On the 4th of April, the Financial Services and Markets Authority of Belgium made an announcement that the list of banned websites related to digital currency in the country has been updated. These websites have been blacklisted based on accusations regarding fraud and misconduct.
Like most of the other European countries, Belgium has also been unsure about the adoption of cryptocurrency. Never the less, the nation is not outrightly against the digital asset technology, unlike some such as China and India.
This being said, it is very common now in Belgium to hear of crypto-related crimes and fraud. It was stated in September last year that the Belgian regulatory authority had issued many warnings around the fraudulent spread and usage of crypto, banning a total of twenty-eight websites. This month, 7 more such websites have become an addition to this blacklist, summing up to one hundred and twenty crypto websites now.
In an official statement by the FSMA, it was stated that this step was taken after several complaints from the customers were received who had the misfortune of making investments in these cryptos. Despite the tight regulations and strict monitoring, cryptocurrency fraud still prevails in Belgium.
The FSMA confirmed that the 7 websites recently blocked were done so after careful investigations and warned that illegally operating businesses in the Belgian crypto space have not been included in the list. Some of the listed websites include crypto exchanges that vanish into oblivion once the consumer has made deposits of the investment.
