Baar,16.11.2017

We warned people investing in tezzie cryto-currency was of high risk

Patience is wearing very thin for those who invested in a crypto-currency known as tezzie, with Niklas Nicolajsen, the CEO of Bitcoin Suisse of Baar, insisting he warned potential investors that the project involved high risk.
 
As previously reported, $232 million in the form of bitcoin and ether crypto-currencies flowed into the coffers of the Zug-based Tezos foundation. As a result of exchange-rate fluctuation, this sum is now alleged to be worth between $500 and $600 million. Unfortunately, as a result of a dispute between those responsible at Tezos, the money is blocked.
 
The idea behind the Tezos company was to create a new, more advanced and safer crypto-currency than bitcoin, to be known as tezzie. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO), a type of flotation, duly took place last July, enabling those who had invested in bitcoin and ether to exchange them for tezzies. Alas, to this day, tezzies have failed to materialise, their issuance having now been postponed until February of 2018. It is only understandable that the investors are getting impatient. Indeed, according to the Reuters news agency, they have handed in a collective law-suit in California against the founders of the Tezos company, Kathleen and Arthur Breitman, for failing to keep their promise. Furthermore, they objected to the married couple claiming $20 million from the (ICO) for themselves.

As mentioned, now Niklas Nicolajsen, the CEO of Bitcoin Suisse of Baar, has commented on the matter. It was through his company that all crypto-currency transactions in connection with tezzies took place. He initially assured investors that their money was safe and there was no reason to suspect mismanagement or misappropriation. However, now he has said that those involved in the Tezos ICO cannot get their money back at this stage, as this was laid down in the conditions. Any refunding following completed ICO was not possible for regulatory and practical reasons. Should there be any refunding, this could only be done through the Tezos Foundation by means of a retrospective amendment to the conditions. “We made very clear that any involvement with this project was linked to very high risks,” he insisted.
 
Out of interest, it was reported last week that bitcoin had lost 30% of its value, with Esma, the European Securities and Markets Authority, warning those who invested in crypto-currencies, of which there are around one thousand, were at risk of losing their entire funds, as ICOs were not regulated, non-transparent and not tested technologically.