Could two cryptocurrency scams both have the name PinCoin and not be related? In this article, we'll talk about two malicious schemes with the exact same name. At Remitano, we prioritize your security and believe that examining historical asset failures is the most powerful way to avoid a scam and protect your hard-earned digital portfolio.
As you may know, the world of cryptocurrency is vast. There are currently thousands of crypto coins and tokens in the world. Of course, many of them are dead projects without any value. Some have been discovered as scams and have been pulled out of major exchanges.
However, a few have managed to thrive temporarily, mostly because blockchain information is irrevocable. In this article, to discover Pincoin, we start the tale of a project that started twice in two different places on the planet. It is a curious story that reveals much about Pincoin's intricacies and how easy it is to fall for a coordinated scam.
PinCoin - a tale of two Crypto scams.
Two different operations used the name Pincoin. Both emerged in different regions of the world, and they present a classic look at how fraudulent setups replicate old tactics.
Let's talk about each one in detail.
The First Pincoin
The First PinCoin cryptocurrency saw its initial appearance in the crypto world in Vietnam. It started as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) by an outfit called Modern Tech. The project was very fortunate as it launched early in 2017 as the ICO craze and crypto bull market started to form. It attracted a lot of attention and was very successful with its initial pitch.
The money from the cryptocurrency sale was supposedly to develop an investment platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain.
The company promised a staggering 40% monthly return to everyone using their platform. It was so successful that they launched a second ICO for iFan, a social network token for Asian celebrities. The pitch was a huge success, receiving investments from 32,000 individual accounts, mainly from the Asia Pacific region.
The total amount of money raised is no less impressive, with an incredible 660 million US dollars accumulated during the sale. The page for Pincoin (now dead) and the page for iFan were very well designed, and all of the projects seemed legitimate on the surface.
A few months passed, and the team behind the two tokens became completely silent. Investors started to worry, and authorities became involved. The Vietnamese government's police officers raided the Modern Tech offices on April ninth of 2018. However, the company's directors and staff had vacated the premises during the night, and the police officers made no arrests.
The investors were left with worthless cryptocurrency and could not get back their money. To this day, no charges have been successfully brought nor entries resolved concerning this Pincoin variation. It seems that the perpetrators behind the scam were able to escape with all of the 660 million dollars they received in investments.
The second Pincoin
The Pincoin cryptocurrency from Inksnation is a different type of deployment, yet very similar in its fraudulent structure to the Pincoin from Modern Tech. The Inksnation platform claims to be a full blockchain of its own. It is pitched as a separate network that can process transactions and keep track of account balances.
They even claim a consensus algorithm of their own called Proof of AI, though the technical aspects of how it may work are missing. The project also calls itself the first humanitarian decentralised financial system. To work, users need to register to become a "living node." After doing so, they are told they will receive rewards using the Pincoin cryptocurrency for as long as the network is alive.
It works because people choose a plan to become a node on the network. The cheapest "bronze" plan costs roughly 3 US dollars and claims to give 342 dollars a month once the subscription is complete. Silver sits at 30 US dollars for 512 in rewards. The most expensive choice, the "diamond living node," demands an initial investment of 3000 US dollars.
In exchange, the "network" promises to pay 857 US dollars in Pincoin rewards. All of these plans promise that rewards will be for a lifetime—a hallmark indicator of a classic pyramid scam.
The project attracted so much attention in Nigeria, where the offices of Inksnation are located, that the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SIBAN) put out a press release calling the Pincoin cryptocurrency a scam to separate legitimate crypto projects from fraudulent ones giving a bad name to the industry.
This, however, did not stop people from falling for the Pincoin setup
Many individuals facing financial troubles and looking for alternative sources of income signed up on the platform anyway.
The massive influx of participants prompted the Nigerian Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to declare PinCoin and Inksnation as an illegal fraud. The Nigerian and African cryptocurrency community has applauded the communication as a positive development.
Pincoin is not registered with any legitimate cryptocurrency exchange in Nigeria or anywhere on the internet because the fraud is so apparent. So, there is no way to take these "tokens" and sell them for other crypto coins on the open market.
Yet, despite all the warnings, Inksnation remains in operation. The project's founders have turned to social media to denounce regulatory bodies as perpetrators of targeted persecution and assured their followers that the project is real. Even now, the platform is still trying to receive investments for its different packages.
Despite all the clear warning signs, challenging economic situations create the perfect conditions for these scams to temporarily thrive.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrencies can be a very liberating form of economic activity. They have contributed to the income of hundreds of thousands worldwide, and the crypto economy keeps growing. It will be big enough to become a primary source of income for millions of people in time. Yet, we are not fully there.
Right now, a lack of mass adoption means very few people in the general public know exactly how Bitcoin and other blockchains operate. In this environment of a lack of technical knowledge, corporate scams have become common and rampant. Being aware of all the types of fraud perpetrated on crypto is essential.
But for 45 Legit Ways to Make Money Online in Nigeria, read the article. There are plenty of legitimate ways to build your crypto portfolio safely.
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