Philippines SEC warns against crypto investment.

[Hypnosis00]

Last July 1, The Security and Exchange Commission warns the Filipino community in regard to the crypto investment scheme as a claim like a Ponzi scheme.

This is their claims...

"Philippine SEC warns against investment schemes including one based on the Ethreum blockchain it says is a Ponzi scheme.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the Philippines has warned the public against individuals and groups engaged in unauthorized crypto investments and trading, according to an announcement on July 1.

The Philippine SEC warned those who were involved in crypto schemes could face a fine or 21 years of imprisonment or both."

You can read the entire article: https://cointelegraph.com/news/philippine-sec-warns-against-crypto-schemes

I don't know how this will affect the adoption here in the Philippines but it something will give a negative impact as people will also think negatively when they hear and read for this.

Would like to hear your thoughts especially for Filipino members here.

[sheenshane]

I hope there's no effect in using crypto in our country (Philippines) instead, they were directly seized the groups that implement this Ponzi scheme business which is obviously scam. Just like Forsage investment scheme which is now very well known here in the Philippines. However, you can also read this SEC pdf memorandum regarding those Ponzi scheme operators.

As of now, I can't give a clear insight into what will exactly happen to cryptocurrency adoption. People should learn how to use crypto in a good purpose not for these Ponzi scheme investment that has sweet promises of high returns of your investment using crypto.

[Haunebu]

These warnings apply to all countries around the world because scams in the crypto world are not exclusive to the Philippines. Warnings don't mean that the government is discouraging their citizens when it comes to crypto adoption.

They are just trying to help them avoid scams which is why I wouldn't worry too much unless the government announces a ban or something which still isn't a big deal since there are methods to bypass these bans.

For example, the Indian government banned crypto sometime back, but that only affected a couple of exchanges while people continued to trade using methods like OTC trading etc. Recently, the ban was lifted and trading crypto is considered legal there currently.

[blockman]

It is the Forsage and I'm happy that the PH SEC is giving warning to the people because many of them don't listen to individuals that are warning them. And lately, it's also a cause of the network congestion of Ethereum because many are investing on the scam.
Many blind followers are encouraging others to join them not understanding what the scheme is all about.

[Maus0728]

Not familiar with these two  "RCashOnline and "The Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta Foundation of the Philippines, Inc." but the other ponzi scheme who used to be called "Forsage" does really make a noise which eventually managed to persuade numerous Filipino citizen including few of my acquaintances.

As far as I know, the founder of forsage pyramiding x crowdfunding x ponzi scheme is also the founder of smartway.run and Million Money which also turns out to be a vaporware project that promotes matrix or pyramiding cycle with no existing product to offer.

Forsage is just another BS that uses referal program to earn; as long as you are at the top of the chain you have the advantage to earn as much compare to people who are late to join the boat.

Remember that not all projects which uses "blockchain" are all legit.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

There are many PONZI in all industries, not only in crypto. Governments have not yet banned all industries because of PONZI. I believe they will not do it on crypto industry.
Similarly, there are fake fiats and governments have not yet made a death penalty for fiats.

New laws, new regulations that should be stricter would be go into effects to protect citizens and investors but crypto industry will be here with us. It is our future.

[Hypnosis00]

Not familiar with these two  "RCashOnline and "The Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta Foundation of the Philippines, Inc." but the other ponzi scheme who used to be called "Forsage" does really make a noise which eventually managed to persuade numerous Filipino citizen including few of my acquaintances.

As far as I know, the founder of forsage pyramiding x crowdfunding x ponzi scheme is also the founder of smartway.run and Million Money which also turns out to be a vaporware project that promotes matrix or pyramiding cycle with no existing product to offer.

Forsage is just another BS that uses referal program to earn; as long as you are at the top of the chain you have the advantage to earn as much compare to people who are late to join the boat.

Remember that not all projects which uses "blockchain" are all legit.

Not even familiar with two as you've mentioned. And unlikely it was happening how these people (scammers) ruin the image of crypto and take advantage of the NO-HOW investors who been fooled with.

They are just trying to help them avoid scams which is why I wouldn't worry too much unless the government announces a ban or something which still isn't a big deal since there are methods to bypass these bans.

I'm glad also to hear how the SEC reacts to the situation where there is an increase in fraudulent and scamming activities around. This really alarming... And we should be vigilant enough by not letting these scammers will succeed. 

[mk4]

I'm actually surprised that the Philippines' SEC actually knew that Ethereum Dapps exist LOL. But whatever, Forsage actually is a ponzi scheme, so this is a step in the right direction.

I don't know how this will affect the adoption here in the Philippines but it something will give a negative impact as people will also think negatively when they hear and read for this.

This types of negative impact is a net positive. It's not like the warning was FUD though, it was a valid warning. News like this would hopefully make Filipinos think twice when putting their money anywhere as Filipino masses aren't really the best in terms of tech and financial literacy.

[Tipstar]

I'm really surprised to see that Philippines is going towards this direction. I thought they were crypto friendly nation but turns out their government agencies knows nothing about crypto. I've heard of exchanges like Coins.ph for some years now and the Filipino community are one of the most forward ones in every crypto sector. And there were also news that the central bank of Philippines is regulating crypto exchanges.

[ultrloa]

I hope there's no effect in using crypto in our country (Philippines) instead, they were directly seized the groups that implement this Ponzi scheme business which is obviously scam. Just like Forsage investment scheme which is now very well known here in the Philippines. However, you can also read this SEC pdf memorandum regarding those Ponzi scheme operators.

As of now, I can't give a clear insight into what will exactly happen to cryptocurrency adoption. People should learn how to use crypto in a good purpose not for these Ponzi scheme investment that has sweet promises of high returns of your investment using crypto.

The said site hasn't been reported yet and it's spreading like a virus on social media since there are networker's joining the system so expect there are so many of them will get scam. This kind of site will not benefit on cryptocurrency since if this investment site will scattered in Philippines the adoption and hard regulation will surely be imposed and that would be bad for crypto users in PH.

[Maus0728]

I'm actually surprised that the Philippines' SEC actually knew that Ethereum Dapps exist LOL.

I don't know if it's a good sign though..but the fact they are aware to the extent that the ETH Dapps are existing might result to good and bad outcome LOL

I'm really surprised to see that Philippines is going towards this direction. I thought they were crypto friendly nation but turns out their government agencies knows nothing about crypto.

I am not certain but the fact that they are operating crypto exchange/wallet such as coins.ph under the regulation of Bank of the Philippines while knowing that they are aware that ETH Dapps are existing is clear sign that they have an idea (of course!)

[TommyGunnaB]

The Philippine authorities also listed three unauthorized crypto Ponzi schemes, one of which uses a protocol based on Ethreum blockchain: Forsage, RCashOnline and The Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.

[DevilSlayer]

I hope there's no effect in using crypto in our country (Philippines) instead, they were directly seized the groups that implement this Ponzi scheme business which is obviously scam. Just like Forsage investment scheme which is now very well known here in the Philippines. However, you can also read this SEC pdf memorandum regarding those Ponzi scheme operators.

As of now, I can't give a clear insight into what will exactly happen to cryptocurrency adoption. People should learn how to use crypto in a good purpose not for these Ponzi scheme investment that has sweet promises of high returns of your investment using crypto.

The said site hasn't been reported yet and it's spreading like a virus on social media since there are networker's joining the system so expect there are so many of them will get scam. This kind of site will not benefit on cryptocurrency since if this investment site will scattered in Philippines the adoption and hard regulation will surely be imposed and that would be bad for crypto users in PH.

I will not surprised to see that the SEC and the Philippine Government will impose new regulations about cryptocurrencies, the victims of different scammers are keep increasing and for sure that the government will now make a move to protect their citizens from those scammers.

Many scam investments are spreading through social media platforms during this pandemic, there are a lot of people who are easily believe to this investment because they are not financial literate where they want to gain big amount of money in just a short period of time.

[stompix]

First they ignore you, when they fight you..

Yeah, yeah, we already know everyone who gets to fight wins, bulletproof logic, it happened all the times, no exception recorded in human history.

Saint John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta Foundation, although it was registered with the SEC, it didn’t comply with its reportorial requirements and was revoked over 17 years ago.

Are those scams with those names still round?
The moment an organization that poses as charity is asking for money to make your earn more money it should be an instant red flag, why would a religious order involve itself into such investments? Even if it would have been the real Order of Saint John it would have been extremely fishy.

Whenever I hear about those orders, templars, knights it's 99.99% a scam

I'm actually surprised that the Philippines' SEC actually knew that Ethereum Dapps exist LOL. But whatever, Forsage actually is a ponzi scheme, so this is a step in the right direction.

I would be more surprised if they don't already have a special team dealing exactly with those types of scams, Ponzi, money laundering etc.
People have a tendency to think that the governments are slow to adapt, easy to fool, but the takedown of SR proved they are pretty fast to learn.

[BrewMaster]

this is pretty much the same warning that every country and even every experienced member of crypto community has given others.
the platforms such as ethereum and all the tokens on it are terrible for investment and majority of them are indeed scams (by definition a Ponzi scheme). and also we always warn people no to invest more than they can afford to lose in bitcoin as it is volatile and unpredictable.

it is just news sites that are trying to be sneaky and change the context a little bit or use vague language to appear as if the warning is something different!

[Sanugarid]

I hope there's no effect in using crypto in our country (Philippines) instead, they were directly seized the groups that implement this Ponzi scheme business which is obviously scam. Just like Forsage investment scheme which is now very well known here in the Philippines. However, you can also read this SEC pdf memorandum regarding those Ponzi scheme operators.

Some of my friends messaged my about this FORSAGE, so I got curious what it is and then found out that it is an investment company. Upon searching about it, there are already circulating articles warning people to stay away from this company, most of people might want to give it a shot coz it only needs 0.05 ETH to become one of their participants. Imagine with that minimum, they can get 0.05x500 000 ETH from their investors and that's only a minimum. seeing those x3, x4 , x5 multiplier from the investment made me sure about it is a scam.

As of now, I can't give a clear insight into what will exactly happen to cryptocurrency adoption. People should learn how to use crypto in a good purpose not for these Ponzi scheme investment that has sweet promises of high returns of your investment using crypto.

Now this is an answer why people keep doubting the cryptocurrency, aside from they are unaware of it, they are blinded with easy money schemes.

[mk4]

I would be more surprised if they don't already have a special team dealing exactly with those types of scams, Ponzi, money laundering etc.
People have a tendency to think that the governments are slow to adapt, easy to fool, but the takedown of SR proved they are pretty fast to learn.

Well, it's not that I don't think they can't do their jobs, but their information technology sector though in the past, well.. let's just say there have been "a few" government-related database leaks in the past..

[sheenshane]

I'm glad also to hear how the SEC reacts to the situation where there is an increase in fraudulent and scamming activities around. This really alarming... And we should be vigilant enough by not letting these scammers will succeed.  

The Philippine SEC was really doing their job here, even not related to crypto investment Ponzi scam they have been fully stopped any related to scam operators in the Philippines just like what happened to the KAPA when SEC announced and warning to the public about this Ponzi scam. People will not learn unless they will not have massive losses in their investment. The same thing in crypto Ponzi scam and fiat Ponzi scam. Probably the government knows about this that not only fiat has been used in Ponzi scam also in crypto.

I hope there's no effect in using crypto in our country (Philippines) instead, they were directly seized the groups that implement this Ponzi scheme business which is obviously scam. Just like Forsage investment scheme which is now very well known here in the Philippines. However, you can also read this SEC pdf memorandum regarding those Ponzi scheme operators.

Some of my friends messaged my about this FORSAGE, so I got curious what it is and then found out that it is an investment company...

The same thing as here sounds funny when I was acting blindly that I didn't know what is Ethereum and how it will work and why FORSAGE used ethereum and claiming they are decentralized that no one was holding the fund. When I asked who is the founder of Ethereum they even don't know, so they are diving into an investment without knowing how it will work as long as they will earn as the Ponzi scheme company promised.

[aprilnot]

The Philippine SEC warned those who were involved in crypto schemes could face a fine or 21 years of imprisonment or both."[/i]

is this also applied to those who trade crypto there?
if yes, this is very bad. then crypto will be completely illegal there.

[tsaroz]

Reading through all of it, what I realized is the SEC is warning people about the ponzis that are happening in the crypto world, basically about the hyip/high-risk dapps on Ethereum and similar platform that promises large rewards and works by paying money to old investors at the cost of new.
The SEC is not calling the crypto as scam. And they are totally correct about the ponzi dapps which may easily deceive naive investors.