Wilson Huang's Steaker controversy: How a 88% annual interest investment trap attracted 1.48 billion yuan

Taiwan’s once-bright star in the cryptocurrency scene, Wilson Huang, is now embroiled in a legal whirlpool. According to an official indictment by the Taipei District Prosecutors Office in mid-2023, 34-year-old Wilson Huang and four senior executives of Steaker are charged with violations of the Banking Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, and other crimes. This case involves a massive sum of NT$1.48 billion and exposes numerous risks under the regulatory vacuum in the cryptocurrency industry. Once hailed as a pioneer in Taiwan’s crypto circle, Wilson Huang has now fallen from grace due to promises of “high-yield” investment schemes.

From Genius Entrepreneur to Defendant: The Turning Point of Wilson Huang and Steaker

Wilson Huang is a tech genius with a background in computer science from National Taiwan University. He was involved in Bitcoin trading and cryptocurrency wallet development as a student. He previously worked as a software engineer at the well-known tech company Yahoo Taiwan and later served as Vice President of Secret Silver Technology, accumulating extensive industry experience. In 2019, Wilson Huang founded the digital asset management platform Steaker, promising to “help users easily allocate virtual assets and generate on-chain income.” Shortly after its establishment, the platform claimed to reach a asset scale of over US$50 million within two years, becoming one of the most talked-about startup stories in Taiwan’s crypto scene at the time.

However, Wilson Huang’s halo rapidly faded at the end of 2022. The international cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, triggering a chain reaction that directly affected Steaker’s operations.

FTX Bankruptcy Triggers Chain Reaction: Steaker’s Funding Chain Breaks

Following the FTX crisis, issues with Steaker’s platform surfaced. Investors began experiencing withdrawal difficulties, raising concerns about the platform’s fund security. Many users reported to authorities, accusing Wilson Huang of fraud and illegal fund-raising. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office promptly searched Steaker’s headquarters in December 2022 on charges of violating the Banking Act and fraud, and summoned five defendants, including Wilson Huang, for investigation.

The Temptation of Ultra-High Returns: How Steaker’s Investment Schemes Attracted Investors

Investigations revealed the full picture of Steaker’s fund-raising model. Since its founding in 2019, Steaker has launched up to five types of investment schemes, categorized by risk levels as “Conservative,” “Steady,” and “Risk Level 1” to “Level 3.” These schemes offered highly enticing annual interest rates, starting from 3.5% and reaching as high as an astonishing 88%. Under such attractive return promises, many investors rushed to deposit stablecoins like USDT, USDC, BUSD, DAI, as well as mainstream cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin into the platform. According to statistics, over the three years from 2019 to the end of 2022, Steaker accumulated NT$1.48 billion in funds.

The Mysterious Destination of Funds: Asset Mixing and Legal Violations

Most critically, prosecutors found that Steaker’s users’ assets were not invested as promised. Instead, Wilson Huang transferred user funds into his personal FTX wallet for strategic trading and high-interest lending arbitrage. Some funds even flowed to personal crypto dealers, ultimately being diverted to pay salaries, rent, and other operational expenses for Huang’s other company, Yadoke. The highly outsourced business and personnel structure between Steaker and Yadoke further muddled the fund flows. This practice involved asset mixing, creating coin flow gaps, and concealing the proceeds of crime—serious illegal acts.

Taipei Prosecutors Indict and Convict: Legal Judgments and Future Outlook

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office’s investigation ultimately concluded that Wilson Huang, as founder of Steaker, along with CTO Shu Minjie, CMO Lu Tianxin, COO Pan Yiting, and other senior managers, launched investment schemes promising principal and profit guarantees without approval from financial regulators, constituting “illegal banking operations” prohibited by the Banking Act.

Notably, although the prosecutors found that Wilson Huang and others were involved in illegal fund-raising and violations of the Banking Act, they did not indict for fraud. The reason is that before FTX’s bankruptcy, Steaker investors could still check their account balances and freely transfer assets, which did not meet the legal criteria for the crime of fraud under the Criminal Code, which requires “deceiving others through fraudulent means.” Nevertheless, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted Wilson Huang and three others under the Banking Act and sought fines for Steaker, as well as confiscation of related criminal proceeds.

This case not only marks the dramatic fall of Wilson Huang from industry star to court defendant but also highlights the regulatory gaps in Taiwan’s cryptocurrency industry. In an environment lacking effective oversight, high-interest promises become a tool to attract investments, and the opacity of fund use deepens the risks. This serves as a painful warning for the entire industry.