LAVIDA COIN FIRM ON BNM ALERT LIST
Operator of cryptocurrency not authorised under Bank Negara’s regulations
BANK Negara Malaysia (BNM) has listed VI Profit Galaxy (DSV Cryptoclub & LUX Galaxies), the operator of cryptocurrency called LaVida Coin, in its financial consumer alert list.
The list consists of companies and websites which are neither authorised nor approved under the relevant laws and regulations administered by BNM.
“Please note that the list is not exhaustive and serves only as a guide to members of the public based on information and queries received by BNM,” it said on its website.
The latest list consists of 423 companies.
LaVida Coin is reportedly the brainchild of cosmetics queen Datuk Seri Dr Hasmida Othman, better known as Datuk Seri Vida.
In a recent interview with Utusan Malaysia, she said she came up with the idea after gaining a healthy profit from her investments in cryptocurrency several years ago.
She said with help from a team of professionals, she decided to create LaVida Coin. She was quoted as saying that she expected the value of the LaVida Coin to increase by year-end.
According to reports, LaVida Coin will operate its own blockchain as a data storage medium.
Its token can be used to purchase goods or services offered by the issuer of the token or authorised merchants and institutions.
On Monday, the Securities Commission (SC) said it was reviewing information to determine whether the offering of LaVida Coin breached any securities law.
This came after SC received queries on the issuance of a white paper for the offering of LaVida Coin to the public.
The white paper claimed that LaVida Coin was offered as a private funding initiative to raise development capital or funds for three projects.
The paper also claims that it is only through crowdfunding that such a diverse range of projects can meet the development funding needs.
The SC advised investors to exercise due diligence and to be cautious of the risks of participating in any investment schemes, in particular schemes involving cryptocurrencies and digital tokens.