In a scathing takedown that’s rocking Asia’s crypto scene, Hong Qi Yu—the founder and CEO of Tokenize Xchange, Singapore’s once-buzzy exchange—faces a blistering $60.5 million collective lawsuit from 272 enraged former customers who claim the platform’s collapse wiped out their life savings, alleging fraudulent misrepresentation and a sham order book that masked thin liquidity while funneling trades to Binance under the table.
The suit, filed in Singapore’s High Court on November 28, 2025, paints Tokenize as a house of cards: users accuse Yu and his wife of propping up a fake central limit order book borrowed from Binance, complete with inflated spreads to siphon fees, while operating under a temporary exemption from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) as they awaited a full Major Payment Institution license. When MAS denied the MPI in July 2025 citing “serious compliance lapses,” Tokenize shuttered overnight, freezing $200+ million in user assets and leaving holders high and dry. The native TOKEN, meant for fee discounts, cratered 80% since the shutdown, now trading at pennies.
Yu’s defense? Stone silence so far, but court docs reveal Tokenize processed $1.2 billion in volume since 2018, luring retail with “zero-fee” hype while allegedly routing 70% of trades externally. Plaintiffs, including retirees and small businesses, detail horror stories: one lost $450K in BTC, another $1.2M in ETH, all vanished without recourse. The suit demands full restitution plus punitive damages, slamming Yu for “egregious breach of trust” in a market still scarred by FTX.
X erupted like a rug-pull alert. #TokenizeScam trended regionally with 120K posts, survivors venting “My retirement, gone—Yu’s living large,” while @CryptoLawAsia warned “Singapore’s clean rep takes a hit; MAS audits incoming for all exchanges.” XRP and SOL dipped 2% on Asia risk-off vibes, but BTC held $90K as traders eyed the fallout.
For Singapore’s crypto hub—home to 1,000+ firms and $2.36T in holdings—this is a gut punch: Tokenize’s implosion echoes 3AC’s 2022 contagion, potentially triggering stricter KYC and $100M+ in frozen funds probes. Yu, once a poster boy for compliant innovation, now embodies the Wild East’s perils. As one plaintiff tweeted, “From trusted exchange to total evaporation—time for real accountability.”
The ledger’s unforgiving. Justice, or just another ghost chain?
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