How Bosnia's ACX Crypto Exchange Went From Big Promises to a Regulatory Ban
This story was originally published on HackerNoon at: https://hackernoon.com/how-bosnias-acx-crypto-exchange-went-from-big-promises-to-a-regulatory-ban.
Ex-police cadet Branko Petrović trapped customer funds in ACX, lost his crypto license, dodged courts, and still walks free in Banja Luka.
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Branko Petrović went from being a top graduate of Bosnia’s Police Academy to running ACX, a crypto exchange that left customers unable to access their money while its founder kept making excuses and promoting himself as a cybersecurity expert.
ACX, operated by Banja Luka-based Adria Technology, built its reputation on big promises, including a reported BAM 6.3 million investment from US tech company Modulus, institutional-grade security, and ambitions to dominate the regional crypto market. But behind the marketing, the company’s finances were falling apart.
Starting in December 2025, customers began struggling to withdraw their funds. By January 15, 2026, users were locked out of the platform. Some had relatively small savings trapped, while businesses faced much larger losses. Instead of providing clear answers and returning the money, ACX blamed technical migrations, lost access to its technology partner, and problems with its custody infrastructure. Customers reported unanswered messages, failed withdrawals, and promises that never materialized.
The situation got even worse when authorities froze the company’s bank accounts over an unpaid tax debt of roughly BAM 3,783. Petrović had previously bragged about multimillion-mark investments, yet the company barely reduced that tax debt over the following months.
Meanwhile, one corporate customer, Rocket Science, took Adria Technology to court over approximately BAM 35,000. In June 2026, the court ordered the company to pay the equivalent of USD 26,000, plus interest and legal costs. But attempts to serve the judgment repeatedly failed.
Regulators eventually found serious compliance problems, including failures to cooperate with inspectors, provide documentation, grant access to the trading platform, and meet anti-money-laundering requirements. On August 14, 2026, the Securities Commission of Republika Srpska removed Adria Technology from its virtual-currency register for one year, making it illegal for the company to continue operating ACX.
Even after the shutdown, Petrović claimed that 821 of 902 users had been repaid and promised to settle the remaining claims by October 1. According to the article, customers were still reporting missing funds after that deadline.
The most disturbing part is that Petrović continued appearing in the media as a cybersecurity expert while criminal investigations were underway. Police submitted reports to prosecutors, and three separate reports had reportedly resulted in investigative files. However, no criminal conviction is established in the article.
