Developments highlight risk of investing in digital currencies
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The Ontario Securities Commission has issued a temporary cease trade order against a company and two individuals who it says appear to be involved in a bitcoin-focused multilevel marketing scheme.
USI Tech Ltd, Eleanor Parker, and Casey Combden are not registered to sell securities in Ontario and have now been prohibited from trading all securities in the province.
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The OSC says that they appear to be involved in a scheme which targets investors and encourages them to buy bitcoin packages.
The Financial and Consumer Affairs Authority of Saskatchewan has also issued a temporary cease trade order against USI Tech and the securities commissions of British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have published investor alerts about the company.
Dubai-based USI Tech suspended its operations in Canada and the US earlier this year but returned shortly afterwards.
Ethereum founder warns of risk
Meanwhile, the co-founder of the Ethereum cryptocurrency has issued a warning about the risk of investing in the burgeoning asset.
Vitalik Buterin told CNBC that "If you're trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.”
He also warned that the value of digital currencies could drop to zero “at any time” and investors should only risk what they can afford to lose.
The warning comes as regulators continue to assess what action they should take to regulate cryptocurrencies, and some credit card companies have banned their use for buying cryptos.
Buterin is often impersonated on social media and tweeted Sunday: “Don’t trust anyone asking for or offering money on Twitter.”
Time that it takes for scammers to copy my new profile picture: 10 minutes.
— Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) February 18, 2018
DON'T TRUST ANYONE ASKING FOR OR OFFERING MONEY ON TWITTER.
DON'T TRUST ANYONE ASKING FOR OR OFFERING MONEY ON TWITTER.
DON'T TRUST ANYONE ASKING FOR OR OFFERING MONEY ON TWITTER. https://t.co/wcDAJoh6jD
