Cryptocurrency exchange giant OKEx is pushing back against allegations that it is responsible for market manipulation that caused the Bitcoin price to crash below $5,000 on its futures exchange last week.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Hong Kong-based exchange denied allegations that it had actively manipulated the futures markets to liquidate the positions of bullish traders.

From the statement:

“OKEx provides a platform to allow customers to trade in our order books, but we are not directly involved in the trades. Moreover, all the transaction details are public. We, as a trading platform, do not make profit from the price volatility, but generate income from trading fees. We have not reason to, and have never and will not, manipulate the prices of any of our market.”

As CCN reported, OKEx drew criticism last week after the value of its Bitcoin futures temporarily dropped as low as $4,755 in a fevered sell-off, despite the fact that the global average Bitcoin price hovered around $7,000 during the same period.

Traders whose positions were liquidated during the sell-off were livid, and one exceptionally-distraught individual reportedly went to the company’s headquarters and threatened to commit suicide.

Ultimately, the exchange reversed trades that occurred during the 90-minute incident, citing irregular activity consistent with an orchestrated attempt to manipulate the market, and it has since added “price limit rules” to help prevent market manipulation in the future.

In Wednesday’s statement, OKEx further threatened to pursue legal action against individuals falsely accusing them of market manipulation and disseminating fake charts to that effect.

“We reserve the right to take necessary legal action against any parties who libel our company and reputation by any means,” the company said.

Nevertheless, the incident and subsequent negative press coverage do not appear to have had a sustained impact on the popularity of the company’s trading platform. OKEx continues to rank as the fourth most popular spot cryptocurrency exchange, with a 24-hour trading volume of approximately $750 million.