Share this article

Austrian Regulator Reports Rise in Crypto Fraud

The FMA reports two-thirds of the investment fraud reports filed in 2020 were related to cryptocurrency and digital currency trading products.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:14 p.m. Published Feb 19, 2021, 5:36 p.m. 1 min read
austrianflag

Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) said Friday there has been an increase in crime using cryptocurrencies and stricter regulation is needed.

  • The FMA reports two-thirds of the investment fraud reports filed in 2020 were related to cryptocurrency and digital currency trading products, according to a Bloomberg report.
  • “We see a great need for stricter regulation,” FMA spokesman Klaus Grubelnik told Bloomberg. “Fake offerings for stocks and gold have been around forever and these scams are now shifting to digital assets because of the hype.”
  • There has been an increasing number of scams using digital currencies advertised on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, and Telegram, warned the FMA.
  • Grubelnik said prosecution was even more difficult in such cases as investigations usually have to be conducted across borders.

Read more: Leading Austrian Telecom Provider Adds Cryptocurrencies to Its Cashless Payment Network

More For You

(Anna Webber/Getty Images for Inc. at Inc. Founders House at SXSW)

The billionaire investor said he sold most of his bitcoin after concluding the cryptocurrency failed to act as a hedge during recent geopolitical turmoil and dollar weakness.

알아야 할 것:

  • Mark Cuban said he has sold most of his bitcoin holdings after concluding it failed to act as a hedge against a weakening dollar and geopolitical turmoil, particularly during the recent Iran conflict.
  • The billionaire investor, who once described bitcoin as a superior version of gold and held a crypto...