(Reuters) -The UK’s Serious Fraud Office said on Thursday it was investigating the collapse of a $28 million cryptocurrency scheme, urging investors to step forward after two men were arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.
In its first major crypto investigation, the SFO said Basis Markets had raised cash from two public fundraisers in late 2021 by selling non-fungible tokens and used the funds to create a crypto hedge fund.
In June 2022, investors were told that the project was being scuppered by proposed new U.S. regulations, the SFO noted. The SFO was not immediately able to provide further details.
SFO investigators and police officers arrested the men after launching two raids in London and West Yorkshire, northern England, earlier on Thursday.
“With our expanding cryptocurrency capability and growing expertise in this area, we are determined to pursue anyone who would seek to use cryptocurrency to defraud investors,” said SFO Director Nick Ephgrave.
(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley in London and Aatrayee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas, Aidan Lewis)
