The Philippines Securities and Commutation Commission (SEC) has flagged its third cryptocurrency scam this month, warning investors against a scheme dubbed "The Billion Coin" (TBC).

Marketed as a and so-called "abundance-based cryptocurrency," the SEC said in an advisory on April 14 that TBCoin'south promoters nowadays the nugget as a decentralized cryptocurrency that "aims to revolutionize the global fiscal system in gild to eradicate world poverty."

The concept of abundance is used to justify the asset's autonomy from "market place-driven norms" and prices past alleging that the more than investors there will be, the higher the coin'southward toll will become.

Unauthorized securities vendors face up to 21 years imprisonment

The SEC notes that TBC has devised "its own parameter in generating the value of its TBCoin," based on the total number of investors. This boils down to the claim "that if TBC gathered one billion investors, each TBCoin will exist worth one billion euros correspondingly."

In addition, the scam promises declared 100% returns every 25 days on a number of fixed investment packages. The regulator'due south intervention is therefore grounded in TBC's apparent violation of securities laws, as the scheme lures investors to invest their funds in its nugget and other offerings "in lieu of passive income."

Moreover, the SEC notes that TBCCoin itself can be accounted equally a security under the terms of its guidance on cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs), which adamant that:

"Some virtual currencies, based on the facts and circumstances surrounding their issuance, follow the nature of a security as divers by Section 3.1 of the Securities Regulation Code."

Lastly, the SEC points to the fact that neither TBC nor its creator are registered with the Committee, lack necessary licenses, and have not registered with the state's key bank. TBC does non appear on CoinMarketCap's rankings and, since the asset is not listed on known trading platforms, TBC appears to be managing its own unregistered digital currency exchange.

Investors are warned confronting any investment in TBC, especially during the pandemic, and notified they could face a maximum penalty of 21 years in prison for acting as "salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of such unauthorized entities."

Anyone recruiting people to unlicensed securities offerings may too be criminally liable and subject to penalties or sanctions.

Equally reported, the Philippine central depository financial institution, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas requires cryptocurrency exchanges to use for a license, while the SEC regulates certain crypto assets under national securities laws.

Before this month, the regulator had warned investors against a crypto Ponzi scheme dubbed "Bitcoin Revolution."