Belgium Updates Fraudulent Crypto Site Blacklist with 28 Additions

Belgium’s financial watchdog has warned investors against another 28 swindling cryptocurrency platforms.

Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) issued on Tuesday a fresh investor alert, warning against the fraudulent activities of another 28 cryptocurrency platforms operating in the country without complying with the country’s financial legislation.

The regulator’s latest additions to the crypto-related fraud blacklist bring the total number of swindling offerings to 70. The recently identified websites are:

“Cryptocurrencies are the hype of the year. Fraudsters are well aware of that, and try to attract customers online through fake cryptocurrencies and huge profits. The only thing they actually do, however, is take the customers’ money and disappear. It is as simple as that.”

The agency appealed to the public to come forth with further information about any other crypto-related entities operating unlawfully in Belgium. It also advised potential investors to consult its initial warning from February 2018, which includes “a particularly detailed and telling testimony by a victim of such a platform”.

National regulators around the globe have recently stepped up efforts to educate investors about the potential risks associated with cryptocurrency fraud. Less than a month after Belgium, France also started compiling a blacklist of swindling crypto platforms. On the other side of the ocean, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in May set up a fake initial coin offering (ICO), dubbed HoweyCoins, which aimed to educate investors about the perils of participating in this form of fundraising. Later the same month, Chinese authorities ran an investigation on the local cryptocurrency market and found 421 allegedly fraudulent coins peddled by various sites, “causing investors to suffer major losses”.

The FSMA’s reiterated warning also comes ahead of the EU finance ministers' meeting on September 7 in Vienna. The 28-member states’ politicians will discuss cryptocurrencies and their implications in the eurozone, as well as the steps that should be taken to regulate the market.