Chinese CoinGecko alternative Feixiaohao allegedly under investigation

China’s largest cryptocurrency market data platform Feixiaohao is allegedly facing legal troubles after its team was allegedly detained by law enforcement.

While the exact details behind the detention are not yet clear, according to Chinese media reports shared by journalist Coin Wu, the detention may be related to Feixiaohao’s compliance issues or disagreements over his business practices.

Feixiaohao, the largest simplified Chinese cryptocurrency market data site similar to Coingecko, was suspected to have been arrested by Chinese police. The reason is currently unknown, and the investigation has lasted more than half a year. Most of Feixiaohao’s exchanges…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 30, 2024

According to the report, Inner Mongolia police have been investigating the platform for more than six months and several key team members are allegedly in police custody. Attempts to contact representatives of the Shanghai-based platform have also been unsuccessful, as reported by multiple sources.

Feixiaohao operated as a data aggregation platform that provided real-time data on various digital assets and exchanges. It generated its revenue primarily from listing fees paid by cryptocurrency projects to be on the platform, selling advertising space, and entering into promotional partnerships with exchanges and project teams.

However, following China’s crackdown on the cryptocurrency sector, the platform was forced to cease its operations in mainland China, but this was not enough to end the company’s problems.

The report notes that Feixiaohao has previously been scrutinized for promoting questionable exchanges and scam tokens, which may have led to the investigation. For example, in November 2021, Wu highlighted that the platform advertised the Squid Game token based on a popular Netflix show, which ultimately turned out to be a rug pull.

There is currently a team claiming to be Feixiaohao, but the report claims that this team is not the original. Instead, it is believed to be a new group that has gained access to Feixiaohao’s codebase and is attempting to continue operations using the Feixiaohao brand.

Since labeling cryptocurrency transactions illegal in September 2021, Chinese authorities have continued to crack down on the broader digital asset ecosystem. In 2023 alone, more than 42,000 people were prosecuted in the country for their involvement in fraudulent activities involving cryptocurrencies.

However, as previously reported by crypto.news, crypto-related crimes continue to rise in China.