Mining City

September 10, 2020 ENFORCEMENT AND INVESTOR PROTECTION DEPARTMENT SEC ADVISORY Based on numerous reports and information gathered by the Commission, there are certain individuals or group of persons enticing the public, through a popular social media platform or through their own independent websites, to invest in MINING CITY . As posted online, entities and persons offering, advertising, promoting investments in MINING CITY describe it as a process of acquiring cryptocurrency (Bitcoin Vault or BTCV) through the utilization of shared mining equipment located in an off-site or remote datacenter, with the purchase of equipment being funded by investors who avail of MINING CITY contracts. According to the website of MINING CITY (MINING CITY.COM) , its CEO is one GREGORY ROGOWSKI . While ANTHONY AGUILAR is the Philippine Team Leader of Mining City in the Philippines. With regard to MINING CITY PHILIPPINES Facebook Page , it is maintained by one JHON REY GREY as admin of the said account. As posted in their Website, Facebook page and video uploaded in YouTube Channel, you can start a business by registering first, then you can choose from any of the three (3) BITCOIN VAULT PLANS which are, PRIMARY BTCV ($300 or Php16,500.00), STANDARD BTCV ($600 or Php33,000.00), BRONZE BTCV ($1,200 or Php66,000.00), SILVER BTCV ($2,400 or Php132,000.00), GOLD BTCV ($4,200 or Php231,000.00 and PLATINUM BTCV ($12,600 or Php693,000.00) , accordingly. Investors can earn $1.5 to $2 (Php100.00) or up to $69 to $92 (Php5,000.00) daily for 1100 days depending on what plan they get. You can also earn from direct referral and indirect referral from 5% up to 10% and for direct binary and indirect binary $200 or $10. MINING CITY claims that its program will continue to function even if its website "www.miningcity.com" is closed for any reason. It even implied that the Government cannot shut it down because it is decentralized and thus free from any authority. Based on the foregoing, MINING CITY 's so-called smart contracts or MINING CITY CONTRACTS partake of the nature of securities in the form of investment contracts under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Commission. Briefly, an "investment contract" exists when there is an investment or placement of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others which is prominent in MINING CITY 's scheme. Therefore, MINING CITY must be duly registered with the Commission and that any person or entity intending to offer and sell its investment contract are required to secure the necessary registration and/or license from the Commission as well. However, per our record, MINING CITY is NOT REGISTERED with the Commission and OPERATES WITHOUT THE NECESSARY LICENSE AND/OR AUTHORITY to solicit, accept or take investments/placements from the public nor to issue investment contracts and other forms of securities defined under Section 3 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC) . Likewise, its name DOES NOT APPEAR among the registered banks, exchanges or companies engaged in digital assets with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in accordance with the GUIDELINES FOR VIRTUAL CURRENCY EXCHANGES (BSP CIRCULAR NO. 944) which requires all entities engaged in Virtual Currencies in the Philippines to obtain a Certificate of Registration to operate as remittance and transfer company pursuant to the BSP rules and regulations. Moreover, the said scheme employed by MINING CITY clearly shows indication of a possible Ponzi Scheme where monies from new investors are used in paying "fake profits" to prior investors and is designed mainly to favor its top recruiters and prior risk takers and is detrimental to subsequent members in case of scarcity of new investors. Hence, the public is advised NOT TO INVEST or STOP INVESTING in any scheme offered by MINING CITY or such other entities engaged in smart contracts, cryptocurrencies and digital asset trading that are not registered with the Commission and the BSP. The public is again reminded that investing in such an unregulated entity lacks investor protection because it is not covered by prudential and market conduct requirements applicable to licensed and authorized operations. Accordingly, the Commission warns all unscrupulous individuals and/or entities that strict penalties are imposed for violations of the Securities Regulation Code, the Revised Corporation Code of the Philippines, and such other rules and regulations enforced by the Commission . Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of such unauthorized entities like the operators of the FB Page MINING CITY PHILIPPINES in selling or convincing people to invest in their investment scheme offered including solicitations and recruitment through the internet may likewise be criminally prosecuted and penalized with a maximum fine of Five Million pesos (P5,000,000.00) or a penalty of Twenty-one (21) years of imprisonment or both pursuant to Sections 28 and 73 of the SRC. In the same manner, those who invite or recruit others to join or invest in such venture or offer investment contracts or securities to the public similar to MINING CITY and the operators of the MINING CITY PHILIPPINES and CRYPTO KNIGHT MINER YouTube Channel may incur criminal liability, or otherwise be sanctioned or penalized accordingly as held by the Supreme Court in the case of SEC vs. Oudine Santos (G.R. No. 195542, 19 March 2014). The names of all those involved will also be reported to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) so that the appropriate penalties and/or taxes be assessed correspondingly. Again, it must be noted that the above laws are not aimed to hinder or pose significant risk to businesses and cryptocurrency projects but are intended for the protection of both the registered entities and the investing public from any anomalies and/or irregularities which tend to result from any unlawful or unauthorized operations. Should you have any information regarding any investment solicitation activity by any individual or group of individuals representing MINING CITY , please send your report to the EIPD at [emailprotected]. For the guidance of the public. Pasay City, September 10, 2020.