A local man has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency fraud which was discovered last week, the Judiciary Police (PJ) said during a special press conference on Friday at the PJ headquarters in Zape.
Last Tuesday local Chinese media Exmoo News reported that a “press conference” held by LaiTai Digital Application Technology Co. Ltd, which claimed to be working with various gaming companies and junket operators in Macau on plans to set up a cryptocurrency system locally, and also to launch an initial coin offering (ICO). The company claimed that the cryptocurrency, which is called IRTC, could be used to gamble in casinos and also online.
According to Investopedia, “[An initial coin offering (ICO) is] an unregulated means by which funds are raised for a new cryptocurrency venture… [It] is used by start-ups to bypass the rigorous and regulated capital-raising process required by venture capitalists or banks. In an ICO campaign, a percentage of the cryptocurrency is sold to early backers of the project in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies.”
