Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) has issued a warning against websites selling the virtual currency BTC20.
FSMA has recognized the website https://btc20.com distributing the BTC20 virtual currency. Btc20.com shows an address in Belgium.
However, any advertisements disseminated as part of a mass media campaign to promote virtual currencies in Belgium must be notified to FSMA in advance. BTC20.com has not filed a notification with FSMA.
Additionally, there are some signs that this is a purely fraudulent offer.
- FSMA has received several complaints from consumers about not being able to recover the funds they have invested.
- The contact information provided by btc20.com does not appear to be valid.
- BTC20.com has not responded to repeated requests for information by FSMA.
Therefore, FSMA strongly recommends that you do not respond to any offers from this company.
Regulators have noted that investment fraud often lurks behind companies operating in the cryptocurrency space.
To avoid this type of fraud, FSMA repeatedly recommends that investors always verify the identity of the company in which they propose to invest (e.g. company name, country of origin, registered office, etc.). If you cannot clearly identify a company, you should not trust it.
Therefore, we need to be more careful than ever. If you have any questions, and before making any (additional) payments, please do not hesitate to contact FSMA using our consumer contact form. Similarly, feel free to notify regulators of any suspicious companies that are not subject to an FSMA warning.
