ASIC prohibits Bitcoin Group from issuing statements about its proposed listing

ASIC ordered Bitcoin Group Limited (a proposed Bitcoin miner in Australia) to stop issuing any statements regarding its intention to make an IPO of its shares until it lodged a prospectus.

The regulator's concerns relate to the messages posted by the company via Wechat, a social media application, looking for expressions of interest from potential investors for subscribing to the shares if there is a listing on the Australian Securities Exchange. The posts were made before the company was registered by the ASIC as an Australian company and before the lodging of a prospectus.

ASIC Commissioner John Price said any statements made about a potential offer may influence the investment decisions of investors who will not have all the information that would be included in a prospectus.

"ASIC expects companies to be fully aware of their obligations regarding advertising or publicity that occurs before making a regulated disclosure document available to investors," he said. "If they do not observe these requirements, then ASIC will take necessary action so that investment decisions are made in a confident and fully informed environment."