2025-04-24
Lietuvos bankas warns that investing into crypto-asset using LWEX trading platform entails the risk of invested capital loss
Having assessed the publicly available information , Lietuvos bankas warns that the activities performed by LWEX in Lithuania are illegal.
Messages inviting people to investment into crypto-assets and financial instruments through a trading platform managed by LWEX has recently appeared on social media.
Lietuvos bankas underlines that it has not granted the authorization for the company to provide investment or crypto-asset services in Lithuania and does not supervise its activities. There is also no evidence that this company has been authorised and its activities are supervised by financial market supervisory authorities of other EU or EEA countries. Moreover, investments made through the platform may exhibit characteristics associated with financial pyramid schemes. Lietuvos bankas points out that the provision of LWEX services related to financial instruments and crypto-assets as well as the advertising and offering of its services are illegal.
Having assessed the risk to investors, Lietuvos bankas included the LWEX platform in the list of entities without the right to provide financial (including investment and insurance) services in Lithuania. The list includes more than 300 companies.
Upon receipt of justified complaints from investors, Lietuvos bankas after having the permission of the court, has the right to block websites providing illegal financial services.
Three precautionary rules for retail investors
Lietuvos bankas warns against companies operating illegally and their representatives seeking to appropriate investors’ funds through various methods. It also cautions against making spontaneous investment decisions without looking into who is offering the investment and what instruments are being proposed.
- Do not invest in products you do not fully understand, otherwise you not only risk losing your savings, but also going into debt.
- Check if the institution offering the services holds the appropriate licence. This can be done on Lietuvos bankas website. It is important to remember that the company’s name must be exactly the same as the name indicated on Lietuvos bankas website.
- Avoid proposals promising “easy money” and “no risk”. Investors often lose their assets lured by “very attractive investment proposals” from “brokers” (“a large variety of flexible products”, “minimum risk and guaranteed profit”, “small initial fees and the possibility to trade using high leverage”, “bonuses to start trading”, “very flexible and exclusive trading conditions”, “low or no service fees”, “personal consultant (broker) assigned to you”, etc.) and by trusting fraudsters with their investments.