Cambridge Analytica with links to Macau

The company known for being behind Facebook’s data leak scandal, Cambridge Analytica, was preparing to develop its own cryptocurrency, a process that had links to Macau in relation to fundraising through an initial coin offering, according to several reports from Reuters and the New York Times (NYT).

According to the former Cambridge Analytica employee Brittany Kaiser, quoted by the NYT, the digital coin would have helped people store online personal data and even sell it.

Documents obtained by the NYT also establish the relationship between the company and investors in Macau, namely in what concerns the creation of a so-called Dragon Coin, a cryptocurrency specifically targeting casino gamblers.
It was noted that several influential people in the gaming industry in Macau, support the coin, namely former triad boss Wan Kuok Koi, who is nicknamed “Broken Tooth.”

In the same documents obtained by the NYT through Kaiser, it is said that Cambridge Analytica had a contract with the Macau Dragon Group as a client, by which it would help to publicize and arrange potential investors for the USD500 million initial coin offering (ICO).

Such an ICO was also said to have been suspended when the Cambridge Analytica’s CEO Alexander Nix was suspended last month when the Facebook data leak scandal became public knowledge.

During a press conference yesterday, a Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) representative  called upon residents to be careful about any fraud that may exist relating to virtual currencies. In a statement issued by the authority, AMCM reminded the residents that virtual currencies are a virtual commodity, and that they are neither a legal currency nor a financial instrument. AMCM has already officially issued a notice to all banks and payment institutions to not participate in or provide, directly or indirectly, any financial services related to virtual currencies, including financial services where the virtual merchandise is adopted as the payment currency.
Separate reports have said that the Chinese technology company Lantai Digital Application Technology Co Ltd announced its launch of a cryptocurrency in an operation that would count the support of several of Macau’s major VIP gambling promoters (j’unkets), with such a digital coin able to be used for transactions in local casinos.

Such a report had immediate response from the local junkets, who rushed to classify it as fake news, distancing themselves from the company.  RM