Cryptocurrency firm Revolut has left Bulgarian national Tzoni Raykov with $1,500 worth of un recoverable coins after an administrative error. The incident highlights concerns about the industry’s customer safeguards and lack of regulation.
Tzoni had been using Revolut to split bills with friends, but after seeing its cryptocurrency services, he decided to give it a try. He transferred 1,500 USDC coins from his separate crypto account to his Revolut account, but the funds were not credited due to unclear deposit instructions.
Revolut’s deposit instructions ask users to select a network to send coins through, similar to choosing a courier service for a parcel. However, Tzoni selected a different network, “Polygon (bridged)”, which caused the coins to be converted into USDC.e – a different cryptocurrency that Revolut does not handle.
The company told Tzoni that the issue was not with the network but rather the fact that it received unsupported assets. This means the 1,500 USDC.e coins have not been credited to Tzoni’s account or sent back to him.
Tzoni is frustrated with the lack of regulation in the industry and believes that Revolut should have handled the situation differently. “They are waiting for me to get bored and give up, to accept the money is gone,” he said. However, the global cryptocurrency market has risen sharply in value over the past 18 months, and government policies are changing to favor the industry.
Experts warn that more regulation is needed to prevent similar incidents. “If we are going to be serious about cryptocurrencies in the future… there needs to be some kind of regulation,” says Prof Mark Button. Higher industry standards could have prevented Tzoni from making such a transaction in the first place, and consumers should be cautious when choosing products and services.
The incident highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the cryptocurrency industry.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93gydxj8n7o