WikiBit Exchange Exit Risk Ranking #18: Poloniex — How Did the 12-Year “Living Fossil” of the Crypto Industry Become a “Top Wanted Target” in the Eyes of Regulators?
Preface: The Two Sides of a “Legacy Brand” In the previous 17 editions, we investigated a series of exchanges ranging from HashKey to BigONE. Today, in the 18th edition, we turn our attention to a true “ancient beast” of the crypto world — Poloniex. Its résumé could be described as a “living fossil among crypto exchanges”: “Founded in 2014,” “12 years of operating history,” “one of the earliest exchanges to introduce Proof of Reserves (PoR),” “maintaining a reserve ratio above 100% for 20 consecutive months,” “a $100 million user protection fund,” “daily trading volume exceeding $1.1 billion in April 2026, surpassing Bitget and MEXC,” “supporting more than 350 cryptocurrencies” — doesnt that sound like the perfect image of a “long-established and reliable major exchange”? But on the other side of the story: The Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA) issued a public warning in March 2026, stating that the company operating Poloniex had already been dissolved on January 1, 2022, and was no longer a legitimate legal entity. The U.S. SEC previously fined Poloniex $10 million, accusing it of knowingly operating an unregistered securities trading platform. Indias Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-IND) ordered Poloniex to be blocked for violating anti-money laundering regulations. Trustpilot gave Poloniex a score of only 2.0/5,





