A Canada based crypto trading platform has pilfered $13 million from its users. According to a statement issued by the British Columbia Securities Commission (BSC), the exchange in question took the money from its customers and used it for gambling.
The trading platform in question was operated by BC resident David Smillie and called ezBtc. The BSC notes that ezBtc was dissolved in 2022.
A hearing on the matter took place recently where Smillie was represented by his legal counsel.
The BSC explains that ezBtc accepted its first customer deposits on its platform in December 2016. It went offline permanently in or around September 2019. Between 2016 and 2019, customers deposited over 2,300 Bitcoin and over 600 Ether into their ezBtc addresses on the platform.
Around the time ezBTC went dark a forensic analysis by Integra was initiated which determined that ezBtc did not retain custody of customers’ assets in its Bitcoin and Ethereum digital addresses. ezBtc actually transferred incoming assets to other crypto exchanges like Binance and Kraken. A significant portion of the digital assets were sent from Smillie’s exchange accounts to gambling platforms like CloudBet and FortuneJack.
The BSC has yet to determine any penalties or punishments. A hearing at a later date will consider these issues.