Hong Kong authorities reported on Nov. 27 that 145 customers have been affected in a rip-off by the unlicensed cryptocurrency change Hounax, leading to a lack of 148 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($18.9 million), in accordance to native media Shenzhen Business Information.
On Nov. 25, native police held an preliminary press convention to tell the Hounax platform of the studies. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Fee (SFC) stated that as of Nov. 27, it obtained 18 complaints about change relating to quantities starting from 12,000 HKD to 10 million HDK ($1,539– $1.2 million).
Based on native police, Hounax claimed to be a licensed platform that cooperated with authorized monetary establishments. On Nov. 1, the SFC listed it as a suspicious platform and cautioned customers about its dangers.
Hounax allegedly recruited native clients through claims the unique Coinbase technical group based it, it had a license from Canadian authorities, and it was contemplating investments from huge names like Sequoia Capital and IDG Capital.
The chief inspector of the Business Crime Investigation Part of the Hong Kong Police, Ke Yongn, stated the platform additionally utilized social media to draw victims. Nonetheless, in response to the report, the official Fb web page of the platform is now not on-line.
Associated: Binance-linked HKVAEX nonetheless making ready to use for license in Hong Kong
The SFC at present lists 9 suspicious crypto funding platforms, together with Hounax, JPEX, Hong Kong Digital Analysis Institute, BitCuped, FUBT, futubit/futu-pro, EFSPD, OSL buying and selling and arrano.community.
This incident follows a main scandal with the JPEX change in Hong Kong earlier in 2023. Native authorities obtained over 2,000 complaints from JPEX customers and finally reported round $180 million in losses. To this point, 66 people have been arrested within the scandal.
These occasions have brought on native regulators in Hong Kong to tighten crypto regulation to keep away from one other trade disaster. Nonetheless, regulators have stated the nation’s one-year grace interval for crypto exchanges received’t change.
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