Infamous OneCoin payment service officially closed by German regulator

Germany's top financial regulator has shut down the OneCoin payment service that many believe is fraudulent.

OneCoin is a multi-tiered marketing scheme that introduces the digital currency of the same name as an investment opportunity.

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) said on April 10 that it froze the accounts of IMS International Marketing Services GmbH, registered in Germany.

According to BaFin, the firm accepted € 360 million on behalf of OneCoin between December 2015 and December 2016. Of this amount, 29 million euros are held in accounts frozen by the regulator.

The agency threatened the “stock exchange” with a financial fine exceeding 1 million euros:

“Should IMS fail to comply with the business termination order, BaFin will impose a mandatory € 1.5 million fine on the company, and a € 150,000 fine will be imposed on the company for failing to comply with the winding down the order. Administrative acts, including the threat of forced fines, are immediately enforceable. ”