Bitcoin Daily: Australia Bans Crypto Investor For 7 Years For Alleged Fraud; UK Digital Payments Startup Ziglu Debuts P2P Payments In Fiat, Crypto

The Australian Services and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned John Louis Anthony Bigatton, who was the Australian national representative for crypto platform BitConnect, from engaging in financial services for the next seven years after he was found to be engaging in deceptive practices, a report from Financial Standard finds.

Bigatton, who is based in New South Wales, performed in his job for BitConnect between August 2017 and January 2018, when he also served as the representative for the investment scheme BitConnect Lending Platform.

ASIC found that Bigatton had provided unlicensed financial product advice and acted in a way that could be misleading or deceptive to investors. The agency found that he was not a “fit and proper person to provide financial services; is not adequately trained, or is not competent, to provide a financial service or financial services; and is likely to contravene a financial services law,” the report says.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the watchdog has seen a 20 percent spike in consumers losing money from cryptocurrency scams, the report says.

Challenger bank Ziglu has rolled out new peer-to-peer payments for all currencies across its mobile app, a press release says.

Ziglu, which was launched in June of this year, promises “accessible, simple and secure” access to payments in any currency, including both fiat and digital ones.

In addition, Ziglu customers have access to 100 percent security from cyberattacks and fraud up to the value of £50,000, with fiat currencies safeguarded in a separate account. Personal information is private as well.

“Paying people should be instant, free and easy regardless of their location or the currency, whether that is splitting the cost of your Airbnb or sending a Bitcoin birthday present,” said Mark Hipperson, founder and CEO of Ziglu, according to the release.

Those types of P2P transactions are increasingly popular with the younger generations, who are looking for more autonomy and variety in payments methods.