Cryptocurrency exchange HTX missed a court hearing in the Netherlands where it was ordered to reveal the identity of a person involved in a cryptocurrency scam.
The case involves a local resident who filed a complaint with the Dutch Financial Crimes Investigation Office (FIOD), stating that he lost approximately €1.5 million as a result of the scam. The victim had participated in a stake via a fraudulent website, which resulted in all funds being stolen from his HTX crypto wallet. After discovering the loss, the victim contacted HTX, but they ignored his message, so he filed a report with the FIOD and secured an investigation.
Staking is the process of temporarily blocking a cryptocurrency on the blockchain at a relatively high interest rate.
As a result, an Amsterdam court ordered HTX to hand over the fraudster's personal information, but the exchange didn't even show up for the hearing, according to Stack Diary.
HTX's failure to appear in court could result in the exchange being fined €500,000, increasing by €100,000 for each day of non-compliance, up to €2 million.
This court ruling is an important milestone in the ongoing fight against online financial fraud and highlights the growing legal scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges and their role in facilitating or combating fraud.
HTX is owned by Tron founder Justin Sun, who has been accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of selling unregistered securities.
As a reminder, the exchange was previously hit by a hacker attack that resulted in the theft of $110 million in crypto assets, including 346 billion Shiba Inu tokens.
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