HomeFeatured Top 4 Bitcoin Exchanges Which Disappeared Under Suspicious Circumstances FeaturedReports are emerging from Hong Kong that local bitcoin exchange MyCoin has shut its doors, taking with it possibly as much as HK$3bn ($386.9m) in investor funds.If true, the supposed losses are a staggering amount, although this estimate is based on the company's own earlier claims that it served 3,000 clients who had invested HK$1m ($129,000) each.For perspective, bitcoin's entire market cap today stands at around USD$3bn.The issue came to light on Friday when about 30 people claiming to be victims of the company's actions petitioned a local member of the Legislative Council, Leung Yiu-chung.The victims are reportedly due to make a statement to Hong Kong police on Wednesday.Adding to the mystery are reports the company never operated as a genuine bitcoin business at all.Testimonies from customers describe an operation more like a Ponzi scheme that used the veneer of bitcoin trading as its lure.

One local woman was quoted as saying: "We were told by those at higher tiers [of the scheme] that we can get our money back if we find more new clients."Adding to the business' pyramid-like feel were promises of cash prizes or Mercedes-Benz cars if customers could recruit new investors, said a report in Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.litecoin mining old computerCustomers were never presented with receipts and were led to deposit their newly-acquired coins at a separate site to earn interest.bitcoin virus wannacryMyCoin had promised several months ago that it would soon be listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, and according to photos posted online, also operated a bitcoin ATM.bitcoin forum hrvatski

Customers were promised returns of HK$1m in four months, and had been pressured into buying bitcoin-based contracts by real estate agents, insurance agents and law firm clerks.But after slowing down the release of payments and changing the rules to make it progressively more difficult to withdraw, the exchange's office boarded up its doors for "renovations" last month, the report says.bitcoin cours 5 ansThe incident could lead to greater regulation of the bitcoin industry in Hong Kong, which has so far operated with little scrutiny.acheter bitcoin euroCouncilor Leung has said he wants to meet with Hong Kong's Monetary Authority to discuss better protections for bitcoin investors.when will bitcoin bubble popIt's not the first time Hong Kong bitcoiners have found themselves out of pocket.bitcoin not taxable

Chinese trading platform GBL, purportedly based in Hong Kong, also disappeared in November 2013 with $4.1m in customer funds.At the time of writing, MyCoin's site appeared to be still up and running, although there are clear indications all is not well.It is not possible to create a new account, and the listed bitcoin price is under $2.ethereum 1000 usdAnother Hong Kong exchange, KBBEX, has informed Leung that it is willing to provide assistance to help those affected, in order to regain trust in bitcoin and perhaps perform technical analysis if required.litecoin all time chartSome posts in public forums appeared to confuse MyCoin with Maicoin, a reputable Taiwan-based bitcoin services company that is still functioning and healthy.A Maicoin spokesperson said there had not been a material impact on the company's business, but an end to the confusion generated by the similar names would be welcome.

Bitcurex, one of Poland’s largest exchanges has shut shop after a reported 2300 BTC ($ 1.5 mln) theft.The polish exchange was one of the oldest in the country.Before the website of Bitcurex was taken down, a message was posted by the administrators in Polish which translated reads: “/ damaged by external interference in automated data collection and processing of information./.” Bitcurex had promised to return money back to the users within seven days according to the Polish newspaper Gazeta.It is further alleged by Bitcoin.pl that the exchange had no records left after it was attacked and it was asking users to submit forms to confirm ownership of assets.“Given that the exchange required proved ownership of the site and that the confirmed balance disagreed with the facts,” Bitcoin.pl wrote in an article, “you can come to the conclusion that the exchange does not have a current copy of the database, which could be damaged at the time of the alleged hacking.” Not only has the exchange shut down and people have most likely lost all their money, it also came to light that customer data of the exchange was also compromised in the hack that took place in October 2016.

The lack of customer data with the exchange is a strong indicator of that.While the last tweet on the company’s twitter handle was made on Sep.12, 2016, the Facebook page of Bitcurex is still active and is riddled with comments and posts from angry customers.One user Daniel Jarek simply posted “Thieves”, while another Daniel Stachurski wrote, “Scammers.” We have repeated again and again that you should never keep your cryptocurrency in any hot wallet for any time longer than absolutely necessary.Poland itself has a lesson to learn in this since it has long been ambiguous about the status of Bitcoin in the country and has refused to take a proper stance on it.However, hopefully, things are changing in Poland as we recently covered and the authorities will be more prepared to lay the groundwork for the operation of exchanges in the future.As for Bitcurex, their motto was “When you invest in what you believe, you are ahead of the rest.” We urge everyone to be more focused on facts rather than beliefs and do their due diligence.