CONSOB denounced that AirBit Club is “improperly” offering financial products and services. The Italian financial regulator has blocked access to the AirBit Club website throughout Italy.
The National Commission for the Italian Society and Stock Market, better known as CONSOB, has banned AirBit Club activities throughout Italy. In recent days, the regulatory agency issued a fraud warning against the initiative, adding to several other complaints that point to the AirBit Club as an international ponzi scheme.
CONSOB published the warning on March 30th, according to records on its website. The document indicates that AirBit Club has “improperly” offered financial services and products in Italy since the firm is not legally registered to operate in the territory. For this reason, the team behind CONSOB recommends that citizens not continue investing on behalf of AirBit Club and completely banned its activities.
It should be noted that AirBit Club is an initiative related to the world of cryptocurrencies, which has offered since 2016 the opportunity to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The firm supposedly works by purchasing assets when the price is low and reselling them when the market is undergoing a bullish trend, thus generating large profits from its users’ investments.
To participate in this platform, users must pay membership of USD 250. They also have to invest their savings in bitcoins so that they can generate the striking performance that the platform offers. However, the cryptocurrency community has already denounced AirBit Club as a pyramid scheme on several occasions. The company promises returns too high for a safe investment and does not indicate the potential risks to which its users are exposed.
Another aspect that gives rise to concern is the possibility that Gutemberg Dos Santos and Renato Rodríguez want to get the management of AirBit Club. Both figures faced a trial for the execution of the Vizinova ponzi scheme in 2017, which led them to lose USD 1.4 million. Due to this, authorities such as the National Commission of the Spanish Stock Market (CNMV) have also issued warnings about the possibilities of fraud behind AirBit Club.
The Italian regulatory agency CONSOB implemented in order to block the access to the AirBit Club website throughout the Italian territory. The companies that offer Internet services in this European country must take this measure into account. Despite these complaints and possible reprisals, AirBit Club continues to be a popular initiative in Colombia, Mexico and, Russia.
Cryptocurrency users, in both Latin America and other parts of the world, should thoroughly investigate the security and transparency of companies before placing their trust and money in them. The blockchain ecosystem has experienced several cases of pyramid schemes with numerous victims, the most famous of which have been MMM Global and OneCoin. This type of fraud has been so versatile that it has even affected famous figures like Ronaldinho whilst exposing novice users to the possibility of losing all their savings.
By Alexander Salazar