By Alex Batlin, CEO, Trustology Tales of stolen Crypto Legitimacy and scams always hog the headlines. The recent OneCoin scandal, positioned as the future of money and the rival of Bitcoin,n is a case in point. Many people believed the hype, all seemingly convinced that OneCoin was legitimate. They were also spurred on by the fear of missing out. There was a strong urgency to a,ct and people did. Piles of money swiftly poured into the crypto deal.
The Biggest Crypto Heist in History
By 2017, just two years after the official launch of OneCoin, Dr. Ruja Ignatova went missing. The FBI was on her case. She had pulled off the biggest crypto heist in history. Just a few months ago, another high-profile case had surfaced surrounding DasCoin crypto, a currency that was debunked as an elaborate Ponzi scheme – leading to huge losses for investors.
How Scams Affect Crypto Adoption
Scams such as these do nothing but tarnish an industry poised to create value for many and create a barrier to mass adoption. Due diligence is a must, and that responsibility still solely rests on the shoulders of the investors. The crypto space itself is still a relatively new field, and with so many kinds of crypto out there already, only a handful are well-known. Even fewer have the established reputation of Bitcoin or Ethereum. There’s a critical urgency to educate investors about the need to carefully vet coins before buying them.
The Role of Regulators and Compliance Measures
While regulators are working on ways to better protect investors with stronger compliance measures, such as KYC and AML, it will be up to service providers to make it happen. At Trustology, we believe in accelerating the crypto economy. As a custodial wallet service provider, our primary focus ion s keeping investors’ private keys and Crypto Legitimacy safe. We implement robust procedures around AML compliance utilising the support of both Onfido and Chainalysis. Our know your transaction (KYT) and know your customer (KYC) processes in place ensure we’ve conducted exhaustive checks, in addition to ongoing suspicious activity reporting.
Protecting Assets to Ensure Mass Adoption
We must continue our progress in the protection of assets. If we don’t act swiftly to address the challenges to adoption, people will continue to miss out on the positive role that cryptocurrencies can play in our society and the global financial system.
And, whatever the skeptics argue, one thing is clear – virtual currencies are not going to disappear like Dr. Ruja Ignatova and suddenly go underground.
Cryptocurrencies Are Here to Stay
Cryptocurrencies have emerged from the digital world that we live in, and over $275 billion worth of cryptocurrency is already in circulation – and the number continues to grow. We simply need to change the narrative about cryptocurrency and break down the barrier of entry to mass adoption by working with regulators, the crypto community, and industry partners to ensure security shortcomings are addressed once and for all.