I just finished reading about the collapse of the Jereh platform in Shenzhen — and it’s just a wild story. Over 150,000 investors were left without their money because the platform operated on a completely insane scheme. Without any real gold in the accounts, they offered people 40x leverage. Can you imagine? At the slightest gold price spike, this entire pyramid collapses.

In January, they simply shut down withdrawals. A mass crowd gathered at the office, people demanding their money back, and the company offered to return a maximum of 6% of what they invested. It’s like getting a third-degree disability in a financial sense — a complete loss of capacity to manage your own capital.

The craziest part is—they make investors sign some “criminal pardon letters,” essentially waiving any rights to legal proceedings. Many refuse, but there’s not much of a choice. Local authorities set up some working group, but it seems no one really intends to help the people.

And the main thing is — this isn’t an isolated case. There are plenty of unlicensed gold platforms like this in China, and they all operate on the same scheme. While regulators are asleep, investors keep losing money. It’s an old story, but every time, people fall for the same trap.