The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has warned the public to be cautious when doing any financial services business with BitCoin Xpress (BTCoin Xpress) as it was not authorised to render any financial advisory and intermediary services.
According to its website, BTCoin Xpress is an international online broker that offers financial services in various financial instruments. The website claims that BTCoin Xpress has been around since 2013 and has processed more than $8 billion (R118bn) in transactions and has satisfied customers in over 40 countries.
On its website, BTCoin Xpress also claims to be authorised and regulated by the FSCA under FSP number 46614.
The FSCA said this was incorrect and false as BTCoin Xpress was not authorised as a financial services provider. The FSP number 46614 belonged to ForexTime t/a FXTM, an authorised FSP.
The FSCA said it had contacted FXTM to establish whether there was a relationship between itself and BTCoin Xpress.
FXTM had since confirmed that there was no relationship between itself and BTCoin Xpress.
“It seems likely that BTCoin Xpress is conducting unauthorised financial services business and fraudulently using another FSP’s licence number of another entity. Additionally, to legally operate in South Africa, BTCoin Xpress requires authorisation from the FSCA to conduct financial services business,” the authority said.
The FSCA said it had contacted BTCoin Xpress to obtain their view about the alleged relationship between itself and FXTM. BTCoin Xpress did not respond to the FSCA’s latest correspondence. - Staff Reporter
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