Huobi Global, which is based in Seychelles, has been accused by lawyer Jonathan Levy of operating without accountability to any jurisdiction. Lawyers say the exchange’s physical address in the island nation is for mailing purposes only.
accountability issues
US-based lawyer Jonathan Levy has accused the Huobi cryptocurrency exchange of running a decentralized global operation that “operates everywhere but is not accountable anywhere.” Levy’s allegation follows the alleged inaction of a Seychelles-registered cryptocurrency exchange that ultimately led to a French national losing his funds to a Chinese fraudster.
Before the Chinese national went missing with the stolen money, the unnamed victim – with the help of a ciphertrace – had successfully traced the fraudster’s account with Huobi. Based on the victim’s efforts, the French National Police had launched an investigation as well as requested the assistance of the cryptocurrency exchange in recovering the funds.
Huobi’s Seychelles Presence
However, according to a statement issued by the lawyer, the fraud victim’s efforts to recover his funds were ultimately thwarted by Hubei’s refusal to cooperate with both French and Seychelles law enforcement. He elaborated:
Huobi Global misled the French police and claimed that they were under the jurisdiction of Seychelles. This delay allowed the criminal to escape with his loot. When the Seychelles police finally investigated it was already too late and by their own admission, they lacked jurisdiction over the crime because Huobi’s presence in that island nation is just a postal address.
Meanwhile, Levy points to this latest incident as another example of why authorities in Europe need to set up a “superfund” funded by the crypto industry. He added that such a fund would prove useful to victims of crypto crime, such as French citizens, whose only hope of recovering the money now rests on the intervention of the European Union or OECD.
Regarding the ability of leading crypto exchanges to make substantial contributions to any such Superfund, Levy argues that platforms such as Huobi (whose daily crypto volume is reportedly over $10 billion) and other top ten exchanges are such Well placed to contribute.
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