Spain Watchdog CNMV Warns of AlyCoin ICO

Spain’s financial markets regulator, The Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV), today blacklisted a cryptocurrency website that promotes unregulated ICOs for an Ethereum-based token called AlyCoin. The crowdsale campaign was added to the regulator’s warning list after its operators were found facilitating unregulated investment vehicles for Spanish citizens without being authorized to provide ‎‎such activities in the country.

The CNMV accuses AlyCoin of soliciting clients and providing them with financial services, which violates the second paragraph of Article 17 of the Securities Markets Law.

Although the financial watchdog didn’t provide specific details, the inclusion of the domains means that they are not officially registered in Spain and are thus not authorized to offer investment services to local traders.

So far, Spain does not have specific legislation governing cryptocurrencies. The country’s regulators only tried to provide a definition of the virtual assets exclusively for the purpose of AML laws. The current legal framework does not contain a normative definition of Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term. Interestingly, however, the central bank and CNMV’s statements described concepts such as initial coin offerings and distinguish between security tokens and those classified as a utility.

FX brokers come under scrutiny

Meanwhile, the CNMV follows in the footsteps of other European regulators that frequently issue a series of warnings against companies engaged in schemes to promote cryptocurrency mining and investments. The watchdog’s warnings often lack technical specifications for such products and use Spanish terms that are easy to understand and accessible to the general public.

Over the last two years, the CNMV issued many circulars setting a host of new rules regarding trading costs and risk disclosure, Leverage Leverage In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders In financial trading, leverage is a loan supplied by a broker, which facilitates a trader in being able to control a relatively large amount of money with a significantly lesser initial investment. Leverage therefore allows traders to make a much greater return on investment compared to trading without any leverage. Traders seek to make a profit from movements in financial markets, such as stocks and currencies.Trading without any leverage would greatly diminish the potential rewards, so traders Read this Term, and advertising requirements. Even before ESMA’s curbs emerge, the CNMV required any broker offering ‘excessive leverage’ greater than 10:1 to explicitly warn investors that it believes that such products are not appropriate for retail investors due to their complexity and the risks involved.

Operators were also required to ensure that clients are aware of the estimated cost in case they decide to close their position immediately after entering into the transaction.