Chinese Bitcoin exchange GBL has shut down, taking with it over 25 million yuan (£2.5m, $US4.1m) of investors’ money, in another warning to those who don’t look before they leap with the digital currency.
Users first suspected something was up on October 26th when they could no longer access the site of Global Bond Limited (GBL), according to Coindesk.
On closer inspection, the office address in Hong Kong was found to be empty, its QQ instant messaging contact unresponsive and customer-facing phone lines silent.
GBL only appeared on the Bitcoin scene back in June, after it claimed to have been granted a license by the Hong Kong government to operate a virtual currency exchange business.
However, while it had registered with the authorities, they apparently did not grant it a license to operate as a financial services company.
SOURCE: theregister.co.uk
