Asian Crypto Company Charged Over Illegal Investment Scheme
A major crypto scandal is unfolding in Taiwan, where four top figures from the digital asset platform Steaker are now facing serious criminal charges.
Authorities allege the company raised tens of millions of dollars through unapproved crypto investment plans, in clear violation of local financial laws. The case, now being handled by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, centers on accusations that the company operated without the necessary banking licenses while collecting investor funds.
At the heart of the investigation is Steaker’s founder, Huang Weixuan, along with three other senior executives who played key roles in the company’s operations. Prosecutors are not only targeting the individuals but are also seeking penalties against the company itself under financial regulations typically reserved for unauthorized deposit-taking schemes.
Steaker reportedly launched a series of investment programs in 2019, advertising unusually high annual returns that stretched up to 88%. These offers, made in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, were presented as low-risk and allegedly protected by a security fund established in collaboration with a cybersecurity firm. However, financial watchdogs claim this structure mimicked traditional deposit-taking behavior, something that’s tightly controlled under Taiwan’s legal framework.
Further complicating matters, investigators claim the capital raised was eventually moved to crypto exchange FTX, into wallets managed by Huang. There, the funds were used for trading strategies aimed at generating profits through lending and arbitrage. But when FTX collapsed in November 2022, those assets vanished, leaving Steaker unable to meet its financial obligations to investors.
Documents also suggest that some of the digital assets were redirected before the crash, used for things like employee salaries and payments to third-party traders—raising more questions about internal fund management.
Responding to the allegations, Huang posted a statement online asserting that Steaker’s use of cross-chain assets doesn’t fall under the traditional definition of deposit-taking or money laundering. The company has also pushed back against regulators’ move to classify crypto assets as equivalent to fiat currency under current banking laws—an interpretation that could reshape how digital assets are treated in Taiwan moving forward.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
