BTC Scam – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced that Cornelius Johannes Steynberg, the founder and CEO of Mirror Trading, has been sentenced by the US Federal Court to pay more than $3.4 billion for one of the largest Bitcoin frauds in the history of cryptocurrencies.
A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR PONZI SCHEME
South African CEO Cornelius Johannes Steynberg was sanctioned at the end of April by a US court. He was fined $1.7 billion in civil fines at BTC's current price. This is one of the highest civil penalties ordered in a case by the CFTC to date. In addition to this fine, it is expected that the CEO of Mirror Trading will pay the same amount in compensation for the victims.
As confirmed by the CFTC press release, this sanction is part of a years-long investigation that required strength and perseverance from the American regulator who wants to be firm with crypto-criminals:
« The CFTC warns that orders requiring payment of funds to victims may not result in the recovery of lost money, as criminals may not have sufficient funds or assets. The CFTC will continue to fight vigorously for the protection of customers and to ensure that criminals are held accountable. »
BITCOIN, THE CFTC AND MIRROR TRADING: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
In detail, Mirror Trading International is a company touting multi-level selling (or MLM) to encourage the deposit of bitcoins (BTC) on its platform, while promising staggering returns of 10% per month paid with the investment of the latest arrivals. It is a Ponzi scheme. Steynberg engaged this international fraud from May 2018 to March 2021 in 170 countries.
So, even if you, an informed reader of the Journal Du Coin, know that such returns do not exist, some have fallen into the panel of the many promises of wealth that have been made. There are 23,000 victims in the United States among the 76,000 members. This Ponzi pyramid would have made it possible to obtain 29,421 BTC, or $ 1.7 billion to the CEO of Mirror Trading.
Beyond the sanctions of the US regulator and the US government that highlight the desire for a repressive regulation towards cryptocurrencies, it remains certain that Ponzi and other scams are still too present systems in our ecosystem. Faced with bold returns that seem unrealistic to you, do not forget healthy gestures, ask yourself the right questions to avoid pitfalls.
Disasters and hacks don't just happen to others! It is best never to entrust the security of your cryptocurrencies to a third party. To sleep with peace of mind, equip yourself with a secure Ledger hardware wallet, there is something for every budget.
