Serious incident resulting in NOK 1.6M loss – not suitable for active traders
I experienced a very serious incident with K33 during the night of February 6, 2026, which resulted in a total loss of approximately NOK 1.6 million (2 SOL positions and 1 BTC position).
I have been actively trading crypto for 9 years on Binance and Bybit and am well familiar with exchanges, risk management, and margin/futures trading. This was not user error, but the result of limited platform availability, poor communication, and structural constraints at K33.
What happened:
I had open futures positions on an external trading platform
Market conditions changed rapidly, and I needed to transfer BTC and SOL from my K33 account to lower liquidation levels — a standard operational adjustment when trading semi-manually
At the same time, K33 was undergoing maintenance
Based on visible large sell orders and short-term trend signals, we anticipated a fast downside move and planned to proactively reduce liquidation risk
K33 communicated that the platform would be back online by 22:00, which we relied on
However:
- The platform did not come back online as communicated
- My last contact with K33 was around 01:30, shortly before the situation escalated
- I was unable to log in or move funds in time
- The result was full liquidation of all positions
After the fact, K33 has confirmed:
- That maintenance took longer than planned
- That communication beforehand was insufficient
- That they do not offer 24/7 withdrawals, as all withdrawals require manual approval
- That they have no compensation mechanism or security fund
This is a major difference compared to established exchanges like Binance and Bybit. These platforms operate fully 24/7, and for example Binance has the SAFU fund, which is used to compensate users if something goes wrong. I have personally seen multiple real cases where losses were actually covered.
Additionally, K33 feels like a premature platform:
- Simple actions like token conversion are not intuitive
- Instead of instant “convert,” users must place buy/sell trades in a trading interface
- This adds friction and delays — which can be critical in volatile markets
The most problematic issue, however, is this:
- K33 operates in a 24/7 crypto market, but cannot guarantee access to or movement of funds during evenings and nights
- This is precisely when crypto markets often move the most, especially during US and Asian trading hours
- For active traders, this is fundamentally incompatible with proper risk management
My clear recommendation:
- Do not use K33 if you depend on fast access to funds outside Norwegian business hours
- Using a small exchange without a security fund, 24/7 withdrawals, or mature infrastructure carries significant risk
This is not a platform I can recommend to active or professional crypto traders.