Switzerland’s fiscal watchdog has cracked downwards on operations of “E-Coin”, an alleged ‘fake’ cryptocurrency scam.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), the country’s fiscal markets regulator too watchdog has revealed the closure of iii split upward companies involved inward issuing “E-Coin”, alleged past times the authorisation every bit a mistaken cryptocurrency.
In an announcement, the watchdog revealed that ‘Quid Pro Quo Association’ had developed too begun issuing E-Coins since 2016. The company, working alongside Digital Trading AG too Marcelo Group AG, too launched an online trading platform for the E-Coins to live on traded too transferred. Since 2016, the iii companies raked inward some 4 meg Swiss francs (approx. $4.1 million) from hundreds of Swiss investors.
The authorisation wrote:
Via this platform, these iii legal entities accepted funds amounting to at to the lowest degree 4 meg Swiss francs from several hundred users too operated virtual accounts for them inward both legal tender too E-Coins.
As things stand, FINMA has seized too blocked assets worth or too thus 2 meg Swiss francs.
Not a Real Cryptocurrency
The authorisation notably distinguished E-Coin from decentralized, blockchain-based cryptocurrencies.
“Unlike existent cryptocurrencies, which are stored on distributed networks too role blockchain technology, E-Coins were completely nether the providers’ command too stored locally on its servers,” the regulator revealed.
Apart from its investigation into E-Coin, FINMA too confirmed it was conducting 11 split upward investigations into “other presumably unauthorized trouble concern models relating to such [fake] coins.’
Bitcoin-Friendly Swiss
The fiscal regulator has notably embraced bitcoin startups inward the past times inward granting an early ‘conditional approval’ to wallet provider Xapo to operate inward the country. FINMA is notably tasked past times the country’s Federal Council to grant FinTech licenses for manufacture startups every bit a business office of the country’s FinTech-friendly agenda.
In issuing a stern alarm virtually “unscrupulous cryptocurrency providers’, the watchdog added:
FINMA welcomes innovation, but when innovative trouble concern models are misused for unauthorized activities, FINMA intervenes.
With its crackdown against E-Coin operators, FINMA has too launched constabulary enforcement proceedings against those involved too has liquidated the assets of all iii companies.
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