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Catalyx crypto exchange permanently barred, CEO fined $90,000
Alberta Securities Commission permanently bars Catalyx crypto exchange after receiver found $14M USD in client assets missing, with just $150K left. CEO fined $90,000, banned six years. Regulator still pursuing former CFO for fraud.
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The Alberta Securities Commission has permanently barred the former Calgary crypto exchange Catalyx from operating and fined its CEO Hyuk Jae Park $90,000 after an investigation found roughly $14 million USD in client crypto assets missing from company accounts.
Catalyx operated from 2019 until 2024. The ASC shut it down in December 2023 with a cease-trade order after a security breach that led to the loss of millions in client cryptocurrency. Under that order the company was prohibited from trading securities or derivatives until January 2025. Shortly after the order Catalyx suspended all withdrawals. In January 2026 the company formally entered receivership.
The ASC said the penalty followed a court-appointed receiver's discovery that company records showed $14 million USD ($20 million CAD) in client assets but only $150,000 USD in assets actually present in company accounts. The shortfall was attributed to unauthorized withdrawals and the use of crypto assets for purposes unrelated to Catalyx client activity.
Park failed to notify the ASC of the asset loss until Dec. 21, 2023, even though he discovered it in November that year, the regulator said.
“The safeguarding of client assets and timely reporting of material breaches are core investor protection requirements,” the ASC said in a statement. “When those obligations are not met, the ASC will take enforcement action.”