Local Traders SpA
One exchange that has not complied.
In May 2023, Local Traders SpA — a Chilean fintech company — was the victim of a cyberattack. Chile's 8th Criminal Guarantee Court of Santiago has since issued four final, unappealable orders, including restitution of the stolen assets. Gate.io has not complied.
This page compiles the court record, regulatory actions, platform enforcement decisions, independent media coverage, and Gate's own self-published licensing disclosures — with citations to primary sources wherever available.
Timeline
Chilean Court Orders
Case RUC 2300614628-7 / RIT 8295-2024, before the 8° Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago (Chile's 8th Criminal Guarantee Court). All four resolutions below are final and no longer subject to appeal.
Seizure order (orden de incautación)
Court orders the freeze of assets identified on Gate.io. Gate complies and freezes the wallet — but freezing only preserves the assets; it does not return them. A separate restitution order follows.
Restitution order (orden de restitución)
Court orders Gate to return the frozen assets to Local Traders SpA. Gate does not comply, and does not formally contest the order. It goes silent.
Formal contempt warning — Oficio N° 394
Chile's Public Prosecutor formally warns Gate of potential criminal contempt proceedings under Article 240 of the Chilean Code of Civil Procedure, which provides for penalties of up to five years imprisonment for non-compliance with final court orders.
Reaffirmation of restitution order
Gate's formal challenge to the restitution order is reviewed and dismissed in full by the court, which notes Gate remains in non-compliance.
Final ruling
The court declares all prior resolutions firm, enforceable, and no longer subject to appeal — including the underlying criminal defendant's own challenges, all of which were denied. With every avenue of legal challenge closed, Gate still does not comply.
Ejecutoriedad and no-appeal certificates
The court formally certifies that no appeals were filed against the November 2024 and February 2025 resolutions, and that the deadline to do so has expired.
Regulatory Warnings
Financial regulators in two jurisdictions have taken formal public action regarding Gate entities.
Chile — Comisión para el Mercado Financiero (CMF)
Chile's financial regulator issues a formal public notice stating that the entities below are not registered or authorized to provide services under its supervision.
Lithuania — Bank of Lithuania
The Bank of Lithuania confirms in writing that Gate Global UAB lost its VASP registration as of 1 January 2026 and lacks MiCA authorization to provide crypto-asset services in the European Union.
Platform Enforcement Actions
A major technology platform independently took action regarding Gate.io's app.
Apple — App Store removal (Chile)
Apple removes the Gate.io application from the Chile App Store, in the same period as Chile's CMF warning and the outstanding criminal court orders. Apple has not published its own stated reason.
Independent Media Coverage
Chile's leading national outlets have covered this case independently. Each has reported on Gate's continued non-compliance and on the regulatory and jurisdictional arbitrage at the center of the case — Gate's use of separately licensed entities across jurisdictions while the entity holding these specific assets sits outside that framework. Summaries below are brief; follow the links to read each outlet's full reporting directly.
Gate's Own Disclosed Licenses
Gate's official website discloses the following licenses, registrations, and approvals held by its various entities. The list below is drawn directly from that page.
Gate Global Corp. — the Panama-incorporated entity that holds the wallet containing Local Traders' stolen assets — does not appear among the licensed entities Gate discloses on its own website. Neither does any Gate entity registered in Chile.
Yet Gate.io actively offers services to Chilean users: it accepts Chilean clients, runs KYC verification, and operates P2P trading in Chilean pesos (CLP) using local payment methods. Gate.io commercially operates in Chile without being licensed there — and when a Chilean court orders restitution, the position becomes that Chile lacks jurisdiction. This is the pattern documented across this case: a licensed entity in one jurisdiction takes the business; an unlicensed entity elsewhere holds the liability.
Gate's licenses page notes that "Gate" is a shared brand used by separate entities that each operate independently. Gate Group's publicly identified founder and CEO is Dr. Lin Han.