Poloniex: what the sources say

Regulation, reserves, fees

Reserves note: Not checked: Poloniex pages are JavaScript-only; no PoR source read.

Incidents and regulator actions found

Security incidents

• 2023-11-10 About USD 120 million (estimates USD 114-130 million) drained from Poloniex hot wallets; attributed by some analysts to Lazarus Group (not confirmed). Poloniex offered a 5% bounty. Outcome: Founder Justin Sun said Poloniex would reimburse affected funds from operating revenue and that deposits/withdrawals would gradually resume (statement reported by The Record/The Register; actual reimbursement not independently verified). source

Regulator and court actions

• 2021-08-09 US Securities and Exchange Commission: SEC order found Poloniex LLC operated an unregistered national securities exchange from July 2017 to November 2019 (when Poloniex sold its platform), listing digital assets that were securities. This concerns the earlier US-owned Poloniex LLC; link to the present operator not verified. Outcome: Without admitting or denying, agreed to cease-and-desist order and to pay disgorgement $8,484,313, prejudgment interest $403,995 and civil penalty $1.5M (total $10,388,309); Fair Fund established. Official or regulator database source
• 2021-05-25 (allegations); decision reported 2022-10-28 Ontario Securities Commission / Capital Markets Tribunal: Proceedings against Polo Digital Assets Ltd. (Poloniex) for non-compliance with Ontario registration and prospectus requirements. Outcome: Permanent ban, CAD 1.5 million penalty, USD 1.8 million disgorgement and CAD 138,371.50 costs (per Investment Executive). Page dated 2022-10-28; exact decision date not stated. PRESS OR OTHER SOURCE · official text not found source
• 2026-03-25 Financial Services Authority, Seychelles: FSA warned that poloniex.com, allegedly operated by Polo Digital Assets Ltd, has no authorisation under the VASP Act 2024; the company was struck off and dissolved on 2022-01-01. Outcome: Public warning; no penalty stated. Official or regulator database source

What we could not verify

Incident and legal web searches NOT run (search budget exhausted): incidents_searched=false, legal_searched=false; empty incidents means NOT CHECKED (not 'none'). The SEC item was fetched directly. Not verified: operating entity, licences, Italy/EU acceptance, OAM, proof of reserves, spot/futures fee schedule. CoinGecko (third-party) lists country Seychelles; not used as a verified fact.

Facts are as of 9 Oct 2026. We ran a limited number of searches per exchange, so an empty list is not proof that nothing happened. We did not check the Italian OAM register. Items from press or third parties are reports, not findings by an authority. If something here is wrong or out of date, send a correction with a source: corrections policy. Education only, not investment advice.

Sources

1. [1] ESMA interim MiCA CASP register CSV accessed 2026-10-09
2. [2] SEC press release 2021-147: SEC Charges Poloniex for Operating Unregistered Digital Asset Exchange accessed 2026-10-09
3. [3] Poloniex public API: currencies v2 (withdrawal fees) accessed 2026-10-09
4. [4] Poloniex public API: spot markets accessed 2026-10-09
5. [5] Poloniex public API: futures instruments accessed 2026-10-09
6. [6] Poloniex public API: futures funding rate accessed 2026-10-09
7. [7] Poloniex API docs: feeinfo endpoint (fee schedule page is JS-only) accessed 2026-10-09
8. [8] CoinGecko exchange profile: Poloniex (third-party) accessed 2026-10-09
9. [9] The Register: Poloniex hot wallet hack accessed 2026-10-09
10. [10] Investment Executive: Poloniex banned, sanctioned (Ontario) accessed 2026-10-09
11. [11] FSA Seychelles warning: poloniex.com accessed 2026-10-09