Gold and derivatives’ regulations proposed to apply to crypto market in Austria

The Optioment crime accelerates Austrian regulations of the cryptocurrency sphere. At the end of the last week, the Finance Minister of the country told that the measures already imposed against money laundering in the sphere of gold and derivatives trading could also work with the market of cryptocurrencies.

It should be reminded that the fraud scheme called Optioment, as it seems, has become a cause of considerable anxiety in the European Union. Even Interpol is now actively searching for people behind this fake Bitcoin fund, as the criminal group has managed to acquire $115 mln.

Austrian Finance Minister Hartwig Löger has directly connected the need for further regulation with the aforementioned crime. He suggests that traders operating with the sums greater than $12,300 would report their activities to the financial crimes enforcement agencies, and also proposes that the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) would monitor crypto exchanges and similar companies. 

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) might also become pre-moderated by the FMA and the corresponding anti-fraud rules will be based on those already working in the sphere of bond trading in Austria.