Central Bank of Rwanda Puts Out a General Public Warning Notice Against Scam Coins

The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), which is the Central Bank of Rwanda, has put out a general public notice warning against pyramid schemes, network marketing programs and scam coins.

The notice, issued by the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, in part states:

“These scams take the form of active pyramid schemes, pyramid scheme, multi-lelve marketing, or cryptocurrency issuance through fake initial coin offerings (crypto scam). Examples of such schemes that have come to the attention of the BNR include Supermarketings Global Ltd, 3 Friends System (3FS) Group Ltd, OneCoin or Kwakoo (OnyxCoin) to name a few.”

The notice continues to warn the public stating that the above scams are illegal in Rwanda and advising the public to stick to credible deposit-taking financial institutions only licensed by the BNR and the Capital Markets Authority of Rwanda.

OnyxCoin, a Kenyan cryptocurrency, which recently launched its decentralized exchange, OnyxPay, has made inroads in a number of East and Central African countries, including Rwanda. 

The above warning is increasingly becoming common across many African countries. The Central Bank of Kenya has similarly warned the public and Kenyan banks to stay away from cryptocurrencies while the Central Bank of Malawi has likewise stated that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender and not recognized in Malawi.

The above sentiments come at a time when waves of crypto regulation are sweeping the continent and adoption of cryptocurrencies on the continent is at an all-time high.