Mirror Trading Clients Should Take Their Money and Run, South Africa’s Financial Regulator Advises
Mirror Trading Clients Should Take Their Money and Run, South Africa’s Financial Regulator Advises
South Africa’s financial watchdog is investigating Mirror Trading International (MTI), a purportedly lucrative crypto trading network that Texas state regulators last month declared as a fraud.
- At the very least, the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) intoned in its Tuesday announcement that MTI is operating a financial service without a license.
- MTI told FSCA that its bots conduct high-frequency derivatives trades with client’s pooled bitcoin, consistently generating 10% monthly returns.
- But FSCA said it “has much greater concern” about the legitimacy of MTI’s purported business model. It said in a statement that such a consistent high yield “seems far-fetched and unrealistic.”
- Regulators are now parsing through statements made by a former platform broker for MTI that may contradict MTI’s self-descriptions.
- MTI has “partially-cooperated” in the inquiry, according to FSCA, and informed clients of the investigation. FSCA recommended that all clients jump ship posthaste: “We recommend that clients request refunds into their own accounts as soon as possible.”
- MTI CEO Johann Steynberg denied the trading club is a scam in a letter to investors obtained by the news site Bitcoin.com.
- FSCA’s inquiry comes just over a month after the Texas State Securities Board ordered MTI and its associates to “cease and desist” what it called a multi-level marketing scam.
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