The Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) warns the cryptocurrency market is overwhelmed with scams as prices go higher, Bloomberg reports. The watchdog's spokesman, Klaus Grubelnik, calls for "stricter regulation" as fraudulent offerings are spreading around the market because of the hype.
"Fake offerings for stocks and gold have been around forever and these scams are now shifting to digital assets because of the hype," Grubelnik highlighted.
The FMA's warnings come amid bitcoin's (EXANTE: Bitcoin) price surge above the 55,000 market. As a result of such tremendous growth, bitcoin's market capitalization has surpassed the $1 billion line for the very first time. As of press time, BTC is trading at $55,562 (+6.48%).
This is not the first time Austria is trying to regulate the market. Back in the bull crypto rally of 2017-2018, Austria's former Finance Minister Hartwig Löger offered regulations on cryptocurrencies for the nation and for the European Union to prevent bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies from facilitating money laundering. Löger claimed cryptocurrencies were "significantly gaining importance in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing."
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