Australia’s corporate regulator has warned consumers against Yepbit and Yepbit Exchange after receiving reports from investors who say they cannot withdraw their funds. The platform claims to offer digital-asset and futures trading globally, including in Australia, but ASIC says Yepbit is not licensed to provide financial services there. ASIC also confirmed Yepbit is not registered on AUSTRAC’s Virtual Asset Service Provider Register, a separate requirement from the licensing issue.
The regulator also rejected claims from Yepbit that ASIC had frozen customer funds or was holding up withdrawals as part of an audit. ASIC said it had taken no such action and warned that the claim could be used to delay refund requests or persuade customers to send more money.
ASIC said it used its website disruption powers to remove several websites purportedly operated by Yepbit. The platform has now drawn four separate alerts on ASIC’s Investor Alert List, the first added on March 9, with two additional Yepbit Exchange domains flagged just last week.
JUST IN: 🏛 Australia’s ASIC has shut down Yepbit’s websites after investors flagged blocked withdrawals and the platform made false claims about regulatory involvement. pic.twitter.com/zLkh1nFGmW
— BTC Live (@btcliveco) August 12, 2026
Today’s warning is not Yepbit’s first brush with regulators this year. The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against Yepbit Exchange Pty. Limited and Fidelity Capital Investment Group in February, alleging they solicited investments without required approvals through a structure the Philippine regulator said carried the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme, with promised returns of $500 to $3,000 tied to recruitment.
Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission issued a separate warning in July, naming Yepbit Exchange and an associated platform, Bonchat, as suspected fraudulent investment schemes.
Scammers attempt to make an unlicensed crypto platform look legitimate
The case shows how scammers can use the language of regulation to make an unlicensed platform appear legitimate. Claiming that ASIC has frozen funds is particularly effective because it gives investors a reason to wait while the platform remains in control of their money.
ASIC’s warning also shows why checking a licence independently matters. A company registration certificate does not mean a firm is licensed to provide investment services. The regulator says investors should verify the licence number and its conditions through official registers rather than relying on documents, websites or claims made by the platform.
For crypto users, the warning goes beyond Yepbit. A platform that asks customers for more money to release a withdrawal, or pressures them to bypass licensed providers, should be treated as a potential fraud risk.
ASIC data from an earlier warning this year found that 23% of Australians aged 18 to 28 held crypto, and 41% had received direct online investment pitches involving crypto, underscoring why younger investors in particular remain frequent targets for these schemes.
The Yepbit reports therefore raise a bigger question for the crypto industry, how much trust can investors place in a platform they cannot independently verify from the inside? Crypto markets are built around the idea of direct ownership and control, yet exchange users often surrender that control in return for convenience. When confidence in the intermediary breaks down, the difference between owning an asset and having an account that says you own an asset suddenly becomes much more important.
Similarly, Australia’s corporate regulator issued a strong warning to investors over cryptocurrency futures products offered by Bitget, a digital asset trading platform operated by BTG Technology Holdings Limited.
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