JPEX, a troubled cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong Kong, has initiated the process of deregistration in Australia. The director of JP-EX crypto asset platform PTY LTD (JPEX), Jieyi Chen, submitted a deregistration application to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The document, dated September 20, states that all members of the company have consented to deregistration, JPEX will cease business operations, its assets will not exceed A$1,000, and it will assume no liabilities.
The move comes in the wake of a series of troubles for JPEX. On September 13, during the Token2049 conference in Singapore, Hong Kong police arrested six JPEX employees on suspicion of fraud, related to the operation of an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange. During the same event, the JPEX team allegedly abandoned the company's booth. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) announced that it had received over 1,000 complaints about the JPEX platform, with reported losses exceeding HK$1 billion (US$128 million).
As issues with the exchange came to light, JPEX reportedly raised withdrawal fees to a staggering 999 USDT to prevent transfers from the platform. Previously, JPEX had offered up to 30% annual yield for stablecoin staking. As of now, the JPEX website is inaccessible . Just before announcing its deregistration, JPEX released a compensation plan for users. It stated that users' assets would be converted into shares of the JPEX decentralized autonomous organization before September 21, providing compensation on a “one-to-one” basis. The exchange also alleged that a third-party custodian had "maliciously froze" the platform's assets due to an investigation by the China Securities Regulatory Commission, leading to what it called an "unprecedented disaster."
