Himalaya Exchange (Guo Wengui fraud)
A crypto exchange and 'Himalaya Coin/Dollar' project that was one strand of a >$1B fraud the U.S. DOJ pinned on exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui (Miles Guo). A jury convicted Guo in July 2024 on nine counts; prosecutors said ~$262M was raised via the Himalaya Exchange alone.
Also known as: Himalaya Exchange, Himalaya Coin, Himalaya Dollar, HCN, Guo Wengui
Note: Guo Wengui was convicted in July 2024 but, as of this writing, sentencing has been repeatedly adjourned; figures are those alleged/proven by the DOJ.
Summary
The Himalaya Exchange (and its "Himalaya Coin"/"Himalaya Dollar" tokens) was one component of a sprawling fraud orchestrated by Ho Wan Kwok — known as Guo Wengui or "Miles Guo" — alongside financier Kin Ming Je. The U.S. DOJ said Guo solicited more than $1 billion from his online followers across entities including GTV Media, the Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS, and the Himalaya Exchange. [1][2]
The crypto component
Prosecutors said roughly $262 million was raised for the Himalaya Exchange cryptocurrency project, part of the broader scheme in which Guo and Je misappropriated hundreds of millions for personal luxuries (a mansion, luxury cars). [1][2]
Outcome
Guo was arrested in March 2023 and, after a seven-week trial, convicted on July 16, 2024 of nine of twelve counts including securities fraud, wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering. Co-defendant Yanping "Yvette" Wang was sentenced to 120 months and ordered to forfeit $1.4 billion; Je remained at large. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
People & entities involved
- Guo WenguiMastermindIndividualsExiled Chinese businessman (also 'Miles Guo'/'Ho Wan Kwok') convicted in July 2024 of orchestrating a >$1B fraud against his online followers, including ~$262M via the Himalaya Exchange crypto project. Sentencing has been repeatedly adjourned.
- Yanping WangCo-conspiratorIndividualsClose associate of Guo Wengui (known as 'Yvette'). For her role in the >$1B fraud she was sentenced to 120 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.4 billion.
Sources (2)
- United States v. Ho Wan Kwok (Miles Guo) — case page — U.S. DOJ (SDNY)
- Guo Wengui (overview of conviction) — Wikipedia
See also
Gala Games exploitTokensOn May 20, 2024 an attacker abused a privileged minter account on the GALA token contract to mint 5 billion GALA (≈$200M+ nominal) and dumped ~600M of them for ~$22M of ETH before Gala froze the address. Gala Games called it an internal access-control failure; the attacker later returned the ~$22M.
HEX / PulseChain (Richard Heart)ProjectsCrypto projects (HEX, PulseChain, PulseX) created by Richard Heart (Richard Schueler). In July 2023 the U.S. SEC sued him for offering unregistered securities that raised $1B+ and for allegedly misappropriating ~$12M for luxury goods (including a 555-carat diamond). A court dismissed the case in 2024 for lack of U.S. jurisdiction; there was no finding of wrongdoing and Heart denies the allegations.
This page was last updated on Jun 15, 2026. View revision history.
