What are the risks of investing in virtual currencies?

Foreign shell banks are non-U.S. banks without a physical presence in any country. A "foreign bank" is any bank organized under non-U.S. law or an agency, branch or office of a bank located outside the U.S. The term does not include an agent, agency, branch or office within the U.S. of a bank organized under foreign law.

A “private banking” account is an account (or any combination of accounts) that requires a minimum aggregate deposit of $1,000,000, is established for one or more individuals and is assigned to or administered or managed by, in whole or in part, an officer, employee or agent of a financial institution acting as a liaison between the financial institution and the direct or beneficial owner of the account.  

A foreign financial institution is: 

(1) a non-U.S. bank; 

(2) any branch or office located outside the United States of a broker-dealer; futures commission merchant or introducing broker; or open-end mutual fund company; 

(3) any other person organized under foreign law (other than a branch or office of such person in the United States) that, if it were located in the United States, would be a broker-dealer; futures commission merchant or introducing broker; or open-end mutual fund company; and 

(4) any person organized under foreign law (other than a branch or office of such person in the United States) that is engaged in the business of and is readily identifiable as: (a) a currency dealer or exchanger; or (b) a money transmitter.  

• virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or Securities Investor Protection Corporation protections;
• legislative and regulatory changes or actions at the state, federal, or international level may adversely affect the use, transfer, exchange, and value of virtual currency;
• transactions in virtual currency may be irreversible, and, accordingly, losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be recoverable;
• some virtual currency transactions shall be deemed to be made when recorded on a public ledger, which is not necessarily the date or time that the customer initiates the transaction;
• the value of virtual currency may be derived from the continued willingness of market participants to exchange fiat currency for virtual currency, which may result in the potential for permanent and total loss of value of a particular virtual currency should the market for that virtual currency disappear;
• there is no assurance that a person who accepts a virtual currency as payment today will continue to do so in the future;
• the volatility and unpredictability of the price of virtual currency relative to fiat currency may result in significant loss over a short period of time;
• the nature of virtual currency may lead to an increased risk of fraud or cyber attack; 
• the nature of virtual currency means that any technological difficulties experienced by the licensee may prevent the access or use of a customer’s virtual currency; and
• any bond or trust account maintained by the licensee for the benefit of its customers may not be sufficient to cover all losses incurred by customers.