Crypto Hedge Fund Warns of Possible ICO Refunds After SEC Decision

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Crypto Hedge Fund Warns of Possible ICO Refunds After SEC Decision

Pantera Capital Management said about 25 percent of the blockchain and digital-currency projects that its ICO fund invested in could be found in violation of U.S. securities laws and may have to refund money to their backers.

The Menlo Park, California-based hedge fund said the projects may be at risk after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Nov. 16 announcement that two startups that raised millions by issuing tokens to non-accredited investors didn’t comply with securities laws. One of the projects, Paragon Coin, has already announced it may have to pay back investors.

Many startups -- especially those that conducted initial coin offerings last year -- didn’t register with the SEC, and also sold their tokens to regular people, instead of the more sophisticated accredited investors. As regulators have begun clarifying their positions and revving up policing, the way tokens are issued has undergone drastic changes.


“While we believe the vast majority of the projects in our portfolio should not be affected, approximately 25 percent of our fund’s capital is invested in projects with liquid tokens that sold to U.S. investors without using regulation D or regulation S," Dan Morehead and Joey Krug, Pantera’s co-chief investment officers, wrote in the newsletter Thursday. “If any of these projects are deemed to be securities, the SEC’s position could adversely affect them. Of these projects, about a third (approximately 10 percent of the portfolio) are live and functional and, while they could technically continue without further development, ending development would hinder their progress.”

Source: https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/ ... i-in-focus
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Man scams $70k telling friends to invest in Bitcoin

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Police: Penn Twp. man stole $70K he claimed he would invest in Bitcoin


A Penn Township man allegedly swindled $70,000 from friends and acquaintances by encouraging them to invest in Bitcoin through him, according to state police.

Troopers allege Randall Joseph Smail, 22, kept the money for himself and used $20,000 of it to make a down payment on a $102,000 Range Rover last year, according to court documents.

Smail is charged with money laundering, theft and bad checks. He is being held in the Westmoreland County Prison on $50,00 bail.

Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be sent between people as a form of electronic payment.

A West Leechburg couple gave him $7,500 in October 2017 after Smail discussed with them “investment opportunities he had to offer,” police reported. Eight months later, he claimed the victim’s money had ballooned to $120,000, police said.

A Harrison, Allegheny County, man gave Smail $21,700 in February, which Smail said had increased to $40,000 by May. A Jeannette man gave Smail $35,000 to invest in late 2017 and a Gilpin, Armstrong County, man handed over $5,000 in January, authorities said.

All four victims unsuccessfully attempted to contact Smail about their money. State police said search warrants on Smail’s bank accounts didn’t show any evidence of all of the funds being used to purchase Bitcoin.

He allegedly fabricated account information or bank statements to show to the victims, police said.

A Jan. 3 preliminary hearing is set. Smail did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

Source: https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland ... -invest-in
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Indian police arrest 4 over Crypto scam

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Indian Police Make Fourth Arrest in $70 Million Crypto Scam


Delhi cyber crime police have made further developments in the unfolding cryptocurrenvy scam run by an organization going by the name ‘Flintstone Group’.

The group launched a fraudulent cryptocurrency called Money Trade Coin (MTC), hoodwinking 25,000 investors with promises of massive returns which, of course, never materialized. After making three arrests last year including Flintstone Group managing director Amit Lakhanpal and his chief accountant Sachin Shelar, the Delhi police cyber crime unit arrested a fourth man, Rohit Kumar, on Tuesday. A resident of Kanpur, Kumar was a collection agent working on behalf of the accused.

The Scam
The Flintstone Group went to great lengths to convince investors of the legitimacy of their project, posing as Union Finance Ministry officials at one point with fake I.D. cards and backstories. In the name of the Money Trade Coin project, they even participated in approaching the Delhi High Court to petition the central bank to reconsider its harsh stance against cryptocurrencies.

Real estate CEO and scam mastermind Lakhanpal allegedly attended events in Dubai, some of which was reportedly attended by the royal family. There he is said to have claimed that his cryptocurrency would soon be accepted by the Ministry of Finance and would be used as legal tender with which to buy real estate and that MTC had offices in the UK, Singapore, Italy, and Malaysia.

“The accused also showed prospective clients an article in an international magazine, which claimed that one of the royals was his partner,” said a police officer.

Aftermath: Scammers at Large
The scammers worked from an office in Delhi to manipulate investors into buying into the phony cryptocurrency, and 70 employees have been left stranded following the police bust. Police are now investigating the extent, if any, of their involvement in the group’s illegal activity.

Lakhanpal and chief accountant Shelar have since fled the country, perhaps to Dubai or England – however, they remain at large and their exact whereabouts are unknown.

“The accused had set up office in Delhi’s Vikram Nagar and used to collect money from investors promising high returns. Lakhanpal was earlier holed up in Dubai and we believe that he may have fled to London,” said a police source.

A case was filed against five men in total, with charges including fraud and criminal conspiracy. 53 laptops have been seized as well as rubber stamps for fake authentification of documents and the documents themselves. Incidents such as these have contributed to a negative stigma of cryptocurrencies in India with the central bank considering banning the technology altogether.

Source: https://www-ccn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/ ... to-scam%2F
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Re: Cryptocurrency

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The European Banking Authority urged the European Commission to take the necessary steps towards drafting pan European rules regulating the crypto currency sector, because the currently existing mishmash of national rules in some EU countries, and the lack of such in others, provides a fertile ground for money laundering and scam schemes.

The conclusions of the European Banking Authority (EBA) are based on a year long study.

EBA oversees the implementation of the EU law regulating the banking sector throughout the Union. According to the Authority the European Commission should prepare a cost-benefit analysis about extending regulation over the crypto sector.

Re: Cryptocurrency

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The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) updated its warning list with the Bitcoin Revolution.The MFSA stated that this entity is not a Maltese registered Company nor licensed or otherwise authorised by them to provide any investment or other financial services in the country.

According to the MFSA, the Bitcoin Revolution operates through several websites and also promotes itself by means of adverts and pages on various social media platforms linking the website to some prominent Maltese personalities without their consent.The company falsely reports profits made by these individuals.

Bitcoin Revolution is actually an old crypto robot scam that keeps changing its domains. It was also blacklisted by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of New Zealand.


Crypto exchange owner dies, loses $190 million of customers’ money

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Good one :facepalm:

Crypto exchange reportedly loses $190 million of customers’ money after founder dies

The funds were reportedly placed in a cold wallet for safety

Users of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange QuadrigaCX are unable to access most of their funds, according to CoinDesk, for an unfortunate reason: the exchange’s founder, Gerald Cotten, recently died, and was the only person who knew a vital password.

QuadrigaCX’s website recently went down and the company filed for creditor protection, saying that it was trying to address some “liquidity issues.” In court filings, Cotten’s wife says that the company owes its users $250 million CAD ($190 million USD), and that to protect its users funds from hackers, a portion of its users coins were kept in a “cold wallet” — a physical device that isn’t connected to the internet. Cotten was the only person with access to the device, according his wife, and she doesn’t have the password to decrypt it. The company also had several banking and payment processor issues, with some other organizations holding QuadrigaCX’s funds.

Users have been skeptical of the exchange’s claims, with some experts noting that some of its wallets have seen some activity since its issues were publicized. However, if the company has indeed placed its cryptocurrency in a now-inaccessible device, it seems likely that thousands of users will never be able to recover their funds.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/3/18209 ... d-password
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Re: Cryptocurrency

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mlawson71 wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:23 am That story is so wild. On one hand cryptocurrencies provide such incredible innovation, on the other hand, can you imagine something like this happening in a bank in case the CEO passes away?
Yeah spot on man. Imagine if your bank manager just randomly died and then you couldn't access your funds or even buy groceries because no one else had the password to the system.
Why would people invest or put their money into these Crypto exchanges? To make a few trades and buy goodies off the dark web? Hmm :?
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Re: Cryptocurrency

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ChuChu Rocket wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 5:02 pm Yeah spot on man. Imagine if your bank manager just randomly died and then you couldn't access your funds or even buy groceries because no one else had the password to the system.
Why would people invest or put their money into these Crypto exchanges? To make a few trades and buy goodies off the dark web? Hmm :?
A testament is important, when the boss of a company dies and he is only one who is payment authorized the company is death - and with it his work. This alone makes him a big idiot, but all the others he had responsibility for... I had thought everyone learns the 1x1 of founding a company - especially as a crypto exchange. Unbelievable. All the stories around cryptos, hodlers and crypto exchanges... Einstein was absolutely right when he said the universe is limited, the human stupidity is not.
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Re: Cryptocurrency

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Cryptocurrencies have their advantages - they're easy to use, they're decentralized, you can use them internationally, transactions are fast, etc.etc.
However, these constant cryptocurrency exchange hacks and incidents like the one above prove that cryptocurrencies aren't ready to replace fiat currencies yet.


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