February 6, 2026

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

Gareth Winter

Dec 29 · 3 min read

BTSE have been widely called out for operating a scheme to pass their exchange off as a licensed and regulated, and hugely popular cryptocurrency and derivatives exchange by making deceptive claims. You can read about it here.

In defense, Jonathan Leong CEO of BTSE went on the offensive taking to Whaleclub’s Telegram channel to warn he will sue anyone who calls them out.

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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https://telegram.me/whalepoolbtc/2955236

Then came a bizarre flex – he justified their Commercial Brokers license by citing a Coindesk article from 2014 that announced IGOT.com as “UAE’s First Bitcoin Exchange Launches in Dubai”. Do these guys ever bother to check anything before opening their mouths?

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://telegram.me/whalepoolbtc/2955238

This was then repeated on his Twitter a couple of days later (archive link):

The problem is IGOT was a monumental scam. A super quick search of the Dubai business license registry fails to show any licenses were issued for a company called IGOT and as this search also shows old and expired licenses if they existed before.

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://eservices.dubaided.gov.ae/Pages/Anon/CompLookup.aspx

It appears to be a bizarre coincidence how both IGOT and BTSE both arrived at the same deceptive scheme to pass off a Commercial Brokers business license as a cryptocurrency exchange license which was talked about in the previous article here.

20 seconds with Google reveal a sordid story of the IGOT scam. Here is a small selection:

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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https://themerkle.com/igot-exchange-scam-the-worst-bitcoin-exchange-still-in-operation/
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-exchange-igot-challenges-scam-allegations (Aug 2015 archive)
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1065373.0
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=975176.0;all
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1004177.0
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/3gypoj/igotcom_possible_exit_scam_warning_or_yet_another/
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-11/australian-bitcoin-exchange-igot-on-verge-of-collapse/7315894
BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinMarkets/comments/3a0wrr/igot_scam_continue_with_list_of_victim/

IGOT eventually closed down:

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: https://siliconangle.com/2015/08/24/australian-bitcoin-exchange-igot-ceases-trading-may-have-been-an-indian-based-scam/ (August 2015)

Lastly, threatening the cryptocurrency community for exercising their “don’t trust, verify” mantra is the clearest sign that something is remiss as /biz/ was quick to point out:

BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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BTSE CEO defends exchange scam citing a previous scam

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source: 4chan/biz/ https://warosu.org/biz/thread/S16652639 (archive: http://archive.is/BJrQ6)

If BTSE’s defense is IGOT, then have I got news for you…

Published at Sun, 29 Dec 2019 03:24:29 +0000

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