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December 17, 2017, 04:50:26 PM |
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Market watchdog SEBI will come down heavily on illicit 'initial coin offers' seeking public investments with the promise of high returns from Bitcoins and other virtual currencies, amid a mushrooming of such schemes in the absence of any regulatory regime.
However, SEBI is not keen to take on the mantle of a regulator for such 'trading' — currently being offered on a number of so-called exchanges despite there being no rules in this regard — as the underlying product, which is Bitcoin or any such cryptocurrency, is not an approved product by RBI or any other agency, top officials said.
At the same time, SEBI cannot allow gullible investors to be taken for a ride with unlawful promises by these exchanges and those claiming to 'mint' cryptocurrencies. A number of them are suspected to be indulging in fraudulent activities without actually minting any such virtual currencies that require very complex algorithms, the officials noted.
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