BPS Financial cops $14m fine

BPS Financial, which had been part of the Gold Coast-headquartered Bartercard Group, has copped a $14 million penalty over its Qoin cryptocurrency products.

The Federal Court this week found BPS Financial must pay the penalties over its promotion and operation of its ‘Qoin Wallet’ crypto product.

BPS Financial promoted the Qoin Wallet as a non-cash payment facility linked to a digital crypto token called ‘Qoin’.

In 2024, the Federal Court found that BPS Financial engaged in unlicensed conduct for almost three years by issuing and providing financial advice about the Qoin Wallet without holding an Australian Financial Services License.

The Court also found that BPS Financial engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct when it made several false and misleading representations about the Qoin Wallet.

In 2025, the Full Federal Court found that BPS Financial engaged in unlicensed conduct over an additional 10-month period because BPS could not rely on the ‘authorised representative’ exemption under the Corporations Act when issuing the Qoin Wallet.

The Court ordered BPS Financial is to pay total penalties of $14 million, made up of:

• $2 million for unlicensed conduct, and

• $12 million for misleading and deceptive conduct in connection with making false and misleading statements.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said the outcome sent a strong message to the crypto industry.

“The size of these penalties underscores the seriousness of BPS Financial’s misconduct and is intended to send a strong message of deterrence to the digital asset industry,’’ Mr Longo said.

“Given the nature of these products, providers must have the appropriate licenses and authorisations, and investors must be able to make decisions based on clear and correct statements, especially as crypto products can be highly volatile, inherently risky and complex.

“ASIC will not hesitate to act where investors are potentially exposed to unlicensed financial advice, misleading and deceptive conduct, and risky products.

“The digital asset industry is well on notice that its products will continue to be a focus for ASIC. We want to encourage innovation and new services for consumers, but not at their expense.”

In delivering her judgement, Justice Downes stated BPS “engaged in serious and unlawful misconduct during the period from January 2020 until mid-2023”.

In addition to the fines, the Court also ordered:

• BPS is permanently restrained from making any false or misleading representation concerning the number of holders of the Qoin Wallet, the ability of Qoin Tokens to be exchanged for fiat or other crypto-assets, or that the Qoin Wallet has been officially approved and/or officially registered.

• BPS is to be restrained for 10 years from carrying on a financial services business without holding an Australian financial services licence.

• BPS publish an adverse publicity notice on the Qoin Wallet application and takes steps to request the publisher of the ‘qoin.com’ website also to publish an adverse publicity notice, and

• BPS pay most of the costs incurred by ASIC for the proceeding.

ASIC encourages consumers to be cautious about claims made in connection with crypto‑assets and crypto‑related products.

Bartercard developed Qoin in 2019 and launched it publicly in 2020. In 2021, Qoin was expelled from the peak industry body, Blockchain Australia.