The Federal Court has found BPS Financial Pty Ltd (BPS Financial) must pay $14 million in pecuniary 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 over 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 has today 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.
'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,' the Chair said.
In delivering her judgement, Justice Downes stated BPS 'engaged in serious and unlawful misconduct during the period from January 2020 until mid-2023'.
Her Honour said the $2 million penalty for the unlicensed conduct achieves the primary purpose of deterrence, both to BPS and to the digital asset industry as a whole.
Her Honour also said the cumulative penalty of $12 million for the misleading representations 'properly reflects the mitigating factors while also accounting for the objective recklessness of the conduct, involvement of senior management, the serious and misleading nature of the representations, the characteristics of the target audience and BPS's inadequate compliance systems'.
In addition to the pecuniary penalties, the Court also ordered:
- BPS be 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, and that the Qoin Wallet has been officially approved and/or officially registered,
- BPS 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 take steps to request the publisher of the 'qoin.com' website to also 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. ASIC's Moneysmart website contains information about the risks of investing in crypto‑assets.
