Mirror Trading International (MTI), a cryptocurrency-focused website with the so-called passive income, has become the largest scam on the crypto market in 2020, Chainalysis has learned.
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The website promised 0.5% daily returns on bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) deposits with yearly gains of 500%. The company claimed it was using an AI-powered foreign exchange to grow profits. Analysts at Chainalysis say MTI had been actively receiving cryptocurrencies from clients since June 2018.
However, in December 2020, South Africa's Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA) filed charges against MTI after it found that the company falsified trade statements. The company also did not declare losses to deceive the market.
Chainalysis believes MTI Club attracted over $580 million worth of BTC across more than 470,000 transactions. The scam startup also had been actively using a popular cryptocurrency gambling service as a way to launder $39 million worth of cryptocurrency.
"Mirror Trading International is another example of why the industry must spread the word that algorithmic trading platforms promising unrealistically high returns are nearly always scams," the analysts said.
Earlier, iHodl reported that the South African regulator began sending out audit requests to cryptocurrency traders requesting them to disclose the amount of trades. In particular, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) wants to know the purpose for which the taxpayers purchased cryptocurrency and a letter from the crypto provider confirming the investments.
SARS' move comes after the FSCA initiated tightening of regulatory rules for digital assets such as ETH, XRP and LTC over the country’s largest Ponzi scheme.
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