Two years, 80 arrests and no charges later, JPEX victims are still looking for answers.
The two year anniversary of the collapse of the mysterious Hong Kong crypto exchange passed with little notice last week.
The second anniversary of the JPEX crypto scandal slipped by last week without notice, even as thousands of victims wait for answers in what local media once described as the “biggest financial fraud in Hong Kong’s history”.
With 2,636 victims defrauded of HK$1.6 billion (US$204 million), the scandal erupted just as Hong Kong was pushing to become a global crypto hub, causing a major embarrassment for the city and forcing regulators to rethink how they warned the public about unlicensed exchanges.
The Hong Kong Police Force told Scamurai it has arrested 80 people since JPEX collapsed in September 2023, the same number it reported in March. “Active investigation for prosecution is ongoing,” a spokesperson added.
Yet despite all the arrests, despite police supposedly finding suspects destroying documents in a bathtub of bleach, despite two Interpol red notices and despite a civil court case finding in favour of two victims against, not a single charge has been filed to date. The owners of JPEX and its inner workings remain a mystery.
Splashy ads and influencers
JPEX was supposedly founded in Dubai in 2019 and quickly made its mark in Hong Kong. Its ads blanketed buses, trams, and MTR stations, while local influencers, including lawyer-turned-outrage-influencer Joseph Lam, fronted its promotions.
The company hosted crypto workshops, ran splashy giveaways and lent its brand to brightly colorred over-the-counter (OTC) crypto trading shops that mushroomed across the city.
Its scheme unraveled on 13 September 2023, when the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) declared JPEX unlicensed and suspected of breaking anti-money laundering laws. Police raided its offices that same day. In Singapore, JPEX staff abandoned their booth mid-event at the Token2049 crypto conference.
Within weeks, JPEX hiked withdrawal fees to nearly impossible levels before suspending trading entirely. Attempts to reinvent itself as a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) quickly fizzled.
By the end of November, it had gone dark.
The crackdown spread to Hong Kong’s OTC scene. Authorities raided and shut down shops tied to JPEX, including animal-themed exchanges Coingaroo and Cryptopard, and even a Bored Ape Yacht Club-themed burger joint. Influencers and staff were arrested, though no charges stuck.
Victims have seen only small gains. In October 2024, a court awarded two former users HK$1.85 million (US$236,000) after finding JPEX had transferred their funds to unknown wallets without consent. But most of the money remains missing, and the exchange’s leaders are still at large.
Do you know more about JPEX? Did you ever meet someone who claimed to work there? Or work there yourself? Scamurai wants to talk to you. Get in touch at callan@scamurai.io. Messages can be taken in both English and Chinese.
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