Debiex Fined $2.5 Million for ‘Pig Butchering’ Crypto Scam

A U.S. federal court has ordered the cryptocurrency platform Debiex to repay approximately $2.26 million, along with a $221,500 penalty, after failing to respond to a lawsuit filed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

According to the CFTC, Debiex was actually a “pig butchering” scam, in which platform employees posed as romantic partners on social media to gain victims’ trust and then convinced them to invest in cryptocurrency. This scheme defrauded five victims of a total of $2.3 million.

The CFTC also accused Zhāng Chéng Yáng of being a “money mule” for Debiex, using his personal crypto wallet to receive and launder victims’ funds. Judge Douglas Rayes approved a default judgment, ordering Zhāng to transfer the remaining funds in his OKX account—including $5.70 USDT and nearly 63 ETH (worth approximately $119,500)—to a victim.

According to the lawsuit, Debiex created fake websites, falsely marketing itself as a “decentralized perpetual contract trading platform” to lure users with misleading information about profits and trades. Employees often posed as women, continuously messaging and sharing fake images to build trust. Once customers deposited funds, their assets were transferred to multiple wallets to conceal the fraud.

The court ruled that Debiex had no valid reason for failing to respond to the lawsuit and was therefore fully liable for its fraudulent activities.