Hounax Scam: Hong Kong Crypto Exchange Accused of $19M Fraud
Authorities consider empowering regulators and reviewing legislation following the scam, which saw the platform evade detection by frequently changing its website address.
- Hounax, a virtual asset exchange platform, is accused of scamming Hong Kong residents out of more than HK$150 million (US$19.24 million) by constantly changing its website address to evade detection.
- The platform lured investors with false claims of being co-founded by the original Coinbase technical team and having a Canadian Money Services Business license.
- The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) listed Hounax as a suspicious virtual asset trading platform on November 1, but was unable to shut down the unlicensed platform.
- Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has stated that authorities might further empower regulators to tackle cryptocurrency scams and review relevant legislation.
- This follows the JPEX cryptocurrency exchange scandal, involving more than 2,500 victims and over HK$1.5 billion in losses, but no links have been found between the two cases.
South China Morning Post 
Fortune 
