UK Court Orders Crypto Exchange to Shut Down After Clients Lose $2M

The U.K. High Court of Justice has ordered crypto exchange GPay to be "wound up in the public interest."

• In a statement Tuesday, the U.K. government said 108 clients had lost a total of just under £1.5 million ($1.9 million) using GPay.
• Although clients could deposit without completing know-your-customer (KYC) processes, GPay requested various identification documents to prevent clients from withdrawing funds.
• GPay also sold clients insurance to protect them against trading losses, but the exchange did not always pay out.
• GPay did not contest the dissolution order.
• David Hill, of the U.K. Insolvency Service, said: "GPay persuaded customers to part with substantial sums of money to invest in cryptocurrency trading. This was nothing but a scam as GPay tricked their clients to use their online platform under false pretences."
• The U.K.'s financial watchdog warned in May 2018 that GPay, then CryptoPoint, was offering financial services without its permission.
• GPay faced its first dissolution order in November 2018, but this was discontinued in January 2019.
• GPay advertised itself extensively on social media and claimed, falsely, to be backed by Martin Lewis, the founder of MoneySavingExpert, a popular consumer finance website in the U.K.
• On the news, Lewis said: “I don’t know whether to dance a jig that these despicable scum have been shut down, or cry that they managed to take so many people’s money."