The local financial regulator for Beijing municipality has issued a warning against financial fraud involving the metaverse, cryptocurrencies and online gaming.
The Beijing Banking and Insurance Regulatory Department issued a warning on 15 March against the “fraudulent use of concepts such as the ‘metaverse’ and ‘blockchain’ to engage in speculation.”
The regulator also warned against gaming-related earnings, the use of gaming equipment purchases and other methods to make investments, as well as the defrauding of students via exchanges of virtual currencies.
“In some cases students with no economic foundation have been defrauded, making loans for investments to online platforms whose owners subsequently absconded with the funds,” said the regulator.
“The background to these non-performing student loans conceals extremely large hazard…some students face repayments pressure, choosing to take loans to repay loans, and borrowing from multiple parties, building up pillars of debt.
“Other students face violent repayment coercion because of inability to pay debt, causing them huge mental and physical harm.”
The warning from Beijing’s local financial regulators arrives after the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued a warning in February against use of the term “metaverse” to expedite illegal-fund-raising campaigns.
