JPEX exchange suspends certain operations, hikes fees amid liquidity crisis

Crypto exchange JPEX has raised withdrawal fees and paused the operations of the Earn program on its platform following an ongoing liquidity crisis, the company announced, claiming its third-party market makers have “maliciously frozen” the company’s funds.

While spot trades appear to be continuing, some users have claimed that the platform is charging a 999 USDT fee for a withdrawal, with the withdrawal maximum set at 1,000 USDT. In response, JPEX stated, “We promise to recover liquidity from third-party market makers as soon as possible and gradually adjust the withdrawal fees back to normal levels.”

The company also froze its game platform and announced plans to solicit proposals for DAO reorganization from its users. The JPEX team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hong Kong’s regulators have expressed concern

The crisis follows a warning from Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) about JPEX noting that the platform made misleading statements about obtaining licenses from overseas regulators, promoted business partnerships that failed to materialize, and offered suspiciously high returns for its interest-bearing products, the regulator said.

Hong Kong police are also collecting complaints related to JPEX and have received at least 83 reports from concerned users, according to the South China Morning Post. Hong Kong’s Commercial Crime Bureau is also investigating the company, which claims on its website to be headquartered in Dubai.

JPEX is known in Hong Kong for its promotional relationship with famous actor Julian Cheung Chi-lam. However, the relationship ended when Hong Kong’s SFC added JPEX to its alert list and Cheung’s team demanded that the platform be licensed in Hong Kong before continuing to use his image, according to media reports.

JPEX has categorized the actions of Hong Kong’s regulators as “unfair treatment” and has stated, “We believe that the platform will not collapse and will continue to operate steadily.”

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