Mirror Trading International

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MTI

Mirror Trading International was an investment platform which promised a high return for bitcoin invested, based on an alleged trading strategy that could generate a consistent return. In reality, it doesn't appear the trading strategy was possible, and instead this was a ponzi scheme.

Some of the funds have been recovered so far, and the liquidation/investigation process is continuing, however investors are still facing extensive losses.

This exchange or platform is based in South Africa, or the incident targeted people primarily in South Africa.

About MTI

"Mirror Trading International is a registered South African company, regulated by the Consumer Protection Act, founded by a team of forex and crypto veterans and experts. When the Forex market first heard about Bitcoin, the community was disinterested, sceptical or outright hostile towards this new, revolutionary technology aimed at disrupting the global financial system. But for the founders of MTI, it was the opposite: they immediately realized the great potential cryptocurrencies have to offer, and started working towards the paradigm shift in the world of Finance." "Mirror Trading International is a trading and networking company that uses Bitcoin as its base currency and to pay member bonuses. It uses an automated system that takes the hassle out of Forex trading by doing it all for you. Johan Steynberg, from Polokwane in South Africa, is the CEO and founder of Mirror Trading International. There is a headoffice in Northcliff in Johannesburg."

"MTI is a company with a clearly defined mission: furthering the adoption of blockchain technology by delivering Bitcoin earning opportunities to a wider audience. The way in which Mirror Trading International achieves this goal is to grow your bitcoin as easily and effortlessly as possible, enabling people with no crypto experience or technical knowledge to get involved in bitcoin trading strategies."

"With blockchain technology being so foreign for most, how do projects increase adoption whilst giving people an opportunity to grow their portfolio? MTI is working towards that precise goal. With a minimum initial investment of $100 worth of bitcoin, Mirror Trading International uses exclusive strategies and trading bots which provide a steady revenue to MTI members. According to the data collected between September 2019 and June 2020, MTI was able to bestow their users with an average daily profit of 0.49%. So far, Mirror Trading International has over 160,000 active members, who vocalize their positive experiences across several social media platforms."

"A transparent platform delivering growth, bonus and profit share has written MTI’s story of a massive success. However, great earning opportunities didn’t stop the team from furthering growth of the business. MTI has created a dedicated Member’s Portal which allows every member to communicate personally with the founders and team, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Among many features of MTI’s Member’s Portal are an abundance of downloadable content, such as unique educational and informative materials, and regular Zoom calls with industry leaders, veteran traders, and blockchain experts. Gaining a large following was a milestone, but sustaining them into a tight-knit community through these special characteristics, is what makes Mirror Trading International so unique."

"MTI succeeded in luring unsuspecting victims by promising consistent daily returns of 0.5%. This rate of return would translate to “yearly gains of 500%.” On its website, MTI claimed that these high returns were guaranteed by “its AI-powered foreign exchange trading software.”"

"Chainalysis reveals that more than half of MTI’s web traffic had originated from South Africa. On the other hand, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the U.S together account for nearly a quarter of the remaining web traffic."

"In the first half of 2020, Steynberg told financial market regulator the Financial Sector Conduct Authority that MTI was managing 16 000 bitcoin." "[A]n investigation found that MTI had taken in $589 million from more than 471,000 deposits." "MTI, which in November said it had 260,000 members around the world and 23,000 Bitcoin now worth about $885 million, was placed in final liquidation in June."

"However, MTI’s unrealistic promises soon led to scam allegations. Initially, executives of MTI denied allegations they were operating a multi-level marketing scam after regulators in the U.S. and South Africa pounced on the company. Still, sometime after the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) raided homes of some MTI executives, reports emerged of investors failing to withdraw their funds. As pressure grew, CEO Johann Steynberg eventually disappeared with investors funds. This ultimately led to the collapse of MTI."

"MTI is a solvent company and any chance of members (however slight) to get any relief would not come from the liquidation process but rather from finding Johann (Steynberg) and rightfully encouraging him to rectify whatever wrongs he has allegedly committed. Further to this, it is our belief there are other options more suitable to result in possibly achieving relief for MTI members." "[T]he FSCA has also accused Steynberg, and other MTI's leaders, of repeatedly lying to it."

"Mirror Trading Investments was placed in provisional liquidation in December and has since been described as the world’s biggest crypto crime of last year by blockchain researcher Chainanalysis. The firm allegedly collected over 23,000 Bitcoin from investors, and its CEO is thought to have fled to Brazil."

"South African bitcoin trading platform Mirror Trading International (MTI) - which at one stage claimed to have over 100 000 members and may have taken billions of rands in investments - has been placed into final liquidation."

"Perhaps most interesting is MTI Club’s apparent usage of a popular cryptocurrency gambling service as a money laundering and cash out mechanism. The platform is the biggest risky destination of MTI funds by volume, having received $39 million worth of cryptocurrency from the scam in 2020."

"The whereabouts of Johann Steynberg, who spearheaded MTI, have been unknown since the trader’s clients first reported they were unable to withdraw their funds. “Although there is a paper trail (airplane ticket) regarding his possible flight attempt to Brazil, no video or photo confirmation could be obtained that he did leave the country,” the joint liquidators said."

"The liquidators also question the validity of a court filing by Clynton Marks, one of the members of MTI’s management team, suggesting that having MTI declared an illegal entity would prejudice its investors."

"Law enforcement agencies in the United States have joined with investigators in South Africa in probing the activities of Mirror Trading International, following the liquidation of the South African cryptocurrency firm."

"The FBI is reported to be teaming up with liquidators managing the assets of Mirror Trading International, acting on behalf of U.S.-based investors who have been left short in the collapse of the exchange."

In July 2021, "liquidators in charge of the case revealed they had managed to recover an additional 8,000 BTC from the collapsed scam. This brings the total recovered BTC from MTI to 9,281." "According to South African outlet Moneyweb, MTI liquidators recovered the 8,000 BTC, currently worth over $270 million."

In August, "U.S. investigators joined an investigation into Mirror Trading International, seen as 2020’s biggest cryptocurrency scam, to help liquidators of the South African scheme recover the assets of out-of-pocket investors."

This exchange or platform is based in South Africa, or the incident targeted people primarily in South Africa.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Mirror Trading International

Date	Event	Description
August 19th, 2020	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $885,000,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

General Prevention Policies

The situation can be prevented through regular reviews, which would make clear the inadequate level of backing on customer assets.

Having an expectation of registration for all platforms, and a simple process such that legitimate platforms would not have strong cost or time barriers to compliance, would create a safer environment for consumers.

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.