly make it known that we haven’t given up on the engagement to reopen our bank accounts and facilitate all your fiat payments.

Nevertheless, please note that in the same feat, we are in the middle of promising engagements with a financial institution which is willing to process our fiat withdrawals through a prepaid debit card.

We therefore kindly ask you to conduct this small survey here to ensure that we carry on with the withdrawals as soon as possible.

NB: Note that if the engagements are successful, you can chose or decline to receive your fiat through the prepaid debit card.

Golix Customer Support Team

Customers were asked to complete a survey confirming whether or not they would be willing to open a prepaid debit card to receive their fiat and which percentage of their fiat they would want to be in this card.

It’s not exactly clear how this card would work… Probably it will be able to purchase locally and ensure that people are using their money. We will keep engaging Golix to understand what’s going on.

28 comments

  1. Ngoni Chihombori

    I am very worried. This seems like Golix is running a ponzi scheme. I wonder how such a young company can afford to rent 2 plush offices (Batanai Gardens and Joina City), why they need a staff complement of 22 and how they are even affording to pay all these salaries and rent is worrisome. Their figures aren’t that impressive anyways. This is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Whoever invests in that ICO is going to be robbed to pay their multitudes of already existing debts from crypto and fiat which they are scamming unsuspecting clients. This is the very reason RBZ needs to shut this thing. Throw Kembo and his co-fraudstars in jail till they answer where they put our funds. I am disappointed extremely as I type this. Anyways, I wonder why they need to raise 32 million for. Beware investors!!!! this is a huge red flag

    1. Looking like Exit Scam

      I wondered the same thing, thier staff compliment is very large for a digital company. You don’t need so many people to run an exchange. Given the volumes the trade i wonder what the income vs cost ratio looks like. The excuse of cold wallet storage is so lame and doesn’t take a seasoned computer engineer/programmer time to sort it out let alone the soccer team Golix has. They should be very careful as once people start approaching RBZ with complaints they will look real bad and fraudulent. Golix communication is your best weapon, keep your customers informed on your challenges rather than being evasive and having people speculate.

      1. Imi Vanhu Musadaro

        Lol! Now you suggest involving the RBZ but when they warned you about BitCoin you called them dinosaurs and old school and proceeded to trade anyway. The RBZ is not involved this my guy.

    2. Munhumutapa XXII

      This whole thing is based on blockchain tech. Its written all over that blockchain is not yet a mature technology. Why put money in an immature territory ? Maturity ensures security, transparency, regulation and it becomes a basis for further and/ new innovations.

  2. concerned customer

    I am a Golix customer and i have unsuccessfully tried to withdraw my $1000 fiat for about a month due to this crisis of theirs. I would like to know the results of the survey as i took part in it and i answered that i dont mind receiving my money on the prepaid debit card as long as i can access MY money. Going quiet on customers during a crisis is the worst form of crisis management. We demand answers

    1. Concerned

      In the same situation. They’re no longer replying to emails and whatsapp

  3. Lester

    its one thing to have legal issues with RBZ, and an ongoing court case… but to go quite like this? maybe their customers need to sue Golix, to make something happen.

    1. MacdChip

      Why would you they want to go the regular route which one sh away when investing in such risky and lawless currency?

      1. Lester

        but at the expense of their current customer base?

        this is how bad reputations are formed. worse than that, it sets the bar for any other crypto exchange. if i had money stuck and weren’t getting answers, i’d be on the phone with my lawyer already.

  4. MacdChip

    They are doing crypto communication, you people just do not know how to speak to them in their own lingo!!

    Deregulation is central to crypto currencies, so those who lost or are about to loose money l say suck it up and shut up. Thats what you get when you invest in lawless currency.

  5. Kembo is a thief

    kembo is a thief, thats all i can say, get that boy jailed someone!

    1. MacdChip

      Crypto currency is cryptic risk!! Whoever invested in the currency have no one to blame. You play with fire, you get burnt

  6. Imi Vanhu Musadaro

    Golix is probably having issues accessing their bank accounts hence they cannot pay customers. Can TZ reach out to Golix for an official statement. Disclaimer: I do not have any money in Golix neither am I affiliated to it in any way.

    1. MacdChip

      I just so not understand how they linked a system which hates banks and regulation with banking system. Crypto currency were born out of the hate brought by banking regulations

    2. Charles Muzonzini

      That doesn’t stop them from refunding customers in crypto. Looks very suspicious. They even kept accepting bitcoin deposits even after RBZ issued the ban and they knew they can’t process withdrawals. There is nothing but red flags, I’m very disappointed in Golix. I’m glad I took my money out while it was still possible.

  7. Afrocrypto

    Funny how Golix is busy trying to engage Coinbase owner Brian Armstrong on twitter saying they have a similar vision?! Does Coinbase ignore their customers? Please deal with us locals first

  8. Candy

    I was just caught unaware having experimented with my little investment on Ethereum despite being a risky move. My 500 (RTGS) is still locked up. Tried to pay a freelancer outside for an IT job but Golix didnt processed the withdrawal for no reason. I lost my 500 plus the current value of Ethereum has dropped. Dont play with money

  9. Wallace

    My Golix account was once hacked and the hacker sold my coins at a huge discount and tried to withdraw. Golix stopped the withdrawal and also compensated difference between my initial selling price and amount hacker sold my coins. This incidence showed me that Golix Is legit. Possibly they have not yet issued an official statement because case is not yet finalised and they are uncertain. Personally, I believe they will come through.

  10. Haha

    Alas I had hope for them but they doing a runner..I mean seriously who has a VP of things… He does not even have a job list… When I called techzim for being biased… Now where are they… These guys knew what they were doing. They cutting their losses now and as I said before there’s more way they going to succeed outside zim without the premium… The so called zim business. When the going gets tough in Zimbabwe companies close and individuals rape customers and debtors

    1. CEO of Things

      You are right, golix was never really profitable, they only gained from the massive Zimdollar/bond note US dollar premium rate. They will not make it outside the borders. Also generally bitcoin exchanges are not profitable unless you are running a fully fledged trading exchange with lots of altcoins. Look at Bitfinex they have listed over 20 new altcoins in the past 6 months. Golix will never succed with just bitcoin, litecoin, and their GLX token. I guess that is why they are now trying to morph the business into a money transfer business but thats another animal altogether with stricter regulatory bodies to deal with. The party was fun whilst it lasted. Hanzi VP of things!! Lol, in other words they actually don’t know what they are doing and trying to make it sound cool. Good luck to them!

  11. Tinashe

    Guys you need to be extra cautious with your money. There is no free lunch in this world. There are reasons why banking regulations the world over are very tight – to protect you and me. Unfortunately many of us want to operate within the phantom structures – with the obvious risk of getting injured along the way. How many remember the MMM fiasco. Are we not going down the same road like we did before. We need to be wiser.

  12. Feel cheated

    Golix is bankrupt.

    When they got hacked they lost alot of crypto for their customers. Anyway the numbers on the order books were not changed. Customers still observe the numbers yet there is nothing truly there.

    To state they were really hacked now is been excessively kind. It is conceivable that Tawanda Kembo basically transfered the crypto to his own wallet. We have seen this previously. Digital currency C. E.O defrauds his own organization. It’s easy to get greedy in the unregulated wild west.

    Anyway, so regardless of whether their bank was to allow Golix access to their financial balances, Golix would not have the capacity to pay everybody.

    The tokensale is really a way to raise money to pay off their debts. Educated financial specialists definitely know this is the case. The Golix token sale will be an epic disappointment.

    I am well educated that Golix workers have not been paid their salaries for as far back as three months and a portion of the staff have left.

    By August 2018, Golix will likely file for bankruptcy. The GLX token will be an epic disappointment and judging by the RBZ counter-argument, they won’t have any fortunes in the courts.

    I am a displeased client of Golix who has been endeavoring to get back my money from the organization. I have been recounted stories and on events offered to change swap my real money for GLX tokens.

    Its sad that it has resulted in these present circumstances and as a previous steadfast client who in fact profited trading on Golix need to expose them in such a public way.

    1. Worried

      William chui personally responded to comments on techzim…. Even if their bank accounts are closed why don’t they return the coins…. Bitcoin is independent but they were really a money transfer agency using RTGS premiums… As said before there’s no way they going to make it outside zim….techzim once outted a company abiding donor funds…. Let’s make and shame these guys so we restore bitcoin… And why are you running to the rbz they have washed their hands of this… But all you guys were part of the social marketing to raise your chin price… You had no faith in it yourselves… Just like how hoard cooking oil.lol

    2. Ernie Madoff

      @Feel cheated, i also made similar observations.

      Their orderbook had/has asks/bids that don’t seem to be real dollars or bitcoin but just populated with large orders sitting there to create an impression of depth/liquidity.

      Unlike the Chinese exchanges (Okcoin/Huobi and BTCC who practiced wash trading Golix just stuffed random figures on the orderbook.

      They didn’t expect the party to end so soon, looking at their massive headcount and a quick calculation of fees earned from trades you notice they were in major deficit just to pay salaries let alone rent and other operating expenses. Them using the GLX as a way of paying old debts is a classic ponzi model.

      I can understand the excuse of their bank accounts frozen so unable to pay out dollars, what about bitcoin? That should be settled in less than 15 mins to customers. 3 weeks and no payment is an indication that they waiting on money from GLX but seems thats not going too well. Their social media campaign in now borderline spam across all platforms that I have since blocked and unfollowed them.

  13. Kilotango

    now that Golix have pulled a runner with people’s money, people are now cussing Golix?

    when RBZ put out their notice to close Golix, everyone said all sorts of things about RBZ and how stupid they are for trying to thwart innovation and a young business in the crypto field.

    seriously though, i would like to hear Tinashe Nyahasha’s current thoughts, as he wrote some serious stories about this to defend Golix and crypto’s in Zim when the ban become public.

    If crypto is ever going to be a real thing in Zim, these are the precise moments when constructive/objective conversations and plans need to happen, to secure people’s investments. yes, crypto is a gamble…. but for a whole exchange to disappear without any trace like this, really is just white collared theft

    1. MacdChip

      I do not dispute on the crypto being a gumble, its a huge gumble just by looking at how volatile the whole thing is.

      But l also do not agree on banning crypto currencies in Zim. RBZ should just warn banks to stay away from crypto if they are not happy.

      If Golix was then handling real bollars and usd through whatever means, then they have to observe central bank rules

  14. Nashy

    guyz i dont thing we have to blame golix because its only a matter thier accounts is frozen i think we must be patient with them

  15. Donyo

    But they must update us regardless. This thing of ignoring enquiries is not good for their reputation. They must assure us so that we do not panic.

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