Two investors in the failed myCryptoWallet exchange have opened up about losing their money on the alternative currency platform.
Ian Mercer and Damien Johnson told Daily Mail Australia they had experienced problems with the exchange, owned by tattooed entrepreneur Jaryd Koenigsmann, for more than a year.
Mr Mercer, 45, from Mandurah, Western Australia estimates he has lost as much as $50,000 in the failed exchange, which boasted as many as 20,000 customers trading cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Litecoin.
Mr Johnson, 42, from Sydney, has lost a less significant amount but said the experience has left 'a bitter taste' in his mouth. He first posted a video about his attempts to get in touch with the company seven months ago.
'I've been trying to make things happen but no one wants to listen until sh** hits the fan, right,' he said.
Both had realised there was a problem with myCryptoWallet, which went into liquidation last week, when they tried to move or withdraw funds.
myCryptoWallet was launched in 2017 as a digital marketplace to buy and sell cryptocurrency, but came under investigation by ASIC after complaints from users began in 2019
Damien Johnson from Sydney, who lost money on myCryptowallet, said the experience had left 'a bitter taste' in his mouth. He first tried to draw attention to the company's practices seven months ago
Ian Mercer Mandurah, Western Australia, estimates he has lost as much as $50,000 in the failed myCryptowallet exchange
Mr Johnson, who first opened his account with the exchange in 2017, said he'd had problems with the site before but trusted it because it was 'an Australian exchange'.
'When I tried to withdraw funds that first time, that's when I started having issues,' he said.
'I realised something was wrong when I continually tried to withdraw funds... it provided an SMS number [to access] support but you'd enter the code and nothing would happen.
'I tried emailing [Jaryd] on every single email that had come from myCryptoWallet and no reply.
'He would write on Twitter to log a support ticket but you couldn't do it.'
Mr Mercer opened his myCryptoWallet account in 2018 and said he first started having concerns about the exchange after the company’s accounts were frozen by National Australia Bank in 2019.
Mr Johnson shared screenshots of his attempts to contact myCryptwallet after he could not access funds in his account
The error message on one of the support pages Mr Johnson tried to access at mycryptowallet.com.au
!['I realised something was wrong when I continually tried to withdraw funds... it provided an SMS number [to access] support but you'd enter the code and nothing would happen,' Mr Johnson said](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/12/08/03/51475319-10286127-image-m-15_1638933477288.jpg)
'I realised something was wrong when I continually tried to withdraw funds... it provided an SMS number [to access] support but you'd enter the code and nothing would happen,' Mr Johnson said
He had tried to contact Mr Koenigsmann's company to access funds without success.
'It was just robotic responses… the only feedback we had was recently, perhaps six month ago. I think they were trying to get back online and do the right thing but that all fell over as well,' Mr Mercer said.
'I did get some money out, which was really promising, but no more after that.
'I think I invested $40,000 – could even be $50,000.
'This time last year it was worth $58,000 but I couldn’t sell any of it. I couldn’t get it off the exchange.'
Mr Mercer said he had considered taking myCryptoWallet to court along with other disaffected customers but now the company had gone into liquidation, 'that has all fallen over'.
Despite their experiences, both men are still trading cryptocurrency on other platforms.
'They always tell you to take your cryptos offline, you don’t own those cryptos until you get them in your own bank,' Mr Mercer said.
A mysterious tattooed 'serial entrepreneur' with a string of failed start-ups is behind a cryptocurrency service that has collapsed owing thousands to furious traders
It was revealed yesterday that tattooed 'serial entrepreneur' Jardy Koenigsmann has a string of failed start-ups behind him.
Mr Koenigsmann, 28, has been described as a 'crypto pioneer' and was once nominated for one of Melbourne's most promising young entrepreneurs.
However, the young businessman has gone silent over recent months and is virtually impossible to find on social media.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that he has been involved in a string of failed tech start-ups, including an online pet classifieds business.
Mr Koenigsmann launched myCryptoWallet in 2017 as a digital marketplace to buy and sell cryptocurrency.
He told the Blockchain Show podcast he made over $40,000 investing in the cryptocurrency Litecoin.
However he claimed he was unhappy with other crypto trading platforms' customer service and the speed of their transactions.
Angry crypto investors have taken to social media to express their frustration at the collapse of myCryptoWallet - and the company's failure to allow access to all funds in accounts
The collapse of myCryptoWallet - which launched with multiple media appearances by Mr Koenigsmann - has sparked further concern about the unregulated nature of the crypto market
His new venture, which he claimed to have funded by selling his cars, came under investigation by ASIC after complaints from users began in 2019.
Since then, there have been ongoing claims from traders that they could not get some or any of their funds back from myCryptoWallet.
Some users claimed to be out of pocket between $5,000 and $40,000.
There is no suggestion Mr Koenigsmann is responsible for users' missing funds.
In 2018 he earned praise as one of Melbourne's most talented young entrepreneurs, with a nomination in the Business News Australia Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards.
The nomination said he had 'quickly become a successful serial entrepreneur' for his work on myCryptoWallet and two other tech start-ups, a hot-desking hub at Collingwood called Node Coworking and myNewPet.
Mr Koenigsmann talked up myNewPet, an online pet classfied service, as a way of stamping out puppy farms by verifying the identities of buyers and sellers, in 2019.
'Our mission is to improve animal welfare globally,' he told the Herald Sun.
He
