Australian Regulator Warns Retail Investors against “Misleading” Cryptocurrency ICOs

Australia’s top financial regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has issued a press release warning the public against “misleading” Initial Coin Offerings and Cryptocurrency Asset Management schemes targeted at individual investors.

Beware of Fake ICOs

According to the press release, since April, the ASIC has successfully halted five ICO projects and issued a stop order to a Product Disclosure Statement for the New Dawn Fund operated by  Investors Exchange Limited.

The ASIC stopped the ICO projects due to lack of appropriate investor protection protocols. However, the Commission plans to restructure some of these ICOs to meet the required legal standards.

Speaking on the Commission’s main concerns with cryptocurrency projects, John Price, the ASIC Commissioner had this to say:

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. You should not simply…