While a number of digital currencies have witnessed sharp fluctuations over the past few weeks resulting in financial losses for many investors, it is certain that digital currencies have no legislative or legal cover to help investors increase their credibility in the future.
Given the risk of investing or speculating in digital currencies, the Saudi Capital Market Authority (CMA) has warned against investment and speculation in digital currencies, including Bitcoin, saying it involves high risk.
The risks involve capital losses, fraud, market risks resulting from high price volatility as well as lack of clarity in terms of how these currencies are evaluated, the CMA said in a statement released Sunday.
It is very difficult to protect investors from such currencies as they are unsupervised within the Kingdom, the CMA highlighted.
This warning comes in view of the proliferation of invitations and promotional offers to invest in digital currencies, especially on websites and social media platforms.
“Many websites claim to be licensed entities to invest and speculate in digital currencies, they sign fake contracts and request money transfers to unknown entities.”
The price of "Bitcoin" almost exceeded the threshold of $ 20,000 in late December 2017, and now the currency is trading at $ 8,800.
Notably, the CMA has introduced, within its organizational structure, a specialized department for the protection of the investor, which takes over the task of receiving complaints, addressing them and receiving reports of violations of the Capital Market Law and its executive regulations.
