Gate.io Selectively Blocked Large Token Access in Extreme Price Spike

Public Record – Severe Market Integrity and Selective Access Incident On 21 November 2025, during a period of extreme market volatility (approximately 500–600% price movement), I experienced a prolonged, selective, and balance-size-dependent restriction on my assets on Gate.io. For approximately eight hours, my primary Simple Earn (staking) balance was completely inaccessible and could not be redeemed, despite repeated attempts and continuous contact with support. Critically, during the same time window: - Small test redemptions using the same account and the same crypto-asset were executed instantly, while access to the main balance remained fully blocked. This confirms that the platform was operational and that there was no system-wide outage, congestion, or general technical failure. What occurred was a selective access restriction based on balance size, coinciding precisely with the most volatile market window. Access to the main balance was restored only after volatility had subsided and prices had materially reversed, preventing any meaningful ability to exit, rebalance, or protect the position. Throughout the incident, Gate.io support relied on generic, copy-paste responses such as “high traffic” and “system delay,” while disregarding clear, timestamped evidence showing that selective access was occurring while the system itself was functioning. The total financial impact of this incident is estimated at approximately USD 260,000, reflecting aggregate harm caused by denied access, missed exit opportunities, and consequential losses directly linked to the timing and duration of the restriction. Due to the severity and market integrity implications, this matter was escalated beyond customer support and submitted to supervisory authorities, including EU-level oversight under the MiCA framework, ESMA, and the Financial Crime Investigation Service (FCIS), following ex officio referral by the Bank of Lithuania. This is not a consumer complaint, but a market integrity and operational conduct issue involving selective asset accessibility, unequal market participation, and resilience failures under stress. This statement is made to ensure public visibility and accountability, and to encourage other affected users to come forward so this behaviour can be evaluated as a pattern, not dismissed as an isolated anomaly. Emre Uyaniker