Investors Caught In Two Crypto ‘Exit Scams’

Following an announcement from an Italian cryptocurrency exchange that $200 million worth of virtual currency was stolen from its servers, investors and developers are taking in the news with skepticism, RT stated.

BitGrail reported that 17 million Nano coins have been stolen through unauthorized transfers. With a value of above $11 a token, the stolen amount would be worth around $200 million.

“We extend our sincerest apologies to our customers and to all those involved in the illegal transfer of Nano on our platform,” BitGrail wrote, according to RT. “Today, a charge about those fraudulent activities has been submitted to the competent authorities and now is under police investigation.”

But the announcement comes as BitGrail stopped all withdrawals and deposits of Nano, Lisk and Cryptoforecast in January. The exchange also said it would introduce mandatory identification verification and anti-money laundering measures even though the exchange had said it doesn’t work with banks or governments. As a result, some users said the exchange was planning an “exit scam.”

And LoopX, an investment platform which drew investors in with its trading algorithm, has suddenly gone offline after raising millions from investors in another situation that some are calling an “exit scam.” After a $4.5 million initial coin offering (ICO), the company’s site went dark —  as did its social media accounts, The Next Web reported.

Over five token sales in January, investors committed a combined 276 bitcoin and 2,446 Ethereum coins for the company’s ICO. LoopX had wooed investors by saying they could make a windfall by investing in the company.

“After developing over months and testing successfully with great profits, we can release now with great confidence the LoopX [t]rading [a]lgorithm,” LoopX marketing materials read, according to The Next Web. “This [s]oftware will give us all the opportunity to make more money online then we could ever do in real life.”

The news comes a few months after Confido, the startup that raised $374,477 in an ICO, reportedly disappeared with investors’ money. According to a news report from The Next Web, Confido, which said it was developing a trustless payment network for online shopping, has taken down its website, and its value declined 90 percent after letting investors know that a legal issue will stop development of its project for good.