The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has gone after BPS Financial Limited with a fresh new lawsuit.
BPS Financial is the corporation that owns and manages the Qoin facility, a suite consisting of Qoin tokens, a Qoin wallet, and a decentralized blockchain ledger. According to the lawsuit, ASIC has accused BPS Financial of making misleading, completely false, and deceptive representations to almost 80,000 customers.
So far, ASIC has commenced legal proceedings in the Federal Court against the accused for engaging in the unlicensed non-cash payment option or a token called Qoin.
Details Of The BPS Lawsuit
The lawsuit was served as a result of BPS informing its customers that the Qoin token could be exchanged for other kinds of cryptocurrencies or even Australian dollars on independent exchanges. The key points and the reasons BPS Financial is being sued are as follows:
The Defendant made false and misleading claims that
- The Qoin token, the Qoin facility and BPS itself are compliant with standing laws on financial services.
- The Qoin token can be used as payment for services from several merchants registered with BPS.
- The Qoin facility and wallet application used to send and receive Qoin tokens are regulated, approved, and registered in Australia.
- Consumers who have purchased Qoin tokens can exchange them for other cryptocurrencies or fiat (including Australian dollars) on independent exchanges.
According to the ASIC’s deputy chairperson, Sarah Court, despite the misleading and false claims BPS Financial used in its marketing campaign, Qoin merchant numbers have been in a decline, and there have been times when it was difficult or impossible to exchange Qoin via independent exchanges.
However, the ASIC is more concerned with the alleged misrepresentation of the Qoin facility’s regulation in Australia and the misleading of “more than 79,000” individuals and groups.
ASIC Legal Stand
Crypto assets are extremely volatile and are one of the riskiest and most complex investments out there. And the fact that every crypto asset is different and difficult to compare to other kinds of assets, makes them potentially risky and likely to harm their customers.
As a result, the ASIC has taken legal action against the misleading promotion and unlicensed conduct around financial assets (like Qoin), that could potentially harm investors.
“Where it falls within our remits”, Court says, “the ASIC can and will take action against unlicensed conduct and misleading marketing of crypto assets and other financial products that could harm consumers.” The deputy chairperson also adds that this makes it extremely important that investors are always provided with accurate and honest information”.
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