ASIC secures court win against BPS Financial over crypto Qoin
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The news: The corporate regulator has secured a win in its legal battle against BPS Financial over the company's digital currency Qoin after the Federal Court found it breached the Corporations Act.
The context: Today, the Federal Court found BPS Financial made misleading claims about Qoin and engaged in unlicensed financial conduct linked to a non-cash payment facility.
Announcing the lawsuit in October 2022, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) alleged BPS Financial made misleading claims over its regulatory compliance and the ability of individuals to use Qoin tokens to purchase goods and services from an increasing number of merchants registered with BPS.
ASIC claimed this was at a time when merchant numbers had been declining and it was not possible to exchange Qoin tokens through independent exchanges.
ASIC said it believed more than 79,000 individuals were issued with the Qoin product and may have believed it was compliant with financial services laws.
The lawsuit is part of a string of cases launched by the regulator in late 2022 around whether crypto products are financial products and should be regulated as such.
The sources: Federal Court of Australia, ASIC
