Malta Regulator Sounds Alarm on “Dubious” Bitcoin (BTC) Trading Platform

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has notified local and international investors about a cryptocurrency investment scheme called PrimeTradingbot. The company has claimed to work from an address in Malta and possess a financial license, but it has no registration with the MFSA, the regulator explained in a statement on Thursday.

PrimeTradingbot offers trading in Bitcoin (BTC), according to the MFSA. The company’s website was not available as of 08:50 UTC on Friday. The domain primetradingbot.com has been operational from September 6, 2018 with a one-year registration, the database of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) showed.

“The MFSA wishes to alert the public, in Malta and abroad, that Primetradingbot is NOT licenced or otherwise authorised by the MFSA to provide any investment or other financial services which are required to be licenced or otherwise authorised under Maltese law,” the regulator said. “Furthermore, information available to the MFSA suggests that https://www.primetradingbot.com/ is likely to be a scheme of dubious nature with a high risk of loss of money. The public should therefore refrain from undertaking any business or transactions with the above-mentioned entity.”

The PrimeTradingbot website version cached by Google at 03:48 UTC on October 10 shows the operator’s address to be in Upper Barrakka, in the Maltese capital Valletta. The company has four Bitcoin trading offerings, dubbed BTC pods: the Amateur one claims 2.3% daily return, the Veteran 2.4%, and the Beta and Alpha pods 2.5% and 2.6%, respectively. PrimeTradingbot also has a three-level referral program, with bonuses ranging from 1% to 8%.

“PrimeTrading is a licensed Investment Firm with world-class capabilities designed for our clients’ greatest needs with a comprehensive range of products and services across asset classes, geographies and investment strategies,” as per Google’s cached version from 00:11 on October 24, accessed by Cryptovest at 08:58 on Friday. “We have expertise in every region around the world, with 135 investment teams in 30 countries sharing their best thinking in order to seek better returns. We strive to deliver solid returns to our investors through active investment decisions.”

The MFSA has advised investors to check the regulator’s publicly available database of registered companies before making any investment.