Resident Loses $200,000; Seven Offshore Platforms Named
On Sept. 3, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez put out a consumer alert warning residents about unregulated offshore DeFi platforms. It came after a resident put $200,000 into what appears to be an unlicensed decentralized crypto trading platform and still has not been able to get the money back. The alert names seven platforms — GMX, Gains Network, dYdX, Aevo, Drift Protocol, Vertex Protocol, and Hyperliquid — but it does not say whether the victim used any of them.
High Leverage and Synthetic Stock Risks
State officials said some of these platforms offer leverage at 50x, 100x, and even up to 250x. Big numbers. Real danger. The perpetual contracts sold on these platforms come with liquidation risk, funding rates, and exposure to weaknesses in smart contracts and oracles. And the alert points to perpetual contracts linked to Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, and SpaceX that rely on synthetic prices, not actual stock prices, which adds still another layer of uncertainty for investors.
What Officials Recommend
Connecticut authorities tell residents to make sure any crypto service is properly registered, keep detailed records of transactions and communications, and report suspected scams right away.