Crypto could lead to royal commission within a decade: McGrathNicol

A lack of regulation around the spruiking of cryptocurrency assets and services is leaving consumers at risk of poor advice and fraud, with the avenues of recourse unclear, restructuring and advisory firm McGrathNicol warns.

“Depending on the amount of money involved [in crypto] and how bad that gets, then you can see in five to 10 years’ time someone saying, ‘We need a royal commission. How did this all happen? How did it all go wrong?’ ” Mr Feeney said.“We are talking about a lot of money here. A lot of individuals could end up living in cars, in caravan parks.”

McGrathNicol partner Matt Fehon said the lack of regulated advice was leaving consumers unsure about where to turn when things turn sour.“Whether the crypto has gone missing or they need something traced, where do they go?” Mr Fehon asked.Investment scams surged 135 per cent last year, making up $701 million of the $2 billion defrauded from Australians, the competition regulator revealed last week.

McGrathNicol director Andrew Gill said while the transparent nature of blockchain technology meant stolen crypto could often be traced through platforms such as exchanges, a lack of jurisdiction for law enforcement hampered recovery.McGrathNicol manager Evan Vougdis said much of the firm’s work was similar, as scammers often run the same fraud repeatedly.

Mr Gill said McGrathNicol could trace assets and engage lawyers to speak with overseas businesses, such as exchanges, making a case to compel them to hand over information to help an investigation.

Source: Digital Coin News (digitalcoinnews.net)

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