Original Title: "From AEX Founder to a Prisoner: The Story of Tianwei Huang's Arrest in Thailand"

Original Author: 1912212.eth, Foresight News

On June 12, local Thai media outlet Khaosod English reported that the Thai Immigration Bureau arrested a 39-year-old Chinese man named Tianwei Huang at Don Mueang International Airport. Huang was trying to board Lion Air Flight SL100 and is accused of involvement in a cryptocurrency scam worth 200 million baht (approximately 44 million RMB). Tianwei Huang is the former swashbuckling founder of AEX (Aibiyun Exchange), a once-prominent cryptocurrency trading platform. In July 2022, AEX collapsed, suspending withdrawals and attributing the issue to a "short-term liquidity crisis" that prevented it from processing users' withdrawal requests.

This arrest not only unraveled the mystery surrounding Huang’s whereabouts in recent years but also brought the infamous AEX platform’s "collapse" incident back into the limelight.

The Rise of Tianwei Huang and AEX

Tianwei Huang is one of the early pioneers of the cryptocurrency industry in China. In 2013, he founded the trading platform Bter, one of the first Bitcoin trading platforms in China. At that time, the crypto market was still in its "wild west" growth phase, characterized by extreme Bitcoin price volatility that attracted a mix of speculators and early adopters. Bter rapidly gained a user base with its low fees and flexible trading mechanisms, becoming a fairly reputable exchange platform.

In 2018, Bter rebranded as AEX (Aibiyun Exchange) and shifted focus toward global markets. AEX marketed itself with high-yield financial products and high-leverage trading, drawing in a large number of retail investors. According to X platform user @chaoge_btc, AEX boasted huge user numbers at its peak, claiming to manage assets worth billions of dollars. Huang himself was revered in the crypto space for his sharp market instincts and aggressive business strategies, earning a somewhat legendary status as an entrepreneur. However, the high-yield model concealed enormous risks.

The AEX Collapse and Huang's Flight

By 2021, signs of liquidity issues began to emerge at AEX. User @0xwanchongshan revealed that AEX suspended withdrawal services in 2022 citing "liquidity challenges," leaving countless users unable to retrieve their funds. Investors discovered that the platform’s high-yield financial products had actually been operating as a Ponzi scheme, relying on funds from new investors to pay off returns to earlier ones. When the market entered a bearish phase and the cash flow dried up, AEX quickly fell into a liquidity crunch and faced a massive wave of withdrawals it could not fulfill.

According to statistics by @chaoge_btc, the collapse of AEX resulted in losses exceeding $20 million for approximately 22,000 victims, with one individual personally losing 147 Bitcoins. The AEX fallout sparked widespread protests and legal actions, but Huang Tianwei seemingly "disappeared from the face of the earth." In 2021, he was briefly detained by local police in Guigang, Guangxi, but was later released. According to X platform users, after his release, Huang quickly fled to Thailand in an attempt to maintain a low profile and evade accountability. This incident left many victims enraged, prompting them to organize through social media for continued advocacy, including cross-border pursuit, though with limited results.

The Catalyst for the Thai Fraud Case

Huang Tianwei's stay in Thailand was far from uneventful. On April 23, 2025, two Chinese nationals met with Huang in Mae Sai District, Chiang Rai Province, Thailand, to discuss a cryptocurrency investment partnership. According to the Thai police, these two victims were lured by Huang with promises of high returns, leading them to invest approximately 200 million Thai Baht in Bitcoin. However, shortly after the investment, the funds quickly vanished, and Huang lost contact. The victims subsequently filed a report with the Chiang Rai Provincial Court, which on April 2025 issued an arrest warrant against Huang, accusing him of significant fraud.

On June 12, Huang was arrested by the Thai Immigration Bureau at Don Muang International Airport. During a routine check, Thai police discovered that Huang's passport information matched the arrest warrant issued by the Chiang Rai Court, leading to his detention. He has since been transferred to the Mae Sai District Police Station in Chiang Rai Province for further investigation. On June 14, eight individuals claiming to be victims of the AEX collapse gathered outside the Chiang Rai police station, demanding to meet Huang. However, officials stated that the AEX collapse was unrelated to the Thai fraud case and denied the request for a meeting.

Archer Wolfe, founder of cryptocurrency consultancy MohrWolfe and a former Thailand resident, commented during an interview with Decrypto, "Huang Tianwei is highly likely to be extradited back to China, and the Thai government will confiscate the Bitcoin unless an absurdly steep fee is paid, in which case they might simply close the case."

A Once-Popular Altcoin Trading Platform

Public records reveal that Huang Tianwei once worked at Tencent as a product manager and project manager and served as the Vice President of Fantasy Basketball Manager before founding BitEra in 2013, which became the most popular altcoin trading platform at the time. "Back then, BitEra's traffic easily outmatched Huobi, OKX, and Bitcoin China," tweeted crypto KOL Nan Gongyuan.

Corporate information from Tianyancha shows that four companies for which Huang Tianwei served as the legal representative—Shenzhen Times Blockchain Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Zhiwei Network Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Jiuyi Times Information Technology Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Huiqu Network Co., Ltd.—have all been dissolved. Among them, Shenzhen Zhiwei Network Co., Ltd., the company formally associated with BitEra, was dissolved in September 2021.

According to a special report by Southern Enterprise News, Huang Tianwei described having 10 years of experience in the financial industry. His investments include numerous companies such as Tianjin Co., Bitmain, and Yixiang Network, among others. He also participated in leading cases such as the acquisition of Montage Technology, fundraising for State Grid Times, and the reverse takeover by Ampron. After the AEX crisis, incidents of rights protection began emerging across various social media platforms. Some individuals went to his hometown to demand justice, while others protested by scribbling words on the ground and even unfurled banners.

According to insiders, the case was once under the jurisdiction of the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade of the Guigang Public Security Bureau in Guangxi. Huang Tianwei was reportedly arrested at one point but was subsequently released. Foresight News will continue to closely monitor the development of this case.

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