Belgian Regulators Issue Joint Bitcoin Warning

The Bank of Israel (BoI) and the Israeli Ministry of Finance have issued a joint statement calling on the public to exercise caution with regard to digital currencies. The warning falls in line with what we've heard from regulators across the world over the past few months. The Bank of Israel and the ministry stress that digital currencies are not legal tender, nor are they issued or backed by a central bank, which means there is not legal requirement for anyone to accept or exchange them. The joint statement was issued following a meeting convened by the Governor of the Bank of Israel,....

Financial regulators in Belgium have issued a warning against bitcoin on Thursday, noting that the digital currency is something the general public should be wary of. The statement was issues jointly between the National Bank of Belgium and the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority, and warns of essentially the same things most other countries who have issued statements warn about. That, of course, includes price volatility, the fact bitcoin is not backed by the government, the risk of financial crime and fraud, and the possibility of having your digital currency stolen and not....

Several European regulators have issued a joint warning on crypto assets. “These assets are not suited for most retail consumers as an investment or as a means of payment or exchange,” they stressed. EU Supervisory Authorities Warn About the Danger of Investing in Crypto Assets Three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) issued a joint statement warning about the risks of crypto assets Thursday. The European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and the European Securities and Markets....

A top financial regulator in Belgium has issued a warning about OneCoin, a digital currency product that has frequently drawn fraud accusations. The notice, published this weekend, states that remarks from promoters that OneCoin has received the institution's tacit approval are "false and misleading". Despite the claims, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) said that it had no regulatory powers to speak of in relation to digital currencies, and the note itself constitutes little more than a warning about getting involved with products like OneCoin. The notice....

The world of finance already seems to evolve at a slow pace, yet some countries manage to come up new ideas that make the situation even worse than before. Recently the Belgian Court of Cassation has decided to let the Department of Finance use any evidence in court, even if it has been obtained through “dubious” activities. When governmental bodies and departments start blurring the lines between what is morally correct, and what is an outright breach of privacy, things take a turn for the worse. The main issue most people have with the ruling by the Belgian Court of Cassation is how it....