Malaysia’s Watchdog Looks into Beauty Guru LaVida Coin ICO

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is looking into the LaVida Coin (LVC) initial coin offering (ICO) of the local cosmetics millionaire and beauty guru Datuk Seri Hasmiza Othman, also known as Dato’ Vida.

According to the publication on the SC website, the watchdog is reviewing all available information and is checking whether there has been breach of local securities laws. The examination was prompted by several queries regarding the issuance of a whitepaper for the LaVida Coin. As per the whitepaper, the coin is offered as a private funding initiative to raise capital for three new projects of Dato’ Vida.

“The SC advises investors to exercise due diligence and to be cautious of the risks of participating in any investment schemes, in particular schemes involving cryptocurrencies and digital tokens,” the watchdog said.

Cryptovest’s attempt to check the website of the LaVida Coin failed, as the website is currently in maintenance mode. “Sorry for the inconvenience. Our website is currently under review. Thank you for your understanding,” the message on the website reads.

According to the website Fintech Malaysia, Dato’ Vida, a popular and rich woman, who made her fortune from beauty and health products, is seeking to raise the staggering $1.5 billion. The sum would be used for an entrepreneur-focused online entertainment channel ($1 billion), development of a LavidaPay payment gateway ($100 million), and construction of a mosque, described as non-profit ($400 million). The first stage of the ICO was launched last week and is supposed to end on October 20, 2018. One LVC is being sold for $0.66.

However, Fintech Malaysia notes that there are some very suspicious things about this ICO. First off, the whitepaper does not mention what and how much of the projects will be carried out and it all depends on how much is raised. It also seems that the author/s of the whitepaper do not distinguish between tokens and coins and use the terms interchangeably.

The document does not provide information about the legal entity behind this enterprise, there are no team members listed, and there is no mention of the blockchain network on which the LaVida Coin will be launched. Besides, the roadmap for the project completion is very vague and the promise of returns on the investments looks suspicious. According to Fintech Malaysia, the only guarantee of returns were Dato’ Vida’s own words.

She is quoted as saying “buy now, because the token is cheap and you can sell it back by Christmas since the price of this cryptocurrency is expected to soar at that time”.