HitBTC has been holding my ETH for 5 YEARS under a fake "AML investigation

[yurakhl]

What happened:

Scammers Profile Link: https://hitbtc.com/


Your username: yurakhl
Amount Scammed: about 6.44137139 ETH
Payment Method: P2P
Proof of Payment: 
Amount   Currency   Hash
6.44137139   eth   0x6ac177be8793f6173ea6f075f36bcf121ba82054f0465d8523e068ee8ba515e6
PM/Chat Logs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y_PCarrhybEImdVMQlXgmSI2Eh3FQjet?usp=sharing

Additional Notes:


Hi everyone,
I am posting this as a desperate measure and a severe warning to anyone still keeping their funds on HitBTC.
Four years ago, I deposited some Ethereum into my HitBTC account. Almost immediately, my withdrawals were frozen. Support contacted me, claiming that the ETH was "suspicious" or "stolen" and that they were launching an AML investigation.
I was ready to cooperate and prove the origin of my funds. But here is the catch: it has been 5 YEARS.
For 60 months, support has been giving me the exact same copy-paste replies: "The investigation is still ongoing, please be patient." They refuse to provide any proof, any deadlines, or any legal documents (like a court order) that would legally allow them to freeze my assets for half a decade.
It is obvious that there is no real investigation. They are simply using KYC/AML as an excuse to confiscate user funds. I have multiple tickets over the years proving this endless loop.
HitBTC Support, if you are reading this, my ticket number is #
•   1545238
•   1665366
•   1649617
•   681645
•   505944
•   1417683
•   1404317
•   1410887
•   1405352
]. I demand a public explanation of why an AML check takes 4 years without a court order.
Has anyone else been in this situation with them? Did you manage to get your crypto back, or is it a lost cause? Please upvote for visibility so others don't fall into this trap.


 

[coupable]

I demand a public explanation of why an AML check takes 4 years without a court order.

I regret to inform you that you will not get any answer from them, neither here nor anywhere else, because they don't have any officially accredited representation anywhere. It's a scam service.

Has anyone else been in this situation with them?

Many users lost their money in this scam service, especially users from countries they know they can't file a complaint against them. It's a selective scam.

Did you manage to get your crypto back, or is it a lost cause?

It is a lost cause. Strange that you didn't realize this for along 5 years.

Please upvote for visibility so others don't fall into this trap.

Thanks for your good willings. This is the best you can do.

[albon]

It is obvious that there is no real investigation. They are simply using KYC/AML as an excuse to confiscate user funds. I have multiple tickets over the years proving this endless loop.

I agree with you. The platform’s reputation and user reviews strongly support your claims.

Many had their funds frozen under AML/KYC policies without clear explanations or evidence. Even users who provided all the required documents often didn’t get their issues resolved. This clearly gives the platform a very poor reputation in this regard. I’m sorry for your loss especially considering it was in ETH which has significantly increased in value since 2022.

I hope that your topic will be a reference for many to avoid this platform, and always do proper research before trusting any exchange.

Has anyone else been in this situation with them? Did you manage to get your crypto back, or is it a lost cause? Please upvote for visibility so others don't fall into this trap.

Be cautious of recovery services or anyone who contacts you claiming they can help get your funds back as they are scammers, so do not trust them.

[logfiles]

hey are simply using KYC/AML as an excuse to confiscate user funds. I have multiple tickets over the years proving this endless loop.

This is what they have been doing for ages. The endless and impossible KYC verification is designed to make customers give up so they can steal the funds

I demand a public explanation of why an AML check takes 4 years without a court order.

That certainly won't be possible here. They even abandoned the forum. This is their current bad reputation - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=194708

Has anyone else been in this situation with them? Did you manage to get your crypto back, or is it a lost cause? Please upvote for visibility so others don't fall into this trap.

Probably a lost cause. So many people have been in a similar situation as yours with no solution at all. I don't remember any one of the complainants every getting back their money

See what comes up in the scam accusation board - https://bitlist.co/search?content=HitBTC&board_id=83&limit=20&sort_by=date_desc

[Coyster]

Another HitBTC victim, doesn't surprise people who have been here long enough. Just like Freewallet, HitBTC has been selectively scamming their customers for years, and here is the kicker, they do it with impunity, that's they just get away with it.

That said, the sad truth is you are not getting your money back from them. I don't know where you live and if you can possible file a case against them, though i don't think i've seen anyone do that successfully and then you also have to factor in the cost of litigation.

[robelneo]

It's been five years, but it's not too late to post your report. I admire your patience in continuing to hope that you are going to get your money back with your continuous interaction with them.
Its unlikley that you are going to get your money, consider it a loss, just continue to tell people not to use Hitbtc if they value their money, there are far better and reputable exchanges.

[bitbollo]

they have a "bad reputation" since many years and I have seen many issues - just search online few examples ...
Initially they have been reputable in the industry but afterwards many complaints arised online
Have you tried to reach some blockchain association/or some lawyers specialized in this kind of issues? I don't think this is something "public", based on their reputation, I would try to seek the next step on this ...

[FinneysTrueVision]

In your email conversation with customer support, they claimed that to have frozen the funds but this is untrue, they were moved to their hot wallet.



Perhaps the law enforcement inquiry came after they had already sent the ETH to their hot wallet, but if that were the case I don’t know why they would lie and say the ETH was frozen. Given the many red flags around this exchange, I would not trust anything they say. It should not take 5 years to complete an investigation. In all likelihood, they are scamming you. The only possibility you have left of recovering those funds would be to put legal pressure on them, although due to financial costs this may not be feasible.

[tutyses123]

I've had 8.61 ETH frozen by Freewallet.org since 2025. They are the same people behind HitBTC

14 months. Full documentation submitted. Every
requirement met generates a new impossible one.

On-chain data shows every deposit was automatically
routed to HitBTC Hot Wallet 1 on arrival. Undisclosed.

Filed with IC3, Action Fraud UK, Cloudflare, Namecheap.

Active thread with all documentation: x.com/tutyses

If you're a victim, reply here or follow the thread.

[JeromeTash]

-snip-

I can't believe you used Freewallet even in 2025 after years of countless scam accusations and warnings around here. Yes, I know both services can not be trusted but just to be clear how are the two services related?
Can you help point out the details about the owners of both platforms?

[hugeblack]

Filed with IC3, Action Fraud UK, Cloudflare, Namecheap.
If you're a victim, reply here or follow the thread.

I don't think creating more threads about Freewallet will stop them from their scam. They've been doing it for years, so if you're serious, start by hiring a lawyer (or creating a thread to do so) and with some media and legal pressure, authorities might move to stop them.

[tutyses123]

I didn't deposit in 2025, i did it on 2021 but they blocked my account in 2025

The connection between freewallet and HITBTC is on-chain and verifiable by anyone.
Every ETH deposit made to wallet 0x7c3d70220cf1d3fd1c55fd9259bdecf4fab91f54 was automatically forwarded to "HitBTC Hot Wallet 1" immediately upon arrival. You can verify this directly on Etherscan.
This automatic routing was never disclosed to users. The pattern is documented independently by Bitcoin Insider, Finance Magnates, and Digiconomist in their investigations of HitBTC.
Ongoing documentation: x.com/tutyses

[coupable]

Every ETH deposit made to wallet 0x7c3d70220cf1d3fd1c55fd9259bdecf4fab91f54 was automatically forwarded to "HitBTC Hot Wallet 1" immediately upon arrival. You can verify this directly on Etherscan.
This automatic routing was never disclosed to users. The pattern is documented independently by Bitcoin Insider, Finance Magnates, and Digiconomist in their investigations of HitBTC.

Can you please share resources to prove the connection between the two scam services? All what I can find online are assumptions based only on user reviews. However, proving this info doesn't surprise me since both services are not ashamed to build the bad reputation by keep scamming more people.

I saw you comment in Reddit calling for other victims to provide their cases as a testimony. Are you willing to fill a lawsuit against the organization/individuals behind hitbtc and freewallet?

There are still people who attest that they use these services safely. Regardless of those, and as they are still operating, they can be considered as selective scams.

[albon]

Can you please share resources to prove the connection between the two scam services? All what I can find online are assumptions based only on user reviews. However, proving this info doesn't surprise me since both services are not ashamed to build the bad reputation by keep scamming more people.

I saw you comment in Reddit calling for other victims to provide their cases as a testimony. Are you willing to fill a lawsuit against the organization/individuals behind hitbtc and freewallet?

There are still people who attest that they use these services safely. Regardless of those, and as they are still operating, they can be considered as selective scams.

He shared what he believes is evidence linking the two services on his X account,

Regardless of how their connection is proven or whether it can be fully verified, there are many reports of users losing money and complaints about both services

If he really wants to take legal action, he should go ahead and he may refer to the cases documented by victims in this forum. He may also prepare a comprehensive report. BTW, Evidence of funds moving on-chain It could be useful evidence in an official investigation..

I would advise him to avoid any asset recovery services and to submit complaints only to official authorities, while also avoiding fake or impersonating websites.

[The Cryptovator]

I've had 8.61 ETH frozen by Freewallet.org since 2025. They are the same people behind HitBTC

14 months. Full documentation submitted. Every
requirement met generates a new impossible one.

On-chain data shows every deposit was automatically
routed to HitBTC Hot Wallet 1 on arrival. Undisclosed.

You should raise separate scam accusations if you haven't been raised yet. I believe I have seen Freewallet scam accusations on the forum, so you should create another. The amount seems quite big; before using a wallet, you should be careful and search about it. I am afraid you might lose it forever since they are likely scammers.

Regarding OP, HitBTC is a scammy exchange. I don't have any hope about refunding your money. Even in ten years they aren't likely to respond and solve your issues. From the forum end, we are hopeless. I am not sure even they have an account here; if so, please add their forum account links. So we may tag them from our ends.

[coupable]

I am not sure even they have an account here; if so, please add their forum account links. So we may tag them from our ends.

Yes the have an official account [1] here in bitcointalk, but he was last active in 2020, and already red tagged by many. He was active in the scam accusations threads until August 2020.
Also they have an ANN thread [2] created in 2013 but they had announced [3] to move official annoucements/discussions to hitbtc official forum one year later. Their forum isn't active anymore.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=194708
[2] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=378827.0
[3] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=818963.0

[RGBTC]

Can you please share resources to prove the connection between the two scam services? All what I can find online are assumptions based only on user reviews. However, proving this info doesn't surprise me since both services are not ashamed to build the bad reputation by keep scamming more people.

I'm not interested in experimenting, given the risks, but this assumption seems relevant considering how user deposit sweeps generally work on centralized exchanges. Every time someone creates a Freewallet wallet, they're automatically reflected on HitBTC as a new user.

However, I wonder why, with access to sophisticated analytical and intelligence tools, no one has been able to take down these two services and apprehend their owners.

[AakZaki]

5 years ago meant about 2021 ago, then what was your real motivation for using HitBTC, whereas a much better CEX already existed at that time like Binance? I used HitBTC once at the time, because I felt that the transaction fees and withdrawal fees were unreasonable compared to other CEXs so I abandoned it.

I think HitBTC is a kind of revenge, When they spend a lot of money on promotions but are still abandoned by their customers, so they try to scam under the pretext of AML checks.
I have always felt that this HitBTC is not in order, which is why I left the memories of the HitBTC account without any balance in it.

If you are still considering the future CEX Exchange, choose the most popular one.