BitConnect, the Ponzi Blockchain: Investigating a Scam in Influencers' Hour

BitConnect was an obscure platform that promised the impossible: a fixed rent thanks to crypto-currencies. Today, the Ponzi scheme of the BitConnect system is unveiling, leaving winners, and many losers.

"I have nothing left. I put everything I had on it because I trusted them. Literally, all the savings in my family are in BCC because a friend told me that the risk was worth it. Are you telling me that I lost everything? $ 80,000 gone? I am so angry. My wife does not know anything yet, she is coming home soon. What am I supposed to tell him? "

On Reddit, testimonials like this one succeed each other. Between two sneers of incredulity, the victims of BitConnect mourn their losses. The platform, accused of being a Ponzi scheme, closed on Wednesday, leaving thousands of small investors injured. The cryptocurrency invented by the founders of BitConnect, the BCC, is worthless, and even this thin value seems impossible to recover. The term exit scam, which could be translated as leaving with the cash register, has been circulating for 24 hours: the testimonies of distress are amplifying.

PONZI, ETERNAL PONZI
With a capitalization of $ 2.5 billion, BitConnect is not a small pyramid of the scam, but a scam liner, a Gizeh of deceit. And at a time when the structure collapses, the losses are heavy.

Yet, a significant part of the cryptos community can not help but scoff at the situation: "There was no need to be an economist to understand the scam", an investor says. Indeed, on paper, BitConnect was all about a scam: a sponsorship system, an insured annuity and a loan service. The company did not even hide the functioning of its pyramid or the uselessness of its token. She obviously denied being a scam, but behaved as such.

A POCKET OF THE ESCROQUERIE

Especially since before reaching the distress calls, there were winners of such a system. The particularity of the BitConnect case lies in its mastery of efficient communication with small investors. As in any pyramid scheme, special importance was given in the company to sponsorships. Sponsorships that became very beneficial to the sponsor who was able to engage other victims in the system. But at a time when any influencer can become an investment advisor, the mechanics quickly installed.

INFLUENTE ESCROQUERIE
A market observer remembers: "They never did marketing properly speaking. They did not need it since they had this system of sponsorship and affiliation that pushed youtubers and twittos to advise BitConnect to beginners to get their commission. "Quickly, in the United States, but also in France, BitConnect gurus appear on social networks, wriggling share the best tips to become rich. Even in France, an influencer is now accused of having accompanied beginners in the Ponzi scheme, it is the Farm of the Minor

The young man, having attended communities such as the French Minors, has taken the lead of a YouTube channel in which he provides tips and tutorials for beginners. Nevertheless, in the midst of his good intentions, he also makes a video inviting his community to participate in BitConnect, thanks to his own promo code.

The Farm of the Miner then participates in the giant scam while being remunerated for it. In the communities of investors, the boy is looked upon with disdain: "There were indeed dramas and accusations, but until the closure of the service, he never removed his video" recalls a member of a crypto community. Today, some of them demand accountability, but the young man has walled in silence.

7% OF MALHONESTY
Another investor, well informed about the BitConnect system, reminds that for youtubers, the system was very interesting: each new member reported a commission of 7% to the sponsor. Thus, even small youtubers like our French and its 10,000 subscribers, could in several days be several thousand euros.