Bluetrading – The 404-Approach Of Swiss Crypto Valley Association

The most important role of self-proclaimed industry organizations such as the Crypto Valley Association (CVA) is that of a watchdog over the industry and its members. The Swiss CVA, in particular, positioned itself as a leading crypto institution during the crypto hype of 2017/18. Consequently, CVA acquired quite a lot paying members during the hype one of them was BluVenture Group Ltd – a fraudulent binary option scheme, as we and several hundred victims, who lost their live savings know by now. By now we also know that CVA has been a vehicle that promoted ICOs, celebrated the great future of the blockchain industry and spoke a lot about self-regulation. As can be seen in the many Swiss-related ICO scams, the CVA has failed rather miserably as s watchdog and self-regulatory body. And above all CVA has to answer some questions in the Bluetrading scam.

Finally , CVA was a vehicle that promoted ICOs and thus the income of the lawyers and advisors involved in these ICOs. As can be seen in the many Swiss-related ICO scams, the CVA has failed rather miserably as s watchdog and self-regulatory body. And CVA has to answers some questions in the Bluetrading scam.

The BluVenture Membership

The BluVenture Group Ltd promoted its Crypto Association membership accordingly when soliciting money from investors. In this respect the investors of Bluetrading.com – this illegal FOREX and crypto broker platform was operated by BluVenture – were allowed to rely on the supervision of the company’s operations by the CVA. Especially in 2017 the discussion about self-regulation of the crypto industry was at its peak and the CVA people were the advocates of self-regulation and presented themselves in this role.

Well, unfortunately, fraud happens. Also under the supervision of regulatory authorities such as SEC, FCA, FINMA or BaFin. In this respect, the fraud of BluVentures via the BlueTrading.com Scam could also be treated as a painful but unfortunately happening phenomenon. It’s hard if not impossible to avoid a well-planned online fraud which Bluetrading.com for sure was.

Hiding, Deleting, And Silencing

What must not and should not happen under any circumstances, however, is the lack of willingness to support the investigations in the very best interest of the victims and the industry. Unfortunately, this exactly is the CVA approach currently. The association acts quite similar to the Bluetrading.com Scammers. Messages from investors seeking help on the CVA site have been deleted and CVA representatives do not respond to requests:

• Feb 27, 2019, some victims posted messages on the CVA website. The message was deleted soon after but is still available in Google cache.
• Feb 27, 2019, a single mom who evidently lost her money in the Bluetrading scam asked CVA for help. Message was deleted, error 404.
• Feb 28, 2019, CVA was asked about information on its member Bluetrading. Message was deleted, error 404.
• March 2, 2019, another victim asked CVA for help. His message was deleted. Error 404.
• March 11, 2019, request for support of a Bluetrading victim. Online at the time of publishing this article, not yet resolved.

With this 404-approach, CVA not only violates its own values, but loses all legitimacy as an industry organization. In the very best interest of the crypto industry and the many cheated investors, CVA should actively support the investigations. We would expect the very same active approach CVA showed in the crypto hype and the ICO era.

As always, the CVA remains committed to its mission of fostering a healthy blockchain ecosystem and does not tolerate any inappropriate behavior within its membership, particularly when it goes against the values that members sign up to when becoming part of the Association.

Source: CVA announcement dated Feb 28, 2019

The negligent or intentional CVA behavior in the Bluetrading fraud case continued even though CVA announced investigations into the Bluetrading.com scam. On February 28, 2019, an Ian Simpson from CVA announced such investigation into allegations against BluVenture, now a former CVA member. The CVA says that “various persons” have voiced concern about Blue Trading and that it is investigating the public allegations about the firm’s “inappropriate business conduct, based on the CVA’s General Code of Conduct.”

Questions To Answer

CVA has some important questions to answer to help fo fully uncover the scam and find the perpetrators. The answers needed from CVA:

• who has signed the membership agreement and thus the code of conduct (legal entity, directors, beneficial owners),
• contact details of the organisation and persons involved.
• payment details (wallets, transactions)
• have made the required KYC (Know-Your-Customer/Client) checks been made on BluVenture and
• what are the details of the KYC check?

These are all questions that have to be answered immediately in the very best interest of defrauded investors, the industry and ultimately also the CVA. As a self-appointed regulatory authority, CVA has to participate in the clarification. EFRI, representing by now several Blue Trading victims also already reached out to them: no answer up to yet.

Dear CVA people: it’s time to act now to legitimate your institution! Feel free to join the Bluetrading Telegram channel (@bluetradingefri) to support investigations and fund recovery. Thank you!