BitForex was a cryptocurrency exchange registered in Seychelles and reportedly headquartered in Hong Kong. In late February 2024, the exchange abruptly ceased operations following suspicious outflows of approximately $57 million from its hot wallets. Subsequently, the platform's website was taken offline, trading was halted, and the team became unresponsive, leading to widespread accusations of an exit scam and the loss of user funds. The exchange had previously faced regulatory warnings and accusations of inflating its trade volume^[2][3].

History and Collapse

Founding and Operations

BitForex was founded in 2017 and launched its platform around 2018^[4]. Registered in Seychelles with primary operations based in Hong Kong, it described itself as a global one-stop digital asset service platform. 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^[3][4].

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^[2].

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^[5][3].

February 2024 Collapse

In late February 2024, BitForex abruptly shut down. The collapse was preceded by several red flags, including the departure of CEO Jason Luo in January 2024 and the cessation of all activity on the exchange's official social media channels around February 21^[2].

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significant outflows from BitForex's hot wallets, with an estimated $56.5 million in various cryptocurrencies being withdrawn.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 to widespread conclusions among users and security analysts that the exchange had conducted an "exit scam" or "rug pull," leaving user funds inaccessible and presumed lost^[2][3].

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^[4].

In a subsequent official announcement purportedly from December 2025, the company further addressed the shutdown. It denied any "exit scam" activities and reiterated that the service interruption was caused by the detention of its team. The statement claimed that withdrawal services had been partially resumed on July 24, 2024, and set a final deadline of December 25, 2025, for all users to complete KYC verification and withdraw their assets. The announcement also stated that a 5% monthly management fee would be charged on any remaining balances after the deadline^[1].