Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has taken action against two cryptocurrency websites over claims of cheating investors.
The South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday that the securities watchdog had blocked access to the HongKongDAO and BitCuped sites after discovering they were deceiving users.
According to the SCMP, Hong Kong regulators found that HongKongDAO had been tricking investors into buying a token labelled “HKD”. The platform had also been falsely assuring investors that it had applied for licences from the SFC and government.
The regulator worked with the police and internet service providers to have the HongKongDAO website blocked. The SFC also requested crypto trading platforms to stop any trading of tokens linked to HongKongDAO.
BitCuped had misinformed investors by listing Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) chairman Laura Cha and CEO Nicolas Aguzin as affiliated with the platform, despite neither being connected to BitCuped. The site had claimed to offer crypto and stocks trading services. BitCuped was blacklisted on November 10.
The SFC did not reveal how many people had been affected by the scams, or the total losses incurred. Investigations by police are ongoing.
These two cases come not long after investors lost over 1.6 billion HKD ($204 million) in JPEX and Hounax.
In August, the SFC warned crypto platforms and exchanges of the consequences of misleading investors with false claims about their registration status. The regulator also cautioned providers against offering products and services not authorised by the commission.
