Brazil’s Congress Set to Undertake Deep Probe of the Country’s Cryptocurrency Market

Cryptocurrency news website Cointelegraph, reported that Brazililian lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted to approve a resolution to launch an investigation into the country’s cryptocurrency market.

Congressman Aureo Ribeiro, instigated the request to formally task the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (PCI) to conduct the probe. The request came as a result of the widespread proliferation of cryptocurrency related fraud transpiring in Brazil. Congressional support for Ribeiro’s resolution is overwhelming, as the document was signed by 234 Congressmen, which exceeded the required minimum of 63 votes.

According to Cointelegraph, the approved resolution specifically named cryptocurrency operators Atlas Quantum and its CEO Rodrigo Marques, Trader Group and Zero 10 among many others, as needing thorough investigation.

The growing number of complaints put forward by people coming from all over Brazil, indicated that the proliferation of cryptocurrency-related fraud throughout the country, has reached epidemic proportions.

Congressman Ribeiro, who also authored a bill proposing for the regulation of Brazil’s cryptocurrency operations, wrote in the resolution that

”The lack of regulation and vigilance over the crypto market in Brazil presents potential risks to investors and users, as its operations combined with high levels of anonymity, abstraction, cross-border transactions and other peculiarities inherent to the cryptocurrency technology.”

The Brazilian congressman also explained in the resolution, why Atlas Quantum, once purported as the biggest cryptocurrency company in Brazil, calls for a deep probe.

The Main Problem with Atlas Quantum

Homegrown Brazilian cryptocurrency company Atlas Quantum, is currently facing financial problems and legal issues.

Last September 18, 2019, Atlas Quantum released a video to present itself as a robust company with more than $54 million in bitcoins to its name. However, Atlas made further claims that the exchange company HitBTC has frozen 1,862 BTC ($15.3 million) and over $5.4 million in stablecoin Tether (USDT) that Atlas allegedly maintains in three crypto accounts.

On October 05, 2019, HitBTC denied Atlas Quantum’s claim by informing investors that the said crypto-investment company does not have any value stuck in the HitBTC platform. HitBTC further stated that the video released by the alleged Atlas Quantum team is fake, as exchange company noted the non-standard placement of amounts to show the purported balances of Atlas Quantum’s account.

Moreover, HitBTC asserts that it has not received any request for assistance in connection with the supposed frozen accounts. .

The video came at a time when numerous investors expressed fears that the crypto-investment company will not be able to fulfill its obligations to meet all requests for withdrawals. The case attracted wide media coverage, to which Atlas Quantum responded by presenting an audit report allegedly attesting to the veracity of the amount of Bitcoins and other altcoins held by the beleaguered company.

The audited statement though is regarded as contentious, as many of Atlas’ investors doubt if Atlas Quantum has sufficient cryptocurrency resources to honor its commitments.