JPEX sold crypto yields with no licence — HK$1.6B froze and Hong Kong made 66 arrests

JPEX marketed itself in Hong Kong as a crypto exchange offering trading and staking yields, recruiting affiliates and local influencers to bring in retail depositors. It operated without a licence under Hong Kong's virtual-asset trading rules, which took effect in June 2023 and required platforms serving local investors to register with the Securities and Futures Commission.

In mid-September 2023 the SFC publicly named JPEX as unlicensed and warned the public against using it. Within days JPEX raised withdrawal fees and imposed limits, then stopped honouring withdrawals altogether. More than 2,600 people filed complaints, with losses eventually put at roughly HK$1.6 billion (about US$205 million).

Hong Kong police opened what they called the city's largest fraud investigation, arresting 66 people over the following months, including affiliates and promoters who had endorsed the platform, one of whom was caught trying to destroy documents with a shredder and bleach. Dozens were later formally charged with fraud and operating an unlicensed virtual-asset business.