Sharp warning from the FMA: high losses to be complained about, two thirds of all investor complaints already from the crypto-assets area
The Financial Market Authority FMA has issued an urgent warning against investments in crypto currencies such as Bitcoin, but also in other so-called crypto assets.
FMA board member Helmut Ettl, for example, points out the high costs. “That is usually completely overlooked.” But the value of Bitcoin is also so volatile that it is “definitely not suitable as an investment in the sense of maintaining value,” says Ettl.
And: Bitcoin will definitely never become real money, the FMA board of directors is convinced. In addition, there was a lack of a stable exchange relationship, value retention and general acceptance. In this respect, it remains a pure “object of speculation”.
Ettl said to the COURIER: “If you want to speculate, yes, please. But anyone who speculates should still be careful not to fall into the hands of the first crook who comes across. In the crypto area in particular, there is a lot of messing about. “
Two thirds of all investor complaints to the financial market regulator now relate to the area of crypto currencies and crypto assets in general. FMA board member Eduard Müller says: “The damage cases averaged 40,000 euros. The highest was at almost 700,000 euros from a private investor. ”The complaints usually relate to the fact that, according to Ettl, one is being“ brutally ripped off ”.
For example, investors would receive a code and believe that it was a Bitcoin code. In truth, the digits are zero and void. Or investors can be persuaded into crypto assets that do not even exist. Or homepages and trading platforms appear that are only fake. And all of this with an application from Bitcoin & Co. as modern and cool, often highlighted with pictures of gold coins to fake a false value. Ettl: “This distracts from the fact that you have nothing in your hand except for a code, and even that is only stored somewhere. At the moment this is the number 1 story of the rip-offs. “
