The Securities Commission of Malaysia (SC) has announced today that it is reviewing LaVida Coin, a newly launched cryptocurrency, to establish whether there has been a breach of securities law. According to a statement published on its website, the SC has received a number of queries on the whitepaper for the offering of the cryptocurrency.
The cryptocurrency is offered by Datuk Seri Dr Hasmida Othman, who is better known by her celebrity name, Datuk Seri Vida, the Utusan Malaysia, a Malay-language newspaper, reported last week. The whitepaper, which has been offered to citizens of Malaysia, claims that LaVida Coin is a private funding initiative to help raise capital for three projects.
According to the whitepaper: "These projects are a new online entertainment channel with an entrepreneurial focus, a new payment gateway (LAVIDAPAY) built on proven Blockchain technology and a non-profit making construction project to build a Muslim community hub, centred on a new Mosque."
In its statement, the securities regulator warns: “The SC advises investors to exercise due diligence and to be cautious of the risks of participating in any investment schemes, in particular schemes involving Cryptocurrencies and digital tokens.”
LaVida Coin presale
The LaVida Coin is currently in its first stage of pre-sale, which kicked off on August 20, 2018. The price for a LaVida Coin is $0.66 for one coin and there are 53 million coins available. The presale has a hard cap of $5 million. The second stage will commence on October 20 this year. In the second round, there will be 100 million coins available for $0.86 each.
In the report by Utusan Malaysia, Datuk Seri Vida said that she came up with the idea to launch the cryptocurrency after she made a profit from her investments in cryptocurrencies two years ago. In the interview with the newspaper, she also said that she believes the Lavida Coin is affordable for investors and will help them earn a “handsome amount of money”.
