The Italian Antitrust Authority (IAA) or Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato has imposed a 2.59 million euro fine on the promoters of OneCoin – a cryptocurrency that is being touted as pyramid scheme.
Financial regulators world over are warning people against OneCoin and related investment schemes. These includes the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA), BaFin, the UK Financial Conduct Authority(FCA), and Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), among others. In addition, Indian police arrested 22 people in April and May for their alleged connection in the OneCoin scam.
“OneCoin's dissemination took place through a pyramid sales system as recruitment of new consumers was the sole purpose of sales activity and was strongly encouraged by the recognition of various bonuses, the only real and effective remuneration of the program. The purchase of the training kit in fact concealed the entry fee required to enter the system and convince other consumers of the goodness of the product”, the IAA said in its statement.
The IAA said the promoters of the cryptocurrency provided incorrect information to consumers about the characteristics of the product and its pyramid sales system. The recent announcement follows the IAA’s recent move to suspend the operations of several OneCoin-affiliated companies in Italy, CoinDesk reported.
“In the light of the numerous evidences gathered thanks to the valuable collaboration of the Antitrust Special Department of the Guardia di Finanza for the conduct of numerous investigative investigations, the Authority concluded the proceedings by imposing sanctions against the companies ONE LIFE NETWORK LTD (€ 2,000. 000), ONE NETWORK SERVICES LTD (€ 500,000), Easy Life Srl (€ 80,000), as well as with the registrants of the onecoinsuedtirol.it sites, Onecoinitaliaofficial.it, onecoinitalia.com. (€ 5,000 each)”, the IAA said (Google translated).
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