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Tag: MyCoin

  • Purportedly Based In Hong Kong And Offering Equity Positions, ‘MyCoin’ Bitcoin Exchange Reportedly Goes Missing; Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars May Be At Stake

    recommendedreading1“MyCoin’s” bitcoin exchange might have operated as a “pyramid-style Ponzi scheme packaged as bitcoin trading,” potential victims plan to tell Hong Kong authorities Wednesday, the South China Morning Post is reporting.

    The news comes as bitcoin-themed schemes or “programs” that claim to accept bitcoin appear on Ponzi boards such as MoneyMakerGroup, raising continuing questions about whether MLM HYIP scammers  worldwide will erode marketplace confidence in bitcoin itself.

    MyCoin appears to have planted the seed that investors could plow money into the MyCoin venture itself. The PP Blog was able to view the MyCoin website. Purported businesses such as a “Trading Center,” an “Electonic Mall,” a “Cloud Mining Machine,” a “Bitcoin Game Center and “Market Monitoring” are referenced on the still-active site.

    Various buzzwords appear on the English version of the site. Examples include “value-added services,” “strategic objective,” “mobile e-commerce” and “integrated multifunctional Bitcoin platform.”

    Fraud schemes often mix in well-known words and phrases from the worlds of investing and business to disarm members of the public. Other examples include “algorithm,” “trading floor,” “insured,” “green” (denoting “programs” said to be environmentally friendly”), “approved” and “contract.”

    Victims often are hoodwinked and dazzled into believing they’re exercising great personal and public responsibility while helping freedom and free markets expand.

    From the South China Morning post (link above/italics added):

    An 81-year-old woman surnamed Chan said she recovered only HK$1.2 million on her HK$3 million investment on seven bitcoin contracts. “I shouldn’t have been greedy. I was told by my real estate agent that the profit would be over HK$2 million after one year,” she said. The biggest loss by a single client was said to be HK$50 million, while some mortgaged their properties to invest.