The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday said it has issued another warning against Bitcoin Revolution, which presents itself as a cryptocurrency trading program and fakes the endorsement of government officials, businessmen and celebrities.
In an advisory, the SEC asked the public to avoid or stop investing in schemes offered by Bitcoin Revolution, or any other entities engaged in digital asset trading and promising high rates of return with little or no risk.
Bitcoin Revolution, which the SEC said has unknown operators, is notorious for using fake endorsements from the likes of Sen. Manny Pacquiao, former Senator and House Speaker Manuel B. Villar Jr. and television host Boy Abunda.
Only recently, the Department of Finance alerted the public about false information about the Secretary of Finance supposedly promoting Bitcoin Revolution.
“The public must be mindful that cryptocurrencies are very volatile and the process of digital asset trading is highly speculative and involves a higher degree of risk and that the operations of such unregulated entities engaged in digital asset trading are completely unaccountable,” the SEC said. “Nevertheless, the Commission assures the public that it continuously monitors and oversees 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.”
The agency issued the warning after it learned that Bitcoin Revolution continues to solicit investments from the public using the domain “the-bitcoinrevolution.com” without the necessary license.
Under the scheme, investors can earn as much as $1,000 from a minimum investment of $250 within a day, a 300-percent return on investment per day or a total of 9,000 percent per month.
Bitcoin Revolution also claims that some of its traders managed to become millionaires in less than two months by simply investing in its scheme that offers a unique automated trading system or platform with a success rate of as high as 99 percent per transaction.
The scheme involves the offering and sale of securities, in the form of investment contracts, as investors need not exert any effort other than to invest or place money in Bitcoin Revolution in order to derive income, according to the SEC.
As such, the investment contracts must have been duly registered with the SEC while Bitcoin Revolution and its agents must have secured the corresponding license to offer securities for sale to the public, as required under the Securities Regulation Code.
“Aside from the missing registration and licenses, the quick and unrealistically high return promised by Bitcoin Revolution presents a red flag for a Ponzi scheme, an investment scam where investors are paid using funds contributed by the succeeding investors.”
The SEC first flagged the unauthorized activities of Bitcoin Revolution in late March.