The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has warned
Nigerians against investing in Punisher Coin, also known as Spun.
In a notice on Saturday, the commission said its
investigations showed that Spun is a meme coin and its promoters or issuers are
not registered to operate in any capacity in the Nigerian capital market.
The SEC said meme coins have no use case, value, or projects
backing them.
“The attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission
(“The Commission”) has been drawn to several online publications advertising an
unauthorized presale of Crypto coin termed “PUNISHER COIN” aka “SPUN”,” the
statement reads.
“The Commission hereby informs the public that the promoters
or issuers of “PUNISHER COIN” aka “SPUN” are NOT REGISTERED to operate in any
capacity in the Nigerian Capital Market, and also PUNISHER COIN ($PUN) is not
approved by the Commission for issuance to the public.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that PUNISHER COIN
($PUN) is a Meme coin. Meme coins generally have no use case, intrinsic value
or tangible projects backing them.
“Any attributed value to meme coin is usually linked to its
promoters or the community effort which most often than not are susceptible to
pump and dump schemes (a form of fraudulent activity that involves promoters
spreading false or misleading information to create a buying frenzy that
“pumps” up the price of a ‘coin’ and then “dumps” the coin by selling their own
coins at the inflated price.”
The SEC said once the promoters dump their coins and stops
hype, the coin’s price “typically falls and investors lose money”.
Accordingly, the agency advised the public to refrain from
engaging in the purported presale of Punisher coin, warning that “any person
who invests in the scheme, does so at his/her own risk”.
“The Commission similarly reminds the investing public of
the need to always VERIFY the authenticity of crypto/virtual or digital assets,
the registration status of their promoters and trading platforms via the
Commission’s dedicated portal:
https://home.sec.gov.ng/fintech-and-innovation-hub-finport/registered-fintech-operators/
before engaging in any form of virtual or digital assets investment,” the
statement reads.
The warning comes amid growing concerns over the rise of
crypto-related ponzi schemes in Nigeria.
On May 1, the commission warned Nigerians against investing
in tofro.com, an alleged illegal investment platform posing as a cryptocurrency
trading website.
In April, some Nigerians lost their funds after investing in
Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), a digital trading platform.
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