Australian Regulator Flags Bitget for 125x-Leveraged Crypto Futures Offerings

Bitget, a crypto exchange operating in Australia under the supervision of the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), has recently faced scrutiny from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Despite being registered with AUSTRAC, ASIC has explicitly stated that Bitget is not authorized to provide financial services within the country.

The concern arises from Bitget’s offering of highly leveraged crypto futures products, allowing users to speculate on the future price movements of cryptocurrencies with leverage of up to 125x. While such derivatives offer the potential for significant profits, they also expose investors to substantial risks, magnifying both gains and losses.

ASIC’s warning is not an isolated case; since 2022, multiple regulatory bodies including those in Japan, Malaysia, Cyprus, France, and Germany have issued alerts regarding Bitget’s unauthorized operations. Despite these regulatory red flags, Bitget has rapidly expanded its user base, surpassing 100 million customers globally and ranking as the world’s second-largest crypto exchange by user numbers, closely trailing behind Binance.

According to Sam Boolman, ChainIntel’s lead analyst, the increasing regulatory scrutiny on Bitget underscores the growing concerns surrounding high-leverage crypto trading platforms. While these platforms offer opportunities for amplified gains, they also pose significant risks to investors, especially retail traders who may not fully understand the complexities of leveraged trading.