The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) of Austria believes that due to the proliferation of fraud with cryptoassets, the requirements for the cryptocurrency business need to be tightened.
According to the Austrian regulator, more than 60% of the reported fraud cases in the country are related to cryptocurrencies. To attract gullible users, attackers use Telegram and TikTok to place advertisements.
FMA employee Klaus Grubelnik said the agency sees an urgent need for stricter control over the cryptocurrency industry. According to Grubelnik, the market was previously flooded with fraudulent offers of shares and gold. Now, given the popularity of cryptocurrencies, ransomware is switching to them. In addition, the crisis and pandemic are also creating conditions for the proliferation of cryptocurrency fraudulent schemes.
Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Löger called for clear regulation of the cryptocurrency industry back in 2018 to prevent their use for illegal purposes. Löger’s statements came after the organizers of the Optioment Bitcoin pyramid managed to lure about 12,000 BTC from the victims.
Despite the large number of cryptocurrency scams in Austria, traditional exchanges continue to host cryptocurrency products, furthering the adoption of digital assets. For example, last fall, the Vienna Stock Exchange Wiener Börse added support for exchange traded products (ETP) on BTC and ETH for the first time. This is fundamentally different from the situation in the United States, where trading in cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds is prohibited.
Last year, A1 Payment, one of the largest Austrian mobile operators, provided customers with the ability to pay for services with cryptocurrencies. In addition, in November 2020, the Vienna University of Technology entered into a partnership with the Iota Foundation to conduct joint research on blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT).
