Dozens of clients of the Hong Kong-based trading platform Coinsuper have contacted the local police due to the fact that they have not been able to withdraw assets totaling $ 55,000 from the exchange since the end of November.
Clients of the Coinsuper cryptocurrency exchange told the Hong Kong police that their assets were blocked by the site operator for some unknown reason. Dozens of affected users wrote on Telegram that they cannot close deposits since the end of November. In the official Telegram chat, the Coinsuper administration has stopped responding to customer requests.
Last week, the site operator contacted users through the official Telegram channel and asked the affected clients of the exchange to provide their email addresses. Several users who provided their addresses said in an interview with Bloomberg that no action was taken by the platform after the request.
Coinsuper executives did not respond to Bloomberg messages asking for comment. Hong Kong police said by e-mail that they are investigating the incident of a client buying “through an investment company” cryptocurrency, which he was unable to convert into fiat money in December and withdraw from the site.
The scandal surrounding the Coinsuper trading platform, run by the former president of UBS China Inc. Karen Chen and investment firm Pantera Capital could lead to stricter regulation of cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. Late last year, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong began updating the rules for cryptocurrency transactions, including allowing individuals to invest in cryptocurrency ETFs.
Earlier, SFC Hong Kong Vice Chair Julia Leung said that when investors gain access to cryptocurrency ETFs, they will face additional restrictions. Last September, Hong Kong SFC Deputy CEO Liang Fengyi announced that the regulator should expand the scope of cryptocurrency supervision in the region. In particular, it is necessary to tighten control over unlicensed cryptocurrency trading.
