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Australian Exchange MyCryptoWallet Risks ASIC Investigation Following User Complaints

source-logo  coinfomania.com  + 1 more 05 April 2021 18:23, UTC

MyCryptoWallet, a Melbourne-based cryptocurrency exchange, may have to go through regulatory assessments following negative reviews and complaints from several of its users, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday.

Many users of the exchange reported that it went dark for more than a year, leaving customers unable to access their bitcoin worth up to thousands of dollars and some users even lost their funds during transfers, resulting in a request for investigation from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) or  the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).

Other users have also complained about the inability to trade due to issues with the exchange’s two-factor authentication system, while some recounted having problems with the website as pages refuse to load or appear to not exist in the first place.

The majority of Australian cryptocurrency exchanges like MyCryptoWallet only register with financial regulator AUSTRAC for anti-money laundering purposes but are not regulated like stock exchanges that require a Financial Services License registration by ASIC.

According to Caroline Bowler, chief executive of BTCMarkets, Australia’s largest crypto exchange, the predicament with MyCryptoWallet only points to the need for crypto exchanges to be regulated in order to protect investors. Some countries like the Czech Republic already have a regulatory framework for crypto exchanges.

After MyCryptoWallet  was launched in late 2017 by entrepreneur Jaryd Koenigsmann for the trading of currencies such as BTC, ETH, and XRP, the company claimed to have signed up over 20,000 users in its first three months of operation but has since faced several issues.

A few months later, it announced that the problems had been fixed, however, the inability of some users to access their funds or perform transactions a year later proved otherwise. Even the local media outlets that gathered this information, the Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, have tried to sign up for the exchange but were unsuccessful as the company’s support website appears to be inactive.

In view of the different complaints made by users of the platform, a spokeswoman from MyCryptoWallet made refuting comments denying the users’ complaints and stated that the company never knew about the issues and that the business was running smoothly with no issues.

She continued, “It is quite upsetting to hear you are creating an article about false negativity regarding MyCryptoWallet rather than the amazing ground-breaking blockchain technology we offer Australian users.”

coinfomania.com

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