Croatian Bitcoin firm crashes with millions in losses and a police probe

• Bitlucky shutters after ‘series of bad trades and decisions’
• Firm reportedly offered 5 to 25% in monthly returns

A Croatian cryptocurrency investment firm called Bitlucky has proved anything but as police opened an investigation into its collapse amid the loss of an estimated $15 million in assets, according to local media reports.

Earlier this week, Croatian news outlets reported that Luka Burazer, the company’s director, sent an email to the firm’s 700 or so clients disclosing a series of missteps.

Bad trades

“Dear clients, unfortunately, with a series of bad trades and decisions, I brought the state of the company into a crisis situation,” Burazer said, according to media reports. “We will have more information in the coming days. We are available by phone.”

Investors in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the Balkan nation are buzzing that there may be more to Bitcluky’s demise than “bad trades”. The firm was reputed to have offered monthly returns of 5 to 25%, local media reported.

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Now Bitlucky, which billed itself as “your window into the blockchain world,” is kaput. And Croatian police officials told DL News they are probing the five-year-old company after fielding complaints from customers.

The firm apparently helped clients invest in Bitcoin and other tokens. On its website, the firm described itself as “an intermediary” providing “advisory and education services” and promised a “safe and secure entry” to the crypto market.

Representatives of Bitlucky did not respond to a request for comment.

Unrealistic promises

Bitlucky appears to be an outlier in Croatia’s burgeoning crypto scene. In a press release, the Croatian Association for Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies said Bitlucky was not a member and “the director,” an apparent reference to Burazer, did not participate in the group’s round tables and conferences.

As investors digested the news, members of a Discord group for the crypto community in the Balkans grumbled that Bitlucky made unrealistic promises of profit from crypto trading.

“It lasted longer than expected,” said one investor.

Correction: A previous version of this story reported Bitlucky lost an estimated $75 million and cited a Croatian media site called Kriptovijesti as the source of the information. The site and another Croatian publication, Novi List, report the loss was an estimated $15 million. DL News has amended the story to reflect the lower figure.

Have tips on crypto trading? Contact the author at ana@dlnews.com.