DAO1 has received a securities fraud warning from Germany’s BaFin.

As per BaFin’s October 2nd DAO1 warning;

The financial supervisory authority  BaFin  is warning against the offerings of DAO1 and the associated products of Apertum Holding Limited.

According to its findings, DAO1 offers customers automated trading of crypto assets using various bots that are said to be based on artificial intelligence.

DAO1 is currently promoting its offerings in German-language webinars and social media channels, as well as at local events in Germany.

Based on these findings, the facts justify the assumption that DAO1 is offering crypto asset services without a license in Germany.

BaFin, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the State Criminal Police Offices generally advise consumers to be extremely cautious when investing money online and to conduct thorough research beforehand in order to detect fraud attempts in a timely manner.

Offering unregistered securities to German residents is a violation of Germany’s Crypto Markets Supervision Act.

DAO1 is a fraudulent investment scheme built around Apertum Foundation’s APTM token.

Both schemes are owned and operated by Josip Heit (right).

Originally from Croatia but believed to hold a German passport, Heit launched DAO1 and Apertum Foundation after GSPartners collapsed.

GSPartners was a fraudulent investment scheme built around its G999 token. For all intents and purposes, DAO1 and Apertum Foundation are a continuation of the fraud Heit started with GSPartners.

GSPartners collapsed in late 2023 following over a dozen regulatory fraud warnings from North American regulators.

Heit settled GSPartners fraud charges with North American regulators in September 2024. As part of the settlement, which is ongoing as of September 2025, Heit agreed to refund GSPartners victims.

BaFin’s DAO1 and Apertum Foundation fraud warning marks the first regulatory action against Heit by German authorities.

Promotion of DAO1 and Apertum Foundation in Germany is spearheaded by German nationals Dennis Loos and Dirc Zahlmann.

To the detriment of German consumers, Heit has successfully managed to suppress reporting of his fraud domestically.

Through a series of ex-parte legal actions filed by Heit’s lawyers at Irle Moser, a German law firm, Heit has obtained numerous injunctions against BehindMLM and other publications.

Irle Moser’s business model sees them file for an ex-parte injunction on Heit’s behalf. This was taking place in Hamburg’s courts but switched to Frankfurt after a sought injunction was recently denied.

The injunction request is typically supported by nothing more than a sworn statement by Heit. In his sworn statements Heit denies facts surrounding whatever it is he doesn’t want the German public to know.

There doesn’t appear to be any legal ramifications for filing sworn statements with knowingly made falsehoods in Germany.

On the rare occasion German Judges have looked into the matter, Heit’s requested injunctions have been denied. Heit typically abandons legal proceedings in these instances.

Unfortunately it is more common for German Judges to simply sign off on Heit’s requested injunction.

Whether BaFin issuing a DAO1 and Apertum Foundation securities fraud warning will stop Irle Moser’s attempts to suppress public awareness of Heit’s fraud remains to be seen.

Irle Moser itself has previously sought to obtain an injunction against BehindMLM for reporting on the firm’s ties to Heit.

Evidently frustrated at continued reporting on Heit’s fraud, in a recent round of marketing press-releases Christian-Oliver Moser, through Irle Moser Rechtsanwälte, falsely claimed BehindMLM was a “criminal platform”.

We will continue to use all legal means to combat defamation campaigns by competitors and blackmailers.

In doing so, we will also consistently defend ourselves through criminal proceedings until these criminal platforms – such as behindMLM and the network behind it – are put out of business.”

It’s unclear what “competitors” and “blackmailers” Moser was referring to.

Also unclear is whether BaFin will take further action if Heit continues to promote DAO1 and Apertum Foundation promotion in Germany.

Severe violations of Germany’s Crypto Markets Supervision Act are considered criminal offenses. Less severe violations are subject to administrative fines.

Following North American regulatory fraud warnings, Heit cut off North Americans from their GSPartners investor accounts.

In contrast, Heit did nothing after Australia and New Zealand issued respective DOA1 fraud warnings earlier this year. Nonetheless, recruitment of DAO1 investors in Australia and New Zealand subsequently collapsed.

As of August 2025, SimilarWeb tracked top sources of DAO1 website traffic as the Dominican Republic (35%), the US (18%) and Germany (16%).