On January 30, 2025, Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) identified 33 new suspicious websites impersonating HashKey, a licensed cryptocurrency trading platform. This brings the total number of reported HashKey impersonators to 45.
The SFC reported that these fraudulent sites altered official HashKey links to mislead investors. HashKey, one of the few SFC-approved exchanges, distanced itself from these scams, urging clients to verify links and exercise caution.
Over the past three years, the SFC has flagged at least 91 suspicious trading platforms, reflecting ongoing regulatory challenges in Hong Kong's evolving crypto market. This situation follows the collapse of JPEX, which allegedly defrauded 2,000 investors of approximately $166 million.
In response to these challenges, Hong Kong is strengthening its regulatory framework, having recently licensed two new exchanges, PantherTrade and YAX, bringing the total to ten licensed platforms since the AMLO regulations were introduced in 2020.