FCoin
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FCoin was a cryptocurrency exchange launched in May 2018 by Zhang Jian, former CTO of Huobi, which pioneered the controversial 'trans-fee mining' model that briefly propelled it to claim the highest trading volume of any exchange globally. In February 2020, Zhang Jian publicly admitted the exchange was insolvent, citing an undetected system error that had over-issued mining rewards since mid-2018, leaving a shortfall estimated at 7,000–13,000 BTC (approximately $125–130 million). No credible compensation has materialized as of available records, and on-chain analysis firms raised allegations of a deliberate exit, though no definitive legal finding has been made.
Connected Entities
2 entities- + 4 more
Timeline(13 events)
May 2018
FCoin exchange launched by Zhang Jian, former Huobi CTO, introducing the 'trans-fee mining' model that reimbursed 100% of trading fees in FT tokens.
CoinDesk — FCoin Crypto Exchange Draws Fire26 June 2018
FCoin reported peak 24-hour trading volume exceeding $17 billion, claiming to surpass Huobi, OKEx, and Binance combined. Industry competitors and analysts raised widespread skepticism about wash trading.
Decrypt — Inside the $130 million meltdown19 July 2018
FCoin's Bitcoin holdings peaked at approximately 13,272 BTC according to subsequent PeckShield on-chain analysis.
CoinDesk — Insolvent Exchange FCoin Had Bitcoin Outflow Problems31 August 2018
FCoin's Bitcoin balance had fallen to approximately 3,759 BTC — a loss of nearly 10,000 BTC in six weeks. PeckShield later concluded the cashflow problem may have emerged at this time.
CoinDesk — Insolvent Exchange FCoin Had Bitcoin Outflow ProblemsJune 2019
FCoin established a complete back-end auditing system approximately mid-2019, according to Zhang Jian's own admission — over a year after the platform launched and after the reward over-issuance error had been running.
CoinDesk — FCoin Insolvent After Revealing Up to $130M ShortfallSeptember 2019
AnChain.AI's analysis found a spike in Bitcoin movements out of FCoin's cold wallets beginning in September 2019, five months before the insolvency announcement.
AnChain.AI — FCoin Exchange Shutdown: Technical Difficulties or Planned Scam?10 February 2020
FCoin announced a burn of 720 million FT tokens. Within days, the exchange suspended all trading and withdrawals citing 'technical upgrades.'
Decrypt — Inside the $130 million meltdown13 February 2020
The final 54 BTC were drained from FCoin's primary cold wallet, according to AnChain.AI's on-chain analysis — four days before the public insolvency announcement.
CoinDesk — Error or Plunder?17 February 2020
Zhang Jian published 'FCoin Truth,' publicly admitting the exchange was insolvent with an estimated shortfall of 7,000–13,000 BTC (approximately $67–130 million). He denied hacking or intentional fraud and attributed the deficit to a data error and poor auditing.
CoinDesk — FCoin Insolvent After Revealing Up to $130M Shortfall21 February 2020
PeckShield published its on-chain report revealing FCoin's Bitcoin outflow problems as early as July 2018, two months after launch.
CoinDesk — Insolvent Exchange FCoin Had Bitcoin Outflow Problems26 February 2020
AnChain.AI published on-chain analysis tracing fund flows from FCoin's cold wallets to multiple exchanges including Huobi, OKEx, Binance, and Gate.io, raising but not conclusively proving exit scam allegations.
CoinDesk — Error or Plunder?March 2020
Zhang Jian resurfaced promising to reopen FCoin and return funds, forming an 'interim committee' (ICPC) to oversee relaunch and compensation. No concrete timeline or verified repayment followed.
Decrypt — China's FCoin plans to reopen, return $130 million in missing Bitcoin2021
FCoin team announced preparations to restart the platform and process refunds, proposing two debt repayment mechanisms including a trading-volume-based unlocking scheme. Subsequent analysis indicated full repayment under the proposed structure would take over 100 years.
ChainCatcher — FCoin Restart InvestigationDecision Log
- hash: 4MYrJdC2KND19kZk7FCuiWzMFu4nCJrNLoVY8ARhWDZU
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 16 of 18 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/31/2026, 6:13:23 PM
last updated: 7/26/2026, 8:02:42 AM
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