Malta Warns of ‘Crypto Car Dealership’ Bitcoin & Autotrader

The financial markets watchdog in Malta, Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), on Tuesday issued a warning against a cryptocurrency brand called Bitcoin & Autotrader.

Bitcoin and Auto Trader online platform bitcoinautotrader.co allows users to anonymously sell and buy bitcoins and also trade their cars in for the digital currency. The MFSA says the firm's physical address is located at 361 Triq l-Imdina, Ħal Qormi QRM 9012, while the platform is owned and operated by someone called Jomic Grech.

Malta’s watchdog, however, confirmed that this alleged crypto dealership isn’t a Maltese registered company. Additionally, it said certain activities of the flagged brand fall under the country’s Virtual Financial Assets Act, which provides a set of rules for those operating a cryptocurrency-related business.

With significant media attention being drawn towards the fledgling crypto-asset industry, the act also outlines stringent requirements for other service providers, including brokerages, portfolio managers, custodians, wallet providers, investment advisors, and perhaps most crucially, cryptocurrency exchanges.

Malta applies ESMA’s curbs on CFDs

Following a string of risk warnings and concerned regulators across the EU alerting retail investors to the risks in FX and CFDs trading, the MFSA has also updated its criteria for the entities wanting to offer margin trading services.

As one of the hottest topics in the industry regulation’s debates, the MFSA has set a host of new rules regarding the 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 limits. Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term and CFDs brokers are now required to follow its limitations when offering leverages to their clients.

Finally, Malta’s regulator has ordered its regulated firms to implement procedures that clearly ban the sale of binary options to retail customers. Effective August, the watchdog also extended its restriction against promoting the contracts for difference (CFDs) to non-professional investors.

These measures are applicable to investment firms and brokers based in Malta as well as to those operating in the country from another EU member state through the EU passporting regime. The national restrictions mirror the temporary measures from ESMA, which are currently active throughout the bloc.