30-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chasing Jho Low: blockchain bounty breathes new life into hunt for Malaysia's 1MDB fugitive
Jho Low , the flamboyant financier behind one of the world's largest financial scandals, vanished years ago, leaving behind a trail of opulence, deceit and unanswered questions. But two journalists are determined to bring his shadowy story back into the light – with a satirical website, a memecoin and some blockchain bounties.
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Low, accused of orchestrating
Malaysia 's multibillion-dollar
1MDB scandal , once partied with Hollywood elites and brokered billion-dollar deals, but has since become a virtual ghost. Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, the duo behind the bestselling 2018 expose Billion Dollar Whale, are determined to turn the world's eyes back on him.
Their website, offers cryptocurrency rewards for credible tips on Low's whereabouts – or any new information about the billions that were plundered from Malaysia's former state investment fund.
A photo shared on social media advertising the $JHOLOW memecoin. Photo: X/whereisjho
'The bounty isn't just for Jho Low's location,' Hope told This Week in Asia. 'We're looking for anything – from where the money went to unreleased documents, photos, or phone recordings. There are still huge gaps in the 1MDB story.'
To incentivise whistle-blowers, the pair are using $JHOLOW, a newly created memecoin adopted as a reward mechanism. While many memecoins are seen as internet jokes at best or scams at worst, Wright and Hope are treating $JHOLOW as a serious tool for uncovering the truth.
'What if a memecoin actually had a purpose?' Hope asked. 'We're not telling people to invest their savings. It's more like a game, a kind of maverick spectator sport with real-world stakes.'
Multibillion-dollar scandal
The 1MDB scandal exploded onto the world stage as one of the largest kleptocracy cases in history. What was supposed to be a government initiative to drive Malaysia's economic development became a slush fund for corruption and money laundering.
