ASIC stamps on more cryptocurrency scams as market dives

Posted

September 20, 2018 16:35:58

The recent plunge in cryptocurrency values appears to have done little to put the brakes on scams targeting retail investors.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has confirmed it recently shut down several “initial coin offerings” (ICOs) which were either illegal or using misleading statements in their marketing.

ASIC also recently stopped the issue of a product disclosure statement (PDS) for a crypto-asset managed investment scheme.

Since April, in five other separate matters, the regulator successfully acted to prevent ICOs raising capital without the appropriate investor protections.

“If you raise money from the public, you have important legal obligations. It is the legal substance of your offer — not what it is called —that matters,” ASIC commissioner John Price said.

“You should not simply assume that using an ICO structure allows you to ignore…