EGLD withdrawals frozen, Upbit suspended since October 19: What happened to MultiversX?

EGLD Holders 'Guide: The truth and coping strategies behind the blocked withdrawal of funds on the exchange

If you hold EGLD and your trading venue refuses to allow you to withdraw funds, the problem is not your account. The MultiversX blockchain has resumed operation since September 24, but major exchanges are gradually resuming deposit and withdrawal functions. The two most important platforms for European investors-Bitvavo and Binance-have not yet been fully restored: at Bitvavo, EGLD deposits and withdrawals are shown as "under maintenance"; and at Binance, the native MultiversX network is still shut down. Kraken ended the incident on October 1 and reopened EGLD for trading in euros. In Upbit, the largest trading market for the token, all three EGLD trading pairs carry warning tags; the exchange will decide whether to continue trading between October 19 and October 23.

On Saturday night, EGLD traded at US$4.53 (approximately 4.03 euros), up about 1.7% from the previous day. Its market value is approximately US$140 million, ranking 239th, with an average daily trading volume of approximately US$2.8 million. This volume is relatively meager, and that is the risk of this deadline: if the markets that carry most of the volume disappear, liquidity will dry up and be difficult to recover quickly. This article will review the currently feasible exit paths, the paths that seem feasible but are actually traps, and what October 19 means to you.

Reasons for on-chain disruption and exchange lag on September 19

On September 19, the MultiversX main network stopped generating blocks. According to the operator, the trigger was an attempt to exploit atomic vulnerabilities at the virtual machine level. "Atomicity" means that a transaction is either executed completely or not executed at all. When this guarantee fails, the transaction may only have partial effects, leaving the blockchain itself deemed invalid. This is the case where the network chose to stop running rather than continue from the wrong location.

Five days later, on September 24, after a recovery and upgrade, on-chain services started again. This solves the technical level but not the commercial level. Exchanges keep customer balances in their wallets, and after such an event occurs, they must verify two things themselves: whether the balance they see matches the on-chain status, and whether the deposits they book are permanently valid. As long as these issues are not resolved, the withdrawal threshold will always exist. This is why the trading platform is ten days behind the network.

Anyone who has read our checklist for the September 10 Supernova hard fork knows the back story: Nine days after the planned upgrade, on-chain service stalled due to an unexpected failure. These two incidents are unrelated, but for you as the holder, it is the same series of blocks that affect the funds.

Bitvavo: EGLD deposits and withdrawals are maintained

Bitvavo still lists EGLD, but it only supports the token's native MultiversX network, which is currently under deposit and withdrawal maintenance. In effect, this means that you can sell or swap EGLD held within the exchange, but you cannot withdraw or deposit it. Bitvavo does not provide alternative chains for this token.

This is not an isolated case on the provider side. In recent weeks, Bitvavo has removed or forcibly converted several smaller tokens, most recently SWEAT, which has an October 7 deadline, and previously Kava, Nano and Ravencoin. A cool interpretation is that maintenance notices for small-cap tokens do not automatically signal removal, but this is the critical moment in determining whether the venue is suitable for holding positions.

Binance: The native network is closed, and only the BEP-20 bypass channel is open.

In Binance, EGLD transactions operate normally, but the transfer side is semi-closed. The native network is listed as MultiversX eGold on Binance and is set as the default route. Currently, neither deposits nor withdrawals are allowed; the note states that the wallet is being maintained and funds are safe en route. There happens to be one other route open: the BEP-20 standard on the BNB intelligent chain.

This open route leads many holders to believe that everything is normal for Binance. This is not the case. The difference is not technical details; it determines what ends up in your wallet.

Kraken ended the event on October 1 and EGLD trading against the euro returned to normal

Kraken has been tracking independent incidents in EGLD since mid-September and has suspended transactions and transfers. The event was closed on October 1 and the EGLD/Euro trading pair has returned to normal. If your EGLD is stored there, you can sell and withdraw it again since early October.

This is where many reports last week were outdated. Multiple articles published on September 24 claimed that Kraken continues to ban new EGLD transactions. As of early October, this situation no longer holds true. When reading news about this incident, check the dates inside the article, not the dates displayed on the page.

EGLD on the BNB smart chain is different from native eGold

If you withdraw money from Binance via BEP-20, what you receive is not the token on the MultiversX chain, but the version that is bound to the BNB smart chain. Supporting this version is the exchange's commitment to convert it back to the original token at any time, rather than the MultiversX agreement. Technically, this is a "wrapped token": on the outer chain shell, its value depends on the custodian keeping backing in place.

This has three specific consequences for you. First of all, you cannot use this version in the MultiversX wallet, nor can you pledge it on the chain. Secondly, the return path must pass through the same exchange again, because outside of it, there is almost no market for the token. Third, you are taking the risk you initially tried to avoid by withdrawing cash: custody risk. Anyone who moves EGLD out of the exchange for independence and chooses the BEP-20 route is just transferring dependence.

The wallet you control completely eliminates this problem. See our Hardware Wallet Comparison for details on which devices qualify and how much they cost.

Cost comparison: 0.0051 EGLD per withdrawal versus 0.0008 EGLD

Open detours are also more expensive. Binance charges a 0.0051 EGLD fee for withdrawals made through the BNB smart chain and a 0.0008 EGLD fee for native MultiversX networks. The cost is more than six times higher. The minimum amount is also different: 0.01 EGLD for BEP-20 and 0.0016 EGLD for native networks.

At 4.03 euros, this is about 2 cents versus less than 1 cent. For positions worth hundreds of euros, the money is negligible; for small positions it is important; and for deciding whether to withdraw money now or wait for the native network to open, the fee is always a smaller part of the calculation. The bigger part is how long you are willing to wait.

Impact of warning tags on prices on the Korean Exchange

Upbit lists EGLD trading pairs for South Korean won, Bitcoin and USDT, and all three trading pairs have bearing warning tags since the incident. For comparison: The exchange's large Bitcoin and Ethereum trading pairs do not have this flag. The specific reason for recording EGLD was the gap with international prices, namely the divergence between South Korean quotations and the global market.

South Korea's warning label is a formal stage, not an opinion: exchanges clearly mark tokens during transactions, review them within a fixed window, and then decide whether to continue trading. When it comes to price, the risk lies not in the mark itself, but in the market share it carries. By its own measurement, Upbit carried about one-fifth of EGLD's total trading volume on Saturday, making it the largest single market, far ahead of Binance and HTX. Removing the shelves there removes demand from the order book and has a stronger impact on tokens with an average daily trading volume of only $2.8 million than on large-cap stocks.

Another token a few days ago demonstrated how such cases have evolved: Upbit will end Ravencoin trading on October 12, when the exchange has a higher share of volume. This comparison serves as a template for the program rather than a prediction for EGLD: Ravencoin's decision has been made and EGLD is still waiting.

Upbit decided to continue trading in EGLD from October 19 to October 23. Upbit said it has suspended EGLD deposits and withdrawals. For recovery, the exchange has listed the order: withdrawal will be activated first, and deposits will be announced separately. This is a friendlier sequence for the holder because it opens the exit before the entrance opens.

The deadline itself, the window period from October 19 to 23, is based on reports about the exchange rather than notices we can view directly;Upbit's announcement page is blocked outside South Korea. Therefore, treat this window as second-hand information and act based on what is visible in your account. What we recorded and verified was the program itself: three EGLD markets were marked, the control markets were not.

European investors do not have Upbit accounts anyway because the exchange serves South Korea. But this deadline is still important to you because it affects the price at which you can sell EGLD on Bitvavo, Binance or Kraken. If you are reconsidering venue choices, see our comparison of cryptocurrency exchanges for differences in costs and licensing, and see our comparison of regulated trading venues for regulatory aspects.

Self-custody: A place inaccessible to the blockade

This incident exposes an indisputable limitation: As long as a token remains on the exchange, the exchange determines when you can move it. On-chain services have been restored since September 24, but transfers from the two major providers have not been restored. The balance in your wallet where you have the key has never been affected by this freeze.

This is not a reason to recommend withdrawing all funds at once, but a reason to recommend deliberately splitting: one part wants to trade on the exchange and the other part intends to remain in self-custody. What this separation looks like in practice and the matters to pay attention to when withdrawing cash have been described in our article on self-custody.

A technical tip: Native EGLD should be stored in a wallet that supports MultiversX chains. Just know that the address of the Ethereum or BNB smart chain is not the destination address of the token. Sending to the wrong chain usually loses money. Always check the address and network at the provider and never operate from memory.

Tax Treatment under German Holding Period and Time Pressure

If the deadline allows you to consider selling, please perform tax arithmetic. In Germany, cryptocurrencies as private assets are subject to the one-year holding period stipulated in Article 23 of the Income Tax Law: they are sold at a profit within one year after purchase, and the profits are taxed at the personal income tax rate. After one year of holding, the proceeds are exempt from tax. Gains realized during the period are subject to an annual tax exemption of € 1,000, covering the total of all private disposals. Beyond this limit, the full amount will be taxable, not just the excess.

In practice, this means that selling due to nervousness two months before the end of your holding period may be more costly than the market risk you are avoiding. Instead, losses during the period can offset gains from other private disposals. For more information on what purchase records are needed and how the political situation has changed, see our article on crypto revenue holding periods. Binding advice for your case can only come from a tax consultant.

MultiversX official view on the sequence of events and subsequent opening

According to the project party, the user balance has not been lost, and the on-chain service has been running normally after the upgrade has been resumed; blocks have been generated since September 24. A full incident report has been announced, but has not yet been released as of October 3.

There are three points that remain unresolved, and it is more honest to list them than to fill in the gaps. First of all, the identity behind the attempt has not yet been determined and no one has been named. Secondly, neither Bitvavo nor Binance announced a date for reopening their native networks. Third, no decision has been made on whether Upbit will continue or terminate the transaction after the review window. The date anyone tells you today is an estimate.

What you can confirm is the status of your visit. All four trading venues mentioned in this article display whether EGLD deposits and withdrawals are open on their account pages. This display is more timely than any related report.

EGLD: Your next three steps

1. Confirm the status of your account: Open the EGLD withdrawal page of your trading venue to see which network is available. If only BNB intelligent chains are provided, the native network is still frozen. If BEP-20 is the only network provided, please use this instead of news streams.
2. Decide before October 19, not after: Determine whether you are holding, cutting positions, or moving into self-custody and anchor it to your entry price and holding period, not the headlines. When it comes to hosting, our hardware wallet can help.
3. Organize your purchase history: Before selling, extract the purchase date, quantity and purchase price from the transaction history. Without these details, you cannot prove the one-year holding period, and the tax department will calculate against you. Write down these two items before placing an order.

The process of on-chain interruptions and Kraken's position are recorded by CryptoSlate; the exchange's own incident notices can be viewed on the Kraken status page.

(As of October 3, 2026. This article does not constitute investment advice. Price and fee structures will change; check terms with your provider before purchasing.)