On August 14, 2025, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) issued a second securities fraud warning against Cryptex, targeting its websites cryptex-vip.com and cryptex.to, per. The warning highlights unlicensed DeFi staking services, where users deposit crypto assets with third parties for additional tokens, violating German financial law, per. BaFin’s first warning, issued in July 2025, focused solely on cryptex-vip.com, per. Offering unregistered securities constitutes securities fraud under the German Securities Trading Act, per.
Cryptex, identified as an MLM crypto Ponzi scheme, initially targeted Germany and Austria, with Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) issuing a fraud warning in April 2025, per. BaFin notes that any entity offering banking, financial, securities, or crypto-asset services in Germany requires authorization, which Cryptex lacks, per. The scheme’s operators remain unknown, with ties to Europe based on early recruitment patterns, per. X posts from @CryptoLawyerz suggest Cryptex may be linked to broader Eastern European Ponzi networks, per.
As of July 2025, Cryptex’s websites recorded 307,000 monthly visits, per. SimilarWeb data shows traffic from the U.S. (31%), Germany (12%), Cote d’Ivoire (12%), Switzerland (11%), and Hungary (6%), with declines in Australia and France, per. The shift to Cote d’Ivoire and Hungary indicates Cryptex is targeting new markets to sustain its Ponzi model, per. This aligns with MLM tactics seen in scams like Forsage ($340M in losses), per.
The BaFin warnings underscore risks in unregulated crypto schemes, per. Investors should verify platforms via BaFin’s company database at bafin.de, per. Bitcoin (BTC) ($117,939) and XRP ($2.29) remain stable, per CoinMarketCap, but Cryptex’s fraud could dent DeFi trust. Diversify into USDC or ETH ($4,448) with stop-losses below BTC’s $112,000 to hedge volatility, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for regulatory updates. Cryptex’s ongoing activity may prompt further EU enforcement, per.
