Witness the emerging trend in the digital currency sphere.
An Australian court convicts BPS Financial for running illicit crypto operations linked to the Qoin Wallet.
The reputable institution uncovers BPS committing acts of deceit through publicity tactics, raking in over $40 million in Qoin Tokens without lawful approval.
Joe Longo, chair of ASIC, underscores the pivotal necessity for cryptocurrency entities to possess proper operational permits.
The cryptocurrency landscape in Australia is undergoing a significant transformation as the nation's key financial overseer secures its debut legal triumph against BPS, the vendor behind the Qoin Wallet.
On May 3, the Australian Federal Court passed a verdict against BPS Financial for running operations without the mandated licenses. This win marks a momentous victory for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which had lodged charges against BPS Financial for the endorsement of QOIN tokens against existing statutes.
Starting from January 2020, BPS ardently promoted Qoin tokens as a mode of payment for products and services to individual customers and business owners, coined as 'Qoin Merchants.' By the conclusion of September 2022, the Qoin Wallet saw a distribution exceeding 93,000 instances, accumulating a revenue exceeding $40 million from the trades of Qoin Tokens.
Presiding over the case, Justice Downes concluded that the Qoin Wallet could be categorized as a financial product, more specifically, a non-cash transaction facility. Consequently, Downes ruled that BPS had contravened the Corporations Act by failing to possess an Australian Financial Services License.
Moreover, the court determined that BPS had hoodwinked consumers by falsely projecting Qoin as a widely embraced medium of exchange. In reality, only a handful of businesses accepted the token, as outlined in the report.
The sole platform facilitating Qoin redemption was BTX Exchange, closely linked to BPS. Although BPS did not execute a direct scheme, the court discovered that its deeds had infringed upon numerous crucial legal protocols.
Joe Longo, the chair of ASIC, accentuated the significance of this litigation, asserting that it serves as a cautionary tale on the hazardous and intricate essence of cryptocurrency assets. "This underscores the imperative necessity for providers to possess the appropriate permits and clear authorizations, along with furnishing investors with transparent and precise details," he articulated.
Henceforth, Longo pledged that ASIC would persist in its endeavors to delineate licensed products and the associated requirements for entities within the sector.