Canadian cryptocurrency exchange ezBtc and its founder misappropriated $9.5 million in customer funds for gambling

According to Cointelegraph, Canadian cryptocurrency exchange platform ezBtc and its founder David Smillie misappropriated approximately CAD 13 million (USD 9.5 million) of customer cryptocurrency assets and used these funds for gambling, thus deceiving customers. The ezBtc platform permanently closed around September 2019 and dissolved in 2022, claiming to have stored all of its users' cryptocurrency investments in cold wallets. During its operation from 2016 to 2019, ezBtc accumulated over 2,300 bitcoins and more than 600 ETH from cryptocurrency investors.