It is indeed a 100% scam run by Hashcoins (again):
I found a very interesting recording of a telephone interview with Daniel Haudenschild, who is described as a Partner to Ernst & Young on their website (
https://webforms.ey.com/ch/en/industries/financial-services/ey-contact-implementing-new-regulatory-requirements), on Soundcloud dated 6th June 2017, just after this Hashcoins/Polybius ICO scam started. The interviwee is a long time Bitcoin adopter & is very knowledgable in the field - this comes across very clearly in the interview with the questions he asks, which Daniel Haudenschild fails on all fronts to give an answer to. Have a listen (ignore the first 30 seconds of silly music!):
https://soundcloud.com/junsethsworld/daniel-haudenschild-of-ernst-young-discusses-polybius-ico-6617-1151There are several points of interest in the interview, here are a few that are relevent to this scam accusation:
1) 04.35 - Hashcoins confirmed as the people behind Polybius.
2) 06.30 - They don't hold a banking license.
3) 07.40 - Daniel Haudenschild admits that even he doesn't know who owns Polybius, which is not only strange coming from an "advisor" who works for Ernst & Young, but is also not disclosed in the white paper.
4) 09.10 - Ernst & Young did NOT endorse Polybius in any way & actions are underway to remove any Ernst & Young connection with Polybius. (*more on this below)
5) 09.30 - Hashcoins are a cludmining brand who sold miners that didn't exist.
6) 09.50 - Emercoin confirmed as partners & are described as a "non-sense project"
(confirming the connection between Polybius, Hashcoins & Emercoin - which Emercoin have tried to deny on multiple occasions, despite me proving to them otherwise)
After the above & for the rest of the interview, Daniel Haudenschild seems unable to properly answer a single question, is often confused into silence & comes across as being pretty embarrassed about the whole thing. He must feel pretty stupid allowing not just himself, but the whole Ernst & Young brand name to be dragged into this whole scammy affair & I wouldn't be at all surprised if he loses his job at Ernst & Young for doing so.....
Wait, what's this?.......**MASSIVE UPDATE**
Daniel Haudenschild lost his job at Ernst & Young......
FT published a transcript of the above interview:
https://ftalphaville.ft.com/2017/06/07/2189826/building-blockchain-banks-with-icos/ (regtoread)
Updated at the bottom with:
Update (June 8th, 18:43 London time): EY have got in touch to say that “At publication of this story, Daniel Haudenschild is no longer with EY and his comments concerning EY’s Blockchain strategy are incorrect.”
*Ernst & Young have since instructed Polybius to remove all reference of Ernst & Young from the Polybius website & advertising. Polybius removed the Ernst & Young profiles from their website but continue to use it for advertising on various forums, websites & so called "news" outlets on the web:
https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2017/05/15/swiss-ey-officially-joins-polybius-cryptobank-advisors-ico-follow/https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2017/04/25/blockchain-startup-polybius-bank-setup-switzerland-ernst-young-agrees-advise/If Ernst & Young are prepared to fire anyone who associates their brand with Polybius, I'm pretty sure they will also go after Hashcoins/Polybius too. I hope they do, it will save many people getting ripped of by Hashcoins again, but you can do your bit too by contacting Ernst & Young using the below link (Fraud Investigation):
https://webforms.ey.com/uk/en/services/assurance/fraud-investigation---dispute-servicesLet's be honest here, if Polybius are prepared to lie about their association with Ernst & Young then brag about it on the web - what else are they lying about? Add to this the fact that Hashcoins (older crypto users will know about them) are behind all of this & you've got a scam the size of Mt Etna waiting to explode.
Another point to mention here is the OP of the Polybius thread, nixoid, aka: Andrey Zamovskiy, founder of Ambisafe. nixoid has posted many ICO posts lately & I've read reports on most of them being a similar type scam as Polybius. I'm not sure if Ambisafe are connected to Hashcoins/Polybius - but the fact that Ambisafe are promoting them here & on their website is cause enough for concern:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1848751.msg19734730#msg19734730All these scam ICO's are the scurge of crypto. For every legit one, there are 100 scam ones. The sooner we cleanse crypto of them, the better crypto will be for it.
I'm sure I'll get more BS neg-reps from the multitude of Polybius shill accounts (they love posting about it on their thread:)), but I really don't care tbh. I believe that if I can stop one person getting scammed then it's worth it - & the intelligent forum users here will see straight through the false trust anyway.
OK. Bash away
A bit more:
Hello Hashcoins,
I'm glad my information is forcing you to post a reply, but you seem to have made a few mistakes in your posts. No problem though, I can help you out.
As Daniel represented EY at the time and we agreed on a partnership, we placed their logo on our website. However, now EY and Daniel are parting ways and EY made it clear to us that our agreement was with Daniel, and not with them.
A lie. EY never at any time gave you permission to use their name or logo. Also, EY told you to remove the use of their logo long before they sacked Daniel, as can be clearly heard in the recorded conversation I posted.
We have now broadened our advisory board
Who? More Hashcoins scammers?
We must also state that we are not in a formal relationship with EY at this time.
At this time? You never were or have been, as can be clearly heard in the recorded conversation I posted. Another lie.
Mr. Haudenschild continues to remain a part of our advisory board and we thank him for his continued commitment
Sure he is - he must be really pleased you got him fired & must feel he owes you a great deal....
Advisory board to who? He's already stated that he doesn't have a clue who owns Polybius...lol I'll contact him & find out.
Right now, we're evaluating other offers from the "Big Four".
More than a lie. Plain BS.
You seem intent on continuing to post lies even after verifiable proof has been presented, both written & recorded. As much as bitcointalk forum users are used to Hashcoins lies, this level of BS is unheardof - even by your standards. Must try harder.
& a bit more:
I hope you're all aware that the Hashcoins crew are behind this ICO.
The same Hashcoins who stole 1000's off of forum members by selling mining hardware that doesn't exist.
free photo hostingNot a single item delivered.
Then they abandoned their thread:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=417623.msg19333790#msg19333790The same Hashcoins are doing numerous ICO's on this forum.
image ruResearch & use due diligence before throwing your hard earned cash at these people. If you are comfortable giving your money to these proven scammers, go ahead.
Just a friendly FYI. Good luck.
