Australian BitConnect Promoter Receives 7-Year Ban From Financial Services

Key highlights:

• Australian securities regulator ASIC has placed a seven-year ban on BitConnect promoter John Bigatton
• Bigatton was the Australian representative of the BitConnect cryptocurrency scam
• His wife Madeline Bigatton disappeared two months after BitConnect's collapse, and her whereabouts are still unknown

Australian BitConnect promoter banned from financial services for 7 years

Australian securities regulator ASIC has banned former BitConnect promoter John Louis Anthony Bigatton from financial services for a period of seven year. The agency found that Bigatton, who served as the Australian representative for BitConnect, »engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct« and wasn’t qualified to provide financial services.

According to a Financial Standard report, Bigatton has the right to appeal ASIC’s decision with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

BitConnect, which stole well over $2 billion from its victims, is perhaps the most notorious cryptocurrency-related scam of all time. BitConnect claimed that it had developed trading bots that could deliver consistent and substantial return to investors – of course, there were no trading bots and existing investors were simply being paid off with the money that came in from new investors.

BitConnect grew so large that its BCC cryptocurrency peaked at a market capitalization just shy of $3 billion. However, BCC’s rapidly approached zero in January of 2018 when it became apparent that BitConnect’s leaders pulled off an »exit scam« and ran away with investors’ funds.

BitConnect’s notoriety began to accelerate when a video of a speech delivered by BitConnect promoter Carlos Matos at a BitConnect event went viral on YouTube. Some of the catchphrases from Matos’ speech are still popular in the cryptocurrency community, particularly when users are discussing potential scams.

BitConnect's collapse has had serious consequences

While BitConnect is often invoked in a humorous manner in the crypto community, there have been serious consequences following the multi-billion dollar scam’s collapse. Even if we just stick to the Australian example - John Bigatton’s wife Madeline Bigatton disappeared in March of 2018, just two months after BitConnect’s implosion. Her whereabouts are still unknown.

John Bigatton’s assets were frozen by Australian authorities in December of 2018, and he was later also restricted from traveling.

It will likely take years before the BitConnect saga unfolds completely, and its impact has been felt in numerous countries due to the scheme’s global reach.