BitForex
BitForex was a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Seychelles and reportedly headquartered in Hong Kong.[5] Founded in 2017, it operated as a centralized exchange serving users globally.[5][4] In late February 2024, the exchange abruptly ceased operations following suspicious outflows of approximately $56.5 million from its hot wallets.[1][4] Subsequently, the platform's website was taken offline, trading was halted, and the team became unresponsive, leading to widespread accusations that the shutdown was an alleged exit scam or rug pull and leaving user funds inaccessible.[1] BitForex later stated that the interruption was caused by the detention of team members by police in Jiangsu province in China and reopened withdrawals-only access to some assets from July 2024, although no formal insolvency process was opened and many balances remained unresolved as of late 2026.[4] The exchange had previously faced regulatory warnings and accusations of inflating its trade volume.[1]
History
Founding and Operations
BitForex was founded in 2017 and launched its platform around 2018.[5][6] Registered in Seychelles with primary operations based in Hong Kong, it described itself as a global one-stop digital asset service platform.[5][4] Before its collapse, BitForex offered a range of services including spot trading, perpetual contracts, and an NFT marketplace. It was known for listing a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, often using airdrops and promotional campaigns to attract users and trading volume.[2]
Controversies
Controversies and Regulatory Scrutiny
Throughout its operational history, BitForex faced several controversies. The exchange was accused of artificially inflating its trading volumes to create a false impression of market activity, with one report noting it claimed a peak trading volume of over $4.2 billion in January 2024.[1]
The platform also drew attention from financial regulators. Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) had previously issued a warning against BitForex for operating in the country without registration. On September 28, 2022, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning against "BITFOREX FINANCE," stating the firm was providing financial services in the UK without authorization and that consumers would not be protected by compensation schemes.[3]
February 2024 Collapse
On February 23, 2024, on-chain analysts identified significant outflows from BitForex's hot wallets, with an estimated $56.5 million in various cryptocurrencies being withdrawn. Immediately following these transfers, the exchange halted all user withdrawal requests. Within days, the official website became inaccessible, and the entire team became unresponsive to customer inquiries, with social media administrators reportedly silencing user complaints before disappearing. The sequence of events led many users and security analysts to conclude that the exchange had carried out an alleged "exit scam" or "rug pull," although BitForex later attributed the shutdown to the detention of its team by police in China and did not enter any formal insolvency process.[1][4]
Post-Collapse Developments and Company Statements
After nearly five months of silence, a statement appeared on the official BitForex X (formerly Twitter) account on July 19, 2024. The post claimed the service interruption was due to team members being "detained and investigated by the Jiangsu Province police in China" on February 23, 2024, an assertion that has not been independently verified.[2][4]
According to later company communications summarized by secondary reports, BitForex stated that it regained access to its systems on July 24, 2024 and reopened withdrawals-only access while keeping trading, new registrations, and deposits permanently suspended.[4] In a statement dated November 2025, the company denied conducting an exit scam, reiterated that the interruption was caused by the detention of its team, and claimed that more than 50% of user assets had been withdrawn since withdrawals resumed, without clarifying whether this figure was measured by value, asset count, or user count.[4] The same announcement set a final deadline of December 25, 2025 for all users to complete KYC verification and withdraw their assets and introduced a 5% monthly management fee, with a minimum charge of US$10, on any balances remaining after that date; this fee was self-imposed by the company, not ordered by any court or administrator, and has not been independently audited.[4]
Registry data compiled in 2026 notes that no formal insolvency or restructuring proceeding was opened for BitForex in any jurisdiction, that the US$56.5 million figure reflects outflows from the exchange’s hot wallets rather than an audited shortfall, and that there is no public record of any court-supervised distributions to creditors.[4] As of late 2026, the ultimate cause of the February 2024 outflows has not been publicly explained, claims about partial asset recovery remain based on BitForex’s own unaudited statements, and the case is generally described as an ongoing situation involving alleged unauthorized outflows and a disputed explanation of events.[4]
