Crypto firm claiming $1.4B in trades on CMC flashes reportedly fake license data
A number of cryptocurrency platforms reporting billions of dollars in daily trades on CoinMarketCap appear to have been misleading their customers about holding certain crypto licenses, an investigation by Cointelegraph has found.
Bitspay, a crypto exchange that reports a $1.4 billion daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, claimed it held a license in Estonia, and is regulated under Estonian law. However, after Cointelegraph reached out with questions about this license, the company swiftly erased its reportedly fake license data.
At the time of writing, Bitspay is the fourth-largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, following platforms like Binance, BitForex and Topcredit International.
According to Bitspay’s page on CoinMarketCap, it is a centralized exchange (CEX) based in Estonia. The exchange was launched in 2020 and claims to be regulated under the Estonian “Anti Money Laundering Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2019,” which appears to be referring to the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.
Bitspay also claimed it was licensed and regulated by Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). “Bitspay Limited registered with the registration number FVR000796, under the Laws of the Republic of Estonia,” the firm stated on one of its domains, Bitspay.io, until it erased the information immediately following Cointelegraph’s inquiries.
Contacted by Cointelegraph, Estonia’s FIU reported that Bitspay didn’t hold any valid license in Estonia. “We took a look into it, and it seems that the license number which they have previously announced refers to an Estonian company, Globe Assets OÜ,” a spokesperson for the FIU said in a statement on Sept. 21. The license was also valid for less than a year, from March 2019 until January 2020, the representative noted.
The FIU didn’t respond to additional questions about Bitspay’s legal status in Estonia.
Bitspay was showing its website visitors information on the license mentioned above until at least Sept. 18, 2023. The firm subsequently rebranded its website from the briefly unavailable Bitspay.io to Bitspay.global on Sept. 21, removing all data about being registered or regulated in Estonia.
At the time of writing, Bitspay has not provided any information about its registration or license status on its new website. The exchange also claims on its website that its daily trading volume amounts to 65,249 Bitcoin (BTC), or $1.7 billion. However, the exchange appears only to have around 400 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and some 16,000 members on its Telegram channel.
Kelly Nova, who is said to be the founder and CEO of Bitspay, told Cointelegraph that the exchange is working on licenses in both Estonia and the United Kingdom. “We have some copyright issues, and that’s why we closed the Bitspay.io domain,” he said. The exec didn’t respond to Cointelegraph’s request for further information about Bitspay founders or why the firm previously claimed to have a license in Estonia on its website.
Bitspay appears to be far from the only platform reporting massive trading volumes on CoinMarketCap despite little being known about its licenses, founders or background. Exchanges like Topcredit, which reports $1.8 billion in daily trading volume on CoinMarketCap, and Bika, which reports $1.2 billion, have been unwilling to talk to Cointelegraph about their background and founders.
“We have long been aware that self-reported data can be problematic, but APIs are the only viable source for data collection,” a spokesperson for CoinMarketCap told Cointelegraph.
The representative also referred to the website’s scoring system, pointing out that platforms like Bitspay, Topcredit or Bika have a significantly lower score than major exchanges like Binance, which has owned CoinMarketCap since April 2020. “We always encourage our users to perform their own due diligence, especially with low-scoring exchanges,” the spokesperson said, adding:
“We know our data isn’t infallible. Our role is as an objective and comprehensive information aggregator, not a regulator. […] In short, CMC numbers are as credible as they can be, using our industry leading experience, technology, verification methodology and feedback loops […]”
The spokesperson cited the crypto adage “don’t trust, verify” and said it embodies a foundational principle of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Related: Hong Kong to list ‘suspicious’ crypto platforms in wake of JPEX scandal
According to a public announcement, Bitspay was listed on CoinMarketCap in July 2023. CoinMarketCap’s primary rival, CoinGecko, hasn’t listed this website, nor has it listed Topcredit or Bika. Despite this discrepancy, CoinGecko has significantly more spot exchanges listed than CoinMarketCap. At the time of writing, CoinGecko lists a total of 784 exchanges, while CoinMarketCap lists only 225.
Websites like CoinMarketCap have frequently been criticized for providing inflated exchange trading volumes. In 2019, Bitwise Asset Management claimed that 95% of volumes on unregulated exchanges reported on CoinMarketCap were fake or non-economic wash trading in nature. Another investigation by data analytics firm The TIE suggested in 2019 that more than 86% of reported crypto trading volume appeared suspicious.
Sir Keir Starmer has said the government will not relax visa rules for India, as he embarks upon a two-day trade trip to Mumbai.
The prime minister touched down this morning with dozens of Britain’s most prominent business people, including bosses from BA, Barclays, Standard Chartered, BT and Rolls-Royce.
Follow updates in the Politics Hub
The first full-blown trade mission to India since Theresa May was prime minister, it’s designed to boost ties between the two countries.
Sir Keir – whose face has been plastered over posters and billboards across Mumbai – will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, five months after the UK signed the first trade deal with India since Brexit.
The agreement has yet to be implemented, with controversial plans to waive national insurance for workers employed by big Indian businesses sent to the UK still the subject of a forthcoming consultation.
Sir Keir Starmer with his business delegation. Pic: PA
However, the business delegation is likely to use the trip to lobby the prime minister not to put more taxes on them in the November budget.
Sir Keir has already turned down the wish of some CEOs on the trip to increase the number of visas.
Speaking to journalists on the plane on the way out, he said: “The visa situation hasn’t changed with the free trade agreement, and therefore we didn’t open up more visas.”
He told business that it wasn’t right to focus on visas, telling them: “The issue is not about visas.
“It’s about business-to-business engagement and investment and jobs and prosperity coming into the UK.”
Narendra Modi and Keir Starmer during a press conference in July. Pic: PA
No birthday wishes for Putin
The prime minister sidestepped questions about Mr Modi’s support of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, whom he wished a happy birthday on social media. US President Donald Trump has increased tariffs against India, alleging that Indian purchases of Russian oil are supporting the war in Ukraine.
Asked about Mr Modi wishing Mr Putin happy birthday, and whether he had leverage to talk to Mr Modi about his relationship with Russia, Sir Keir sidestepped the question.
“Just for the record, I haven’t… sent birthday congratulations to Putin, nor am I going to do so,” he said.
“I don’t suppose that comes as a surprise. In relation to energy, and clamping down on Russian energy, our focus as the UK, and we’ve been leading on this, is on the shadow fleet, because we think that’s the most effective way.
“We’ve been one of the lead countries in relation to the shadow fleet, working with other countries.”
PM: We aren’t forcing wealthy people out
Sir Keir refused to give business leaders any comfort about the budget and tax hikes, despite saying in his conference speech that he recognised the last budget had an impact.
“What I acknowledged in my conference, and I’ve acknowledged a number of times now, is we asked a lot of business in the last budget. It’s important that I acknowledge that, and I also said that that had helped us with growth and stabilising the economy,” he added. “I’m not going to make any comment about the forthcoming budget, as you would expect; no prime minister or chancellor ever does.”
Asked if too many wealthy people were leaving London, he said: “No. We keep a careful eye on the figures, as you would expect.
“The measures that we took at the last budget are bringing a considerable amount of revenue into the government which is being used to fix things like the NHS. We keep a careful eye on the figures.”
Politics
Spying trial collapsed after government refused to brand China a threat, says top prosecutor
A Chinese spying trial collapsed last month after the UK government would not label Beijing a national security threat, a top prosecutor has said.
Christopher Berry, 33, and former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash, 30, were accused of espionage for China.
But the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced on 15 September that the charges would be dropped, sparking criticism from Downing Street and MPs.
Berry, of Witney, Oxfordshire, and Cash, from Whitechapel, east London, had denied accusations of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023.
Politics latest: Badenoch insists ‘Jenrick is not the Tory leader’
Director of public prosecutions Stephen Parkinson. Pic: PA
Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions (DPP), told MPs in a letter on Tuesday that the CPS had tried “over many months” to get the evidence it needed to carry out the prosecution, but it had not been forthcoming from the Labour government.
However, Sir Keir Starmer insisted the decision to brand China a threat would have to have been taken under the last Conservative administration.
The prime minister said: “You can’t prosecute someone two years later in relation to a designation that wasn’t in place at the time.”
It is understood that the decision to end the case came after a meeting of senior officials which, according to The Sunday Times, included Jonathan Powell, the national security adviser, and Sir Oliver Robins, the Foreign Office’s top diplomat.
To prove the case under the Official Secrets Act of 1911, prosecutors would have to show the defendants were acting for an “enemy”.
Both the current Labour government and the previous Conservative governments have not labelled China a risk to national security.
In his letter to the chairs of the Commons home and justice select committees, Mr Parkinson said: “It was considered that further evidence should be obtained.
“Efforts to obtain that evidence were made over many months, but notwithstanding the fact that further witness statements were provided, none of these stated that at the time of the offence China represented a threat to national security, and by late August 2025 it was realised that this evidence would not be forthcoming.
“When this became apparent, the case could not proceed.”
He also pointed out that in a separate case about Russian spying last year, a judge ruled that an “enemy” under the 1911 Act must be a country that represents a threat to national security of the UK “at the time of the offence”.
The prime minister answered reporters’ questions about the collapse of the case while on a flight to Mumbai. Pic: PA
How has the government responded?
Sir Keir has addressed the contents of the letter, which he said he had “read at speed”, while on board a flight to Mumbai, as part of the UK’s largest ever trade mission to India.
The PM said: “What matters is what the designation [of China] was in 2023, because that’s when the offence was committed and that’s when the relevant period was.
“Statements were drawn up at the time according to the then government policy, and they haven’t been changed in relation to it, that was the position then.
“I might just add, nor could the position change, because it was the designation at the time that matters.”
Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, added that he wasn’t “saying that defensively”, but because “as a prosecutor, I know that… it is what the situation at the time that matters”.
He also declined to criticise the CPS or the DPP, as he said “it’s wise not to”.
Since the alleged spying offences took place, the new National Security Act has superseded elements of the 1911 Act.
But Conservatives, including shadow home secretary Chris Philp, insist that Sir Keir has “very serious questions to personally answer”.
The AFL-CIO says the Senate’s crypto framework bill “provides the facade of regulation” that would expose workers’ retirement funds to risky assets.
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