Austrian financial regulator orders cryptocurrency mining company to stop operations
The action was taken due to suspicions of unauthorized management of an Alternative Investment Fund by INVIA GmbH.
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) has acted against a cryptocurrency mining firm, voicing its disagreement with the business model of the entity in question. According to an announcement on the FMA website published earlier today, the regulator has by means of a procedural instruction prohibited the business model of INVIA GmbH, an entity that purports to have an address in Vienna.
The action is taken on the grounds of suspicions of unauthorized management of an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) pursuant to Article 60 para. 1 no. 1 in conjunction with Article 2 para. 1 no. 2 Alternative Investment Fund Managers Act (AIFMG; Alternative Investmentfonds Manager-Gesetz). The entity was requested to cease the unauthorized business operation. The procedure concerning this matter is still pending, the regulator notes.
INVIA GmbH is neither licensed by nor supervised by the FMA.
The Austrian financial regulator has acted against cryptocurrency businesses before. In January this year, the FMA confirmed action was being taken against the OPTIOMENT project. The regulator has explained that after receiving multiple complaints relating to OPTIOMENT, it has decided to refer the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Vienna. It is up to the prosecutors to examine the complaints now. OPTIOMENT, which has been promoted widely online, as “a premier global Bitcoin investment project”, has also been blasted for being a Ponzi scheme.
Whereas cryptocurrency businesses continue to operate relatively calmly in Europe, the US authorities have been tightening their oversight of this market segment and have been particularly harsh with regard to cryptocurrency scams. Earlier this month, North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced one of the largest coordinated enforcement actions by state and provincial securities regulators in the United States and Canada to clamp down on fraudulent Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), cryptocurrency-related investment products, and the entities behind them.
The coordinated effort, code-named “Operation Cryptosweep”, saw the participation of NASAA members from more than 40 jurisdictions throughout North America. The operation has resulted in nearly 70 inquiries and investigations and 35 pending or completed enforcement actions related to ICOs or cryptocurrencies since the start of May.
