Philippines SEC Warns Public Against Crypto Investment Platform OneCash Trading

Announcements, News, Regulation | March 15, 2018 By:

The Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned the public against investing their hard-earned money in cryptocurrency investment platform OneCash Trading.

OneCash Trading claims that it is an online trading that promises a return on investment with 200% interest in a span of eight weeks. The company boasts global coverage across 73 different countries, though its registered headquarters is not known.

In its Facebook Account, the company is inviting the public to sign up to their website through a sponsored link and deposit an amount of 1,000 pesos ($20 USD) as an enrollment fee. A member may choose to become a trader with the promise of receiving a 25% return on investment every Thursday for eight straight weeks without doing anything, or to be a builder, wherein a member is promised 50 pesos ($1 USD) per direct and indirect invites, up to the 10th level.

The SEC said such investment schemes, whether with the use of cash or cryptocurrencies, are considered as securities and are subject to the regulatory authority of the commission. It also said that OneCash Trading is not registered with the commission as acorporation and is not authorized to solicit investments from the public.

“The recruitment of investor members under the guise of sponsoring a person into the system is likewise considered a form of investment solicitation or a sale of securities,” the SEC said. “The offering or sale of securities to the public without a permit or license from the SEC is a violation of Section 8.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).”

According to the SEC, salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents involved with promoting, selling, and recruiting investment services for OneCash may be prosecuted and face penalties up to 5 million pesos ($100,000 USD) or imprisonment of up to 21 years.

Earlier this year, the SEC filed a cease-and-desist order against the initial coin offering (ICO) of Krops, an agriculture mobile app founded by businessman Joseph Calata. Krops was allegedly selling or offering securities in the form of KropCoins to the public without the necessary license from the corporate regulator, which is a violation of the Securities Regulation Code.