Metaverse Foreign Exchange
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Metaverse Foreign Exchange (MTFE) a Ponzi scheme that collected funds, claiming to be a trading platform that uses AI bots to automate cryptocurrency trade defrauded over a billion USD, mainly from investors in Africa and South Asia. The scheme used a system that rewarded users for recruiting more under them and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had warned it to be a pyramid scheme. In reality, MTFE did not actually carry out trades, and the bot simply fabricated profits and losses to give the appearance of a legitimate platform. When the scheme finally collapsed, all accounts were programmed to show fake negative balances. In 2026, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka officially declared it a prohibited pyramid scheme.
History
The MTFE Group began aggressively recruting around 2022, promising unrealistically high returns. It claimed to be registered in Canada as a money service business with MSB No. M22076570, and also regulated by FINTRAC. However, Canada’s Ontario Securities Commission issued a warning in 30 June 2023 stating that the company was not authorised to engage in the trading of securities.
Operations
MTFE run as a network of dozens of shell companies and many had listed foreign directors. The Investigative Journalism Foundation interviewed experts who claimed these directors are likely fake identities. Only one Canadian director was mentioned, named "Randy Mathieu Lane". Later investigation by CTV News discovered that MTFE had stolen the identity of an uninvolved Canadian man to set up the companies.
MTFE’s corporate address was 500-7030 Woodbine Avenue in Markham, Ontario but the same office room was shared with 97 other money services companies and 95 registered foreign currency exchanges but the Investigative Journalism Foundation couldn't find any evidence if these businesses were physically present in the address.
References
- 1 2 Babatunde, O'Lekan (18 August 2023). "Ponzi: Over $1Billion Investors funds Plundered as MTFE Goes Down". BrandCrunch Nigeria. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ↑ "Another MLM company vanishes with 20,000C investments". Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ↑ "CBSL probes 'MTFE' trading app". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ↑ "The art of enticing: How MTFE cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme deceived its users". The Business Standard. 20 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ↑ "Sri Lanka central bank probe finds 24 pyramid schemes". EconomyNext. 26 February 2026. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "CID recovers Tk 44 crore in cryptocurrency linked to MTFE Ponzi Scam | Others". BSS. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- ↑ "Metaverse Foreign Exchange Group Inc. | OSC". www.osc.ca. 2023-06-30. Retrieved 2026-10-06.
- 1 2 "Canadian company at the centre of alleged international pyramid scheme". theijf.org. Retrieved 2026-10-08.
- ↑ Ghobrial, Adrian (2024-09-24). "'I have nothing to do with this': B.C. man says he had no idea his name was linked to global fraud scheme". CTVNews. Retrieved 2026-10-08.