That's not actually true. They do have a full FAQ section on their website.

Also, a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation where the operator pays returns to its investors from new capital paid by new investors, rather than from profit earned through legitimate sources. xCoins is a Bitcoin escrow platform who charge fees for matching buyers with sellers, providing verification and acting as a middleman for the trade, so I don't think you can really compare them.

I wrote a fairly detailed review of my experiences using xCoins in the following thread if you want to check it out.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1779678.msg17906839#msg17906839

It covers most of what you need to know if you intend to use the platform...

I've been a seller on xCoins.io since Sept 2016 and I have loads of experience with the platform, so I'm happy to provide feedback on that experience.

It's a great and unique platform with several flaws that you absolutely MUST understand if you intend to use it (otherwise you will have a lot of difficulties).

I'll list the pros and cons below, but overall, I recommend that people try out the site only after they have educated themselves on how it works.


Ignore the 'Loan Bitcoin' thing
This platform is for buying and selling Bitcoin. Buyers pay by credit card and sellers collect their funds via PayPal (other processors will be implemented in future). The business model used is actually quite similar to LocalBitcoins (but xCoins handles the BTC transfer and buyer verification). Sellers charge a premium of not less than 15% (not including other fees). This may seem high to some people, but there are not many other places that you can buy Bitcoin with credit card quickly. AFAIK the 'loaning' thing is just semantics, so they can call the profits 'interest' to avoid regulatory issues.

Automated trading
Sellers set up their account and trade preferences, and set their account to active. xCoins automatically matches buyers and sellers and will keep doing so until you hit your preferred limit or run out of BTC (at which stage you need to top up your wallet again). It's a nice system and pretty clever.

Chargebacks
Buyers will occasionally try to defraud you by initiating PayPal disputes to try steal back the funds they paid. This happens regardless of whether you are selling BTC or shoes on Ebay and if you use xCoins, you WILL encounter this issue. However, there are ways to mitigate this issue (which, for the sake of brevity, I will not detail here), but you really need to understand this before you start. Scammers are automatically banned from xCoins, so fortunately this isn't as big an issue as it could be, but some people still try it.

PayPal account limitation
If PayPal consider you to be 'high risk', they may limit your account (i.e. freeze your account for 180 days). Sellers need to be proactive to try to avoid this. Things like having a high chargeback ratio or having a huge spike in volume on a new PayPal account will raise red flags, so this needs to be considered (again there are ways to mitigate this).

Profit
Profits can be high for sellers as the amount earned is based on how much volume you can recycle through your accounts. If you have 1 BTC, you may be able to sell this once each week on xCoins while rebuying on another exchange (the time it takes to recycle your BTC really depends on how long it takes to withdraw from PayPal to your bank account and then get you funds back to a BTC exchange). So the 15% profit is not 'interest', it is profit on sales each time you cycle your BTC.

Counter-party risk
There is always a risk of any online company doing an 'exit scam' and running away with your money. To minimize this risk, only put small amount of BTC into your xCoins wallet each time. I tend to transfer 0.5 BTC to xCoins, sell it, then repeat. I personally believe xCoins are trustworthy, but it is still a good idea to never trust any company in crypto with funds that you cannot afford to lose.

Customer support
In the past, xCoins customer support has been understaffed and completely inadequate for the volume of users. The forums have been filled with people screaming about the issues they were having and you will find many negative reviews by disgruntled ex-users. However, after around 6 months, there are no credible stories that I am aware of where xCoins behaved dishonestly and in the last month extra staff have been hired and all customer support tickets seem to be addressed very quickly, so things seem to be improving a lot.

Community
There is great community of helpful users that are happy to help new users. Most posts on the xCoins forum get answered quickly by more experienced and helpful users.



So that's my overall review. I highly recommend trying it out (with a small sum of BTC at first), but I can't stress this enough... do your research first!!. All the info you need to successfully use this platform is available on the forums.

Also, although I am recommending xCoins, I've tried to present the facts in fair and balanced manner, so unless you disagree with any specific claims that I have made, please to not respond with unhelpful comments of 'shill' etc. I will respond to genuine questions though....




Also, if you are signing up, you can use this promo code on registration for reduced fees: hel7ly

...or this link: https://xcoins.io/?hel7ly

Happy trading!!

You can ignore the borrowing/lending wording in the FAQ. I'm pretty sure that is just semantics to avoid regulatory issues.
It is a little unclear from the FAQ, but what really happens is as follows:

1. The seller transfers BTC to their xCoins wallet and select what margin % they are willing to sell for
2. Verified buyers purchase via credit card from sellers (the system matches buyers & sellers)
3. The $ arrive in the sellers PayPal account and signals (via API) that this event has occurred, then...
4. The BTC is released to the buyer

So xCoins essentially acts as a facilitator/verifier/escrow service. Sellers make profit by cycling their BTC through the system for a profit each time, not by earning 'interest'. You must be able to buy BTC elsewhere cheaper to make this work for you....

There are some issues with the system, e.g. if selling, expect to deal with charge-backs occasionally. However, I have won most CB attempts, since it is pretty obvious when someone is trying to scam you (and you have the verification documents). Scammers get banned instantly too, so I doubt it's profitable for them to try (there are much softer targets out there in the cryptosphere), but you'll always get some idiots who try it anyway. There are other issues you may encounter, but, for the sake of brevity, I will not detail them here, so read the forums etc first, as you should not go into this blind or you will have problems.

For buyers, the system is pretty much risk free and, because of the automation, is simple and quick to use. It is quite possibly the easiest place around to purchase BTC with credit card quickly.

Hope this helps clarify the model used. I've been a user for many months now and I know the system well by now, so feel free to ask any other questions you may have and I'll try to help....

Also, if you are signing up, you can use this promo registration code: hel7ly

...or this link: https://xcoins.io/?hel7ly

Yes. Or you can use your credit/debit card if you prefer.

Thanks for sharing that info.

A few answers that you may find helpful....

1. Their accounting is actually correct, but only from their perspective. There's a reason for it, but it seems backwards from a user perspective though and confused me at first.

Their maths goes like this: (Amount USD - xCoins fee) x % profit margin = Your profit (lenders fee)
After that they add the PayPal fees to get the total USD amount that is sent to your PayPal account.

2. I don't think that they vet the sellers. There's no real need other then standard KYC (BTC transfers are irreversible).

3. That's unusual. Check your BTC balance to see if your account was debited. The buyer may have cancelled the transaction.

I guess you don't know for sure, just the same as you shouldn't really trust anything you read online. But I don't see why that matters. What you're looking for is info. You can get some info there (and elsewhere) and make your decisions. Even if someone misleads you, you're only risking what you hold on the platform at any given time (see my post above). Buy 0.1 BTC with your credit card and withdraw it to your wallet. Or transfer 0.1 BTC, sell it and bank your profit. At the end of your first transaction, you will have a balance of 0 on xCoins.

That way, you'll see how it works and you only risk 0.1 BTC. Then, you can decide whether you should continue. This is exactly how I started on the platform, and I've done a few $K in volume now with no problems so far (though like I say, I've been lucky).

I don't think they visit here very often. Their PR staff don't seem to be very active online and I get the impression that most of their efforts are going into development. You can read all the good and bad stuff from users on various online forums, including the xCoins user forum: https://xcoins.io/forum/

One thing I do know, however, is that they are implementing a new payment processor very soon as an alternative to PayPal. As I understand it, you will be able to use either or both processors to cash-out your earnings. I'm not a big fan of PayPal, so this is good news to me.

Yup

I actually joined this site to discuss xCoins.io, so my account is indeed new. I also want to disclose that I like the xCoins platform and I wish them success for trying something new and innovative. Therefore take that into account when considering the value of my advice and comments about the platform. However, none of that should actually matter, because you can (and should) independently fact-check my points below.

If you are interested, try it out with a very small amount of BTC and be clear in your mind about the risks. If you know the risks, it is actually quite safe to try it out.



The risks (for sellers only) that would have the most serious outcomes are:

xCoins exit scam: running off with your balance.
Always a possibility with any new site. Never keep a significant balance at xCoins. Transfer small amounts, sell, repeat.

xCoins exit scam: Huge influx of chargebacks initiated by xCoins.
Highly unlikely, probably impossible IMO. This would require all buyers to be either fakes or acting in unison with xCoins. Lenders actually get photos and IDs of the borrowers. It would be difficult to create fake people that on that scale.



Other risks include:
Occasional chargebacks from fraudulent buyers.
This happens, no avoiding it. Just the cost of doing business. Factor it into your profits. Scammers who make it through the vetting process get perma-banned once they try this. You will win some PayPal cases and lose some.

PayPal closing your account
Again, this happens to some users and is one of the biggest concerns. Try to avoid spikes in volume passing through PayPal. There are ways of reducing this risk, so make sure you read up on them before lending. xCoins are implementing alternative payment processors soon though, so this will no longer be an issue, I hope.



For buyers, there are almost no risks. You pay and receive your BTC to your wallet quickly. Since this is irreversible, you are particularly safe. The only issue is when the BTC are not automatically released due to a bug/glitch. This happens some times (you hear about it on the forums), and is always resolved. Sometimes this takes a while; xCoins is a new platform and support can be frustratingly slow at times.

This is the result of my experiences on the platform so far and I think covers it (though I may have missed something). I'm happy to answer any other questions that you may have.



If you think any this has helped you, feel free to tip or use the promotional code hel7ly when registering at https://xcoins.io/?r=hel7ly

That's very annoying - sorry to hear you've had to put up with all that hassle. The system works so well.... until it doesn't. Then you have to deal with xCoins support, which can take days. It appears, since they are a new platform, they are mainly focusing on buyer vetting and feature development, but leaving themselves understaffed in the support department. Not a good idea if you want to retain customers, but you'll get your issue resolved. In my experience, everyone does (eventually).

PayPal allows chargebacks, true. Often they resolve the dispute in the seller's favor. Sometimes this is automatic (i.e. requiring no input from the seller) and sometimes it is necessary for the seller to present the digitally signed contract and photo ID of the buyer. It does happen that the buyer (read "scammer") wins the dispute. In this case, the 50% profit guarantee program kicks in, the seller is reimbursed (up to a point) and the fraudulent buyer is perma-banned from xCoins. It is impossible to eliminate charge-backs using the current system, but the risks can be managed.

Regarding price fluctations, unless the price moves by >15%* between when you buy and when you sell, you profit. Best to think of this as an arbitrage system - I would recommend users pay at least some attention to what's happening and maybe keep enough $ on an exchange to re-purchase what you sell.

* I say 15%, but in reality, due to fees and commissions, your profit will be a little lower. You can use this promotional code when signing up to reduce your fees: hel7ly

Hope this helps a little.... happy to answer any other questions if I can....