The crypto industry is filled with risks to its investors. With numerous hacking incidences including giant crypto exchanges, not to mention ICOs that turned out being a scam, there are plenty of ways on how you can lose money when you dabble in the world of digital currencies.
And because the industry is found in a regulatory grey area, 2018’s story so far included numerous regulatory changes. Unfortunately, regulatory changes also triggered a bearish 2018 for the entire crypto industry. Bitcoin that was once trading near $20,000 in December is currently trading around $6,300. In fact, Japan improved its regulatory measures imposed on crypto exchanges.
KuCoin’s Office is Closed
Recently, Jackson Wong, a Hong Kong independent journalist warned the public regarding the possibility that KuCoin exchange is actually scamming investors. The Medium post was entitled: “WARNING: KuCoin’s Hong Kong office is empty. Be extremely cautious about depositing money into this exchange”.
The reporter expressed his concern that the crypto exchange is potentially exiting with their investors’ funds. The report recapped the previous concerns regarding the crypto exchange that there is a possibility of becoming illiquid if another crackdown by Chinese authorities happens. According to the reporter, KuCoin was able to survive by staying under the radar.
Wong claims that he has finds KuCoin exchange already suspicious mainly because the company is home-grown in Hong Kong. According to Wong, the exchange was unheard of within the community. Also, he finds it questionable that KuCoin has never promoted the company whether in local news or in other platforms. And also, the names of the directors do not have any Hong Kong names, not to mention none of them are from Hong Kong.
He mentioned that “For Chinese nationals to live in Hong Kong, they actually need either a working visa or to apply for a citizenship of Hong Kong”.
The KuCoin Exchange alleged headquarters is found in Kiu Fu Commercial Building on the 20th floor. However, upon checking the building, the companies found on the 20th floor were Rich Moral CPA and Smart Team International Consultants. He dug deeper seeing that KuCoin used to be listed under Smart Team Secretarial Ltd which is closely related to “Smart Team International Consultants”. Wong then called the company hoping to talk to a KuCoin representative. Unfortunately, Rich Moral CPA answered him and informed him that Smart Team moved out of the said office years ago.
Not the First Time
This isn’t the first time that a crypto exchange was the reason for lost funds. Last month, there were concerns regarding the possible exit scam of World Exchange Services, Russia’s oldest cryptocurrency exchange. There were reports of locked wallets and suspicious trading activities. On July 11, for instance, during the time when Bitcoin was trading at under $6,400, WEX offered Bitcoin at over $9,000 possibly to get more users into their system. After the rumors were published, people were then warned to avoid exchanges.
With the prevalence of hacking and scams on crypto exchanges, it is important for investors to always think twice before they choose a crypto exchange.
