SEC Facebook

Based on information gathered by the Commission
,
the e
n
tity operating under
the name
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
using the domain
“
the
–
bitcoinrevolution.com
”
is
continually soliciting investments in the Philippines
WITHOUT
THE NECESSARY
LICENSE AND/OR AUTHORITY
from the Commission
despite
the issuance of the
previous Advisory against it dated 30 March 2020
.
To wit:
It must be emphasized that
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
is
an unregulated entity
with unknown operators and is notorious
for using fake celebrity endorsement online
,
among which are Sen. Manny Pacquiao, Former Senator and Speaker of the House,
Manny Villar
, and Boy Abunda,
in order to entice and lure
Filipinos
to invest
i
n its
scheme that
apparently
offers a unique
automated
trading
system
or platform
which
now
pro
mises a success rate as high as
Ninety
–
Nine Percent (99%) per transaction
.
BITCOIN REVOLUTIO
N
claims that for a minimum investment
of Two Hundred
Fifty Dollars ($250.00), investors can earn as much as One Thousand Dollars
($1,000.00) or Three Hundred Percent (300%) per day or a total of Nine Thousand
Percent (9,000%) per month. It even added that some of their
traders
became
millionaires in less than two months
by simply investing
i
n its scheme
which is “Too
good to be Tru
e.”
To illustrate:
Based on the foregoing, the public is again warned that the said red flags
are
possible indications of a Ponzi Scheme
and despite
operating with the use of
cookie
–
cutter website
s
similar to
cryptocurrency scams,
it must be noted that
the scheme of
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
is relative to the offering and sale of securities, in t
he form of
investment contracts
to the public because its
investors need not exert any effort other
than to invest
or place monies
i
n its
operation in order to derive income
therefrom
.
As such, the
Securities Regulation Code
(SRC) requires that said offer and sale
of securities must be duly registered with the Commission
and that the concerned
corporation and/or its agents have appropriate
registration and/or license to sell such
securities to the public
.
However,
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
remains
UNREGISTERED
with the
Commission and is still
NOT AUTHORIZED
to solicit, accept or take
investments/placements from the public nor to issue investment
contracts and other
forms of securities defined under Section 3 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC)
.
Moreover
,
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
contin
ues
to
manag
e
its
digital exchange
platform without
the
proper registration
with the Commission
relative
to
Section 32 of
the SRC on the “Prohibition on Use of Unregistered Exchange.”
In addition,
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
is still
NOT INCLUDED
among the
registered banks, exchanges or companies engaged in digital assets with the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) as w
ell in accordance with the
GUIDELINES FOR
VIRTUAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES
(
BSP CIRCULAR NO. 944
)
.
As such, the
public is
again
advised
NOT TO INVEST
or
STOP INVESTING
in
any scheme offered by
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
or any
other entities engaged in
digital asset trading
which promises ridiculous rates of return with little or no risk.
The public must be mindful that
cryptocurrencies are very volatile and the
process of digital asset trading is highly speculative and involv
es a higher degree of
risk and that
the operations of
such
unregulated entities
engaged in digital asset
trading
are
completely unaccountab
le
.
Therefore,
the public must observe and exercise
conscious effort
before
dealing
with such scheme
s
hoping that
it would be a safe investment option
especially during
this Covid 19 pandemic.
Nevertheless, the Commission assures the public that it continuously
monitor
s
and oversee
s
such entities and their activities in a way that it sees as proper in order
to prevent the proliferation of scams and/or any other unauthorized or illegal schemes
in the country.
Accordingly, the Commission warns
all unscrupulous individuals and/or entit
ies
t
hat
strict penalties are imposed
for v
iolat
ions of
the
Securities Regulation Code,
the Revised Corporation Code, and such other rules and regulation enforce
d by
the Commission
.
T
hose who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of
such
unauthorized
entities
in selling or convincing people to invest in the
ir
investment scheme
offered
including solicitations and recruitment through the internet may
likewise be criminally
prosecuted
and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos (P
5,000,000.00)
or
a
penalty of Twenty
–
one (21) years of imprisonment or both pursuant to Section
s
28 and
73 of the SRC.
In the same manner, t
hose who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such
venture or offer investment contracts or securities to
the public
ma
y incur criminal
liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly
as held
by the Supreme
Court in the case of
S
EC
vs. Oudine Santos
(G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014).
T
he names of all those involved will
also
be reported to the
Bureau of Internal
Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be assessed
correspondingly.
Apart thereof,
the
Bayanihan to Heal as One Act
(
Republic Act No. 11469
)
also punishes those participating in cyber incidents that make use or
take advantage
of the current crisis situation to prey on the public through scams, phishing, fraudulent
emails, or other similar acts.
It must be noted that the above laws are not aimed to hinder or pose significant
risk to businesses and cryptocurrency
projects
but
are intended for the protection of
both the registered entities and the investing public from any anomalies and/or
irregularities which tend to result from any unlawful or unauthorized operations.
Should you have any information regarding any
investment solicitation activity
by any individual or group of individuals representing
BITCOIN REVOLUTION
, please
send your report to the EIPD at epd@sec.gov.ph.
For the guidance of the public.
Pasay City,
16
June
2020