The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission warns the public to beware of BitForex for suspected involvement in fraudulent activities related to virtual assets.

On March 4th, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong warned the public to beware of a purported virtual asset trading platform operating under the name BitForex, which is suspected of engaging in virtual asset fraud. BitForex, claiming to be headquartered in Hong Kong, has not been licensed by the SFC and has not applied for a license to operate a virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong. The SFC noted that the platform has used "wallet and website maintenance" as an excuse to make it increasingly difficult for victims to withdraw assets from the platform in the past few days. Victims reported that BitForex's website has now been shut down, preventing them from accessing their accounts and withdrawing assets held on BitForex. On March 4th, 2024, the SFC added BitForex and its website to its list of suspicious virtual asset trading platforms. The Hong Kong Police Force has taken action to block the relevant website links and remove related social media pages at the request of the SFC. The SFC once again cautioned investors to be wary of the risks of buying and selling virtual assets on unregulated virtual asset trading platforms. If a platform ceases operations, closes, is hacked, or experiences any misappropriation of assets, investors may risk losing their entire investment on that platform. If there are any doubts about the licensing status of any virtual asset trading platform, please refer to the SFC's list of licensed virtual asset trading platforms. List of licensed virtual asset trading platforms