Five days after the catastrophic August 19 liquidation event that wiped out thousands of trader accounts, SBCFX (StarBridge Capital) dropped another bombshell on August 24 – it is exiting the Asian market entirely.
Victims who lost everything in the blowout did not receive a compensation plan. Instead, they received a wind-down notice.
The Official Exit Timeline
According to SBCFX's August 24 announcement:
| Deadline (GMT+3) |
Action |
| Aug 25, 23:00 |
New positions prohibited; only closing allowed |
| Aug 31, 00:00 |
Copy-trading community services end |
| Sept 2, 23:00 |
All positions must be closed – otherwise forced liquidation at market price |
| Sept 4, 13:00 |
Final withdrawal deadline via CRM system – after this, only manual email requests (cs@sbcfx.com) with extended processing times |
| Sept 30, 00:00 |
MT5 trading system and CRM fully shut down – no further access |
Beijing time (GMT+8) is 5 hours ahead of GMT+3.
No Mention of Compensation
SBCFX's "exit" announcement is a unilateral liquidation schedule – not an answer to the question "who will compensate the victims?".
In its first statement on August 21, SBCFX promised to "refund the platform commission fees generated by the third-party strategy provider in copy-trading". But this promise is completely absent from the exit announcement. With the platform rushing to shut down, any unfulfilled promise now risks becoming void.
The August 19 Blowout: What Happened
At approximately 21:34:48 to 21:34:50 on August 19, hundreds of SBCFX accounts were hit by abnormally large gold short orders within just 1–3 seconds. Accounts that normally traded less than 1 lot suddenly saw orders of 104 lots, 173 lots, or more. Some accounts with $650,000 in deposits lost nearly $160,000 in a single trade and went negative.
The platform blamed a "third-party strategy provider" for the incident on August 21, but this explanation has been met with widespread skepticism.
Hong Kong Police: Case Classified as Fraud
Hong Kong police have confirmed they received multiple reports regarding the SBCFX incident:
Reported unrecovered funds: approximately HK$6.63 million
Case status: provisionally classified as "fraud"
Investigation unit: Central Police District Criminal Investigation Team 3
No arrests made so far
Approximately 180 investors have filed police reports as of August 24
Image source: Caixin Global
According to Caixin, SBCFX's Hong Kong office at The Center in Central is already vacant. Investors who went to meet with management found an empty office.
What Investors Must Do Now
If you still have funds on SBCFX:
Submit your withdrawal request IMMEDIATELY – before September 4, 13:00 GMT+3 (18:00 Beijing time)
Close all open positions before the forced liquidation deadline
Download and save all MT5 logs, account statements, and trading records before September 30
If you lost funds in the August 19 blowout:
Preserve all transaction records, order tickets, server logs, and communication screenshots
File complaints with regulators (ASIC, FSCA, FSA) and the Financial Commission
Cooperate with the Hong Kong police investigation
Do not wait. Once the September 30 deadline passes, you will lose all access to your account data and trading records.
Conclusion
SBCFX operated for just 8 months as a brand. In five days, it went from a mass blowout → blaming a third party → announcing an Asian exit.
This is not an "exit." This is an exit scam.
For affected investors, time is running out. Act now.
