After the SFC named JPEX in its statement last Wednesday, investors reported being unable to withdraw funds from the platform in the early hours of the same day. It was not until Thursday that the SFC referred the case to the police.
Despite the high-profile actions taken by the police, including the arrest of several individuals, some of whom are well-known Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), these actions did not prevent losses for investors. On-chain data showed significant transfers from JPEX's commonly used hot wallets, with the virtual assets' balance dropping from over $20 million last week to less than $2 million at the time of writing.
According to the police, there have been thousands of reports filed by Hong Kong citizens, involving a total amount of HKD 1.2 billion. This is a substantial sum of money. Prior to the SFC's statement, it seemed that JPEX could still process withdrawals (although some users had already reported difficulties). In comparison to the current situation where no user can successfully withdraw funds, is there more proactive action the government can take to protect its citizens?
For example, the reporting individuals should have provided JPEX's wallet addresses. Can the government apply for a temporary asset freezing order from the court to prevent the transfer of assets associated with those wallet addresses? Or can they freeze the USDT assets related to JPEX through Tether?
In fact, the SFC had already classified JPEX as a suspicious exchange back in July 2022. So why wasn't the issue with JPEX explicitly addressed at that time? Would the outcome have been different if action had been taken then? Alternatively, if the SFC had not issued a statement but instead handed the case directly to the police for investigation and arrests, could it have caught the individuals off guard?
What puzzles me is whether the allegations made by the SFC when they named JPEX on September 13, 2023, are sufficient for prosecution. If not, what was the purpose of that statement? Was it intended to alert retail investors, or was there a deliberate plan to trigger JPEX? I believe the SFC has the intention to protect Hong Kong citizens, but while triggering JPEX, have they considered the plight of JPEX users who might not have had a chance to react?
I hope that the police have secretly contacted Tether and local banks to freeze a portion of JPEX's assets, so that JPEX users can avoid losing everything.
