Cold Storage Coins company.. legit or potential scam?!

[ChiBitCTy]

I wanted to finally discuss this company here as I have felt for a couple years now that there is something very fishy/odd going on with them.  As many of you know I am pretty nerdy when it comes to these collectibles as well as have exposed/helped expose quite a few scam companies over the years and this company has followed many patters I have seen before from those types of companies. Yesterday I was doing a search for coins on facebook, because I'm a nerd, and I ran in to this scammy feeling advertisement from "Coin Empire" that is as you can see spewing lies and offering the always legitimate "referral program" where you can make money by helping them sell their coins.. https://fb.watch/6Zhxvr1_wo/   "The first physical bitcoin for the masses, practically guaranteed to make millionaires from home".  Wait, didn't you guys create cold storage coins about 3-4 years ago?!

So here is their "main" website .. https://coldstoragecoins.com/index.html .   They also own and run this site where they sell them there as well.. https://hotco.co/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage&q=bitcoin  ( so now that's 3 sites/companies ) .  Notice they are also the reseller of Roman Booteens replicas.  Why do I bring this up? When they first listed his replica coins for sale they provided a good bit of detail, and mintage numbers..you'll notice now there are no mintage numbers listed anymore.  Even more, the last time I was on the website it showed that all the replicas were sold out and now they aren't?     Then I ask myself why are they using a multitude of sites/companies to sell their products?  On some of the sites coins are "sold out" and others they aren't.  I had wondered why aren't they producing more of the sold out coins like Potcoin when it sold out relatively quickly AND they told me a year or maybe even two ago that they would be restocking them very soon.  Then I saw the "Coin Empire" advertisement, where they state you will be able to buy them there.

I have contacted this company a multitude of times and never once received anything but very odd/shady service. They posted on their Instagram account about two years ago a new bitcoin coin and said it could be purchased at the Heads or Tails website. I told them I searched the entire site and couldn't find it, their response was "I'm currently flying, but when I land I'll send you the link for it".  So if they are communicating with me via instagram messenger while flying, then why on earth couldn't they take two seconds to go on their own website and grab the link for a potential customer.  It sure didn't shock me that they never got back to me, as they had done so at least 3-4 times in the past with other questions I had.  

They also told me once that they are the original company who designed the MJB coins (does anyone know if they ever had a website where they sold those 1 gram silver coins and the ugly circuit board coins?).  So if that is true, they obviously know this space well, so why are they saying that their cold storage coins are the first of their kind on the Coin Empire site, when they've sold these coins on at least 5 other sites for several years...of course as you can see, more lies.  

Edit: They stole the famous circuit board design from Mick/MJB Momentary Metals, claim that it is their design, and have been profiting off of it ever since.  Mick hasn't made a dime off of the design.  Very unfortunate for MJB.  - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=23256.240

Another website they utilized to sell their coins- https://www.jmbullion.com/search/?q=cold ... I understand using them to help sell their coins, but why not have these in stock on their own sites at all?  None of this makes any sense.  I also know I've seen them offer these coins on one or two other sites but I can't seem to find them at the moment.

I just wanted to get this all off my chest so that others can become aware of their actions and know that if they do buy these coins, please for the love of god never fund them.   I also wanted to ask if anyone else had ever had any odd or shady dealings with them as well?  Clearly something is not adding up here, I just cant fully put my finger on what their angel is exactly quite yet.  Maybe some Mr Robot could do some website research and perhaps there is pattern to spread their potential risk across multiple countries/companies.  If I was a betting man I would put a good chunk of coin down on the likelihood that they will try and exit scam eventually.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd bet against that. I'd also rather be wrong and no one ever gets scammed, but just in case I'm right, maybe I can save a couple people from a potential scam.  

Would love to hear anyone's thoughts/experiences..

Edit: I have just discovered that their main site  https://coldstoragecoins.com/index.html seems to have disabled the pages where you can see product reviews.  I remember reading a couple reviews a month or two ago where some people had pretty serious issues with the coins but I can't remember exactly what they were, I know one had something to do with the hologram being breached or something to that extent. just to add yet another sign of what I believe to be a scam operation of sorts in it's entirety.

[1714880254]

1714880254

[JanEmil]

I used 5 coins to store. As presents. No issues. Claimed 3.
But the glue behind the Holo can be hard to get of so you can scan. And if you use too much force the QR fade.
Cheap. Not the best.

[Spokanistan51]

Years back, probably in 2017 or 2018 I used one to store .5 BTC for about a year a so. Redeemed with no issues.

[Steeley]

https://www.westword.com/news/bitclub-cryptocurrency-scam-joby-weeks-bitcoin-plea-11839570

[Steeley]

Despite the legal troubles of Joby Weeks, I think the company makes good wallets and they have worked for me. Their main distribution strategy seems to sell through retailers versus them being the sole retailer. They are often on Amazon for example.

The legal issues are another venture and it Seems pretty bad, including the severity of  charges against the other people prosecuted with him.

[Steeley]

I read the article I added above, and well, let me say it seems like a pretty scary proposition to use these wallets based on the cast of characters Joby Weeks was running with. 

[ChiBitCTy]

Despite the legal troubles of Joby Weeks, I think the company makes good wallets and they have worked for me. Their main distribution strategy seems to sell through retailers versus them being the sole retailer. They are often on Amazon for example.

The legal issues are another venture and it Seems pretty bad, including the severity of  charges against the other people prosecuted with him.

How is he related to cold storage coins? I know there are photos of the owner on instagram, but currently I'm locked out of my accounts (long story but if anyone know a way to get my accounts back, plz lemme know!)

At the very least this company is completely full of shit, lies about things constantly, and simply practices many unethical and manipulative practices.  Just look at how they sell the Roman Booteen coins.. when first listed they pronounced themselves as "Roman Booteens official replica coin dealer for all coins".  First off that's a lie.  Roman does not have an official replica dealer, as the owner of whomever buys the coin has full rights, but he has no deal in place to sell all of his coins to them.  As I mentioned before they used to have a lot of info about the coin, and most importantly they listed a mintage limit.  Now they have removed the mintage limit from their site, which means they are likely producing more coins, which I believe would be considered some sort of fraud ( any legal eagles could speak to this better than I).  Imagine paying that much for a replica, under the pretense that there was a limited number of coins, and then the company decides to continue to make more. 

At the very least they are an unethical company that provides horrible service and practices many shady business tactics.  I mean just look at what I wrote up, this all makes no sense the way they are operating.  Why was Coin Empire created?!  Why would they not just use one of their other owned sites, cold storage coins or heads or tails?!  Then lying saying they were the first to make coins at a higher scale, and claiming their tiered referral program is going to make many people millionaires.  That is not something a legit company would do or say.  I will be reaching out Coin Empire for an explanation and report back.

I know this market very well, I know how companies set up to exit scam etc..and they are showing every sign of it. If you have any coins loaded on their coins... peel them for the love of god!  You would be absolutely insane to have these coins funded after knowing all of this.  It is not worth the risk!   

[Steeley]

Despite the legal troubles of Joby Weeks, I think the company makes good wallets and they have worked for me. Their main distribution strategy seems to sell through retailers versus them being the sole retailer. They are often on Amazon for example.

The legal issues are another venture and it Seems pretty bad, including the severity of  charges against the other people prosecuted with him.

How is he related to cold storage coins? I know there are photos of the owner on instagram, but currently I'm locked out of my accounts (long story but if anyone know a way to get my accounts back, plz lemme know!)

At the very least this company is completely full of shit, lies about things constantly, and simply practices many unethical and manipulative practices.  Just look at how they sell the Roman Booteen coins.. when first listed they pronounced themselves as "Roman Booteens official replica coin dealer for all coins".  First off that's a lie.  Roman does not have an official replica dealer, as the owner of whomever buys the coin has full rights, but he has no deal in place to sell all of his coins to them.  As I mentioned before they used to have a lot of info about the coin, and most importantly they listed a mintage limit.  Now they have removed the mintage limit from their site, which means they are likely producing more coins, which I believe would be considered some sort of fraud ( any legal eagles could speak to this better than I).  Imagine paying that much for a replica, under the pretense that there was a limited number of coins, and then the company decides to continue to make more. 

At the very least they are an unethical company that provides horrible service and practices many shady business tactics.  I mean just look at what I wrote up, this all makes no sense the way they are operating.  Why was Coin Empire created?!  Why would they not just use one of their other owned sites, cold storage coins or heads or tails?!  Then lying saying they were the first to make coins at a higher scale, and claiming their tiered referral program is going to make many people millionaires.  That is not something a legit company would do or say.  I will be reaching out Coin Empire for an explanation and report back.

I know this market very well, I know how companies set up to exit scam etc..and they are showing every sign of it. If you have any coins loaded on their coins... peel them for the love of god!  You would be absolutely insane to have these coins funded after knowing all of this.  It is not worth the risk!   

Joby's pic is on the web site as one of the four in the team. I think he is the founding investor.

I agree. I think these wallets are a stay away and should be added to the tagged list of this forum with a warning.

[ChiBitCTy]

I messaged Coin Empire and asked how they are different than Cold Storage Coins..no reply and now the Facebook page and website seem to be shut down  

BitClub is the biggest scam to date ( I believe), and the owner of cold storage coins is the founder of it. Anyone need any more proof?  I’m guessing some thought I was reaching a bit about all this but I just knew something was up.

[MoparMiningLLC]

I messaged Coin Empire and asked how they are different than Cold Storage Coins..no reply and now the Facebook page and website seem to be shut down  

BitClub is the biggest scam to date ( I believe), and the owner of cold storage coins is the founder of it. Anyone need any more proof?  I’m guessing some thought I was reaching a bit about all this but I just knew something was up.

Bitclub.... I met a bunch of them at a local event back in early 2018 - very ignorant group of folks, blindly investing in "Bitclub" because they were expecting high returns. These folks that only industrial mining was possible and that no one could possibly mine at home - I started to share pics of my small but adequate mining shack and one of them made a call to the guy who recruited them into Bitclub - he talked to me for 5 minutes and then asked them all to not talk to me any more lol. I guess afraid I might talk them into doing their own mining maybe?  Sadly, while Bitclub did mine and with considerable hashing power, it was no where near what they claimed to have and they pretty much stole 90% of all the investments. Luckily, last I heard all but maybe 1 of them had been arrested and jailed.

[ChiBitCTy]

I messaged Coin Empire and asked how they are different than Cold Storage Coins..no reply and now the Facebook page and website seem to be shut down  

BitClub is the biggest scam to date ( I believe), and the owner of cold storage coins is the founder of it. Anyone need any more proof?  I’m guessing some thought I was reaching a bit about all this but I just knew something was up.

Bitclub.... I met a bunch of them at a local event back in early 2018 - very ignorant group of folks, blindly investing in "Bitclub" because they were expecting high returns. These folks that only industrial mining was possible and that no one could possibly mine at home - I started to share pics of my small but adequate mining shack and one of them made a call to the guy who recruited them into Bitclub - he talked to me for 5 minutes and then asked them all to not talk to me any more lol. I guess afraid I might talk them into doing their own mining maybe?  Sadly, while Bitclub did mine and with considerable hashing power, it was no where near what they claimed to have and they pretty much stole 90% of all the investments. Luckily, last I heard all but maybe 1 of them had been arrested and jailed.

This is probably why they are creating these new websites, and not using the official site..they are likely trying to spread out their exposure.  I mean look what they did when I called them out, completely shut down..if not a scam then why would you do that?

They did some work on the site recently.. they took down all the legitimate reviews, and posted all 5 star reviews on the front page...surely all real too  


What a surprise here ..registered in one place, made in another...



Not trying to hide it ? lol




Lies


Now they have disabled purchases on the site all together, but don't show them as sold out, but still put up fake reviews recently. Lets not forget this is the MJB Monetary Metals coin makers ( who has not posted in 3 years but I see logged in yesterday.. guessing they are now aware of this thread )..they keep changing names, websites, removing things like bad reviews and mintage limits to be able to keep producing etc etc...Only a matter of time.

[Steeley]

I had BTC (small amounts) on two of these coins. I swept them last month after this discussion was started and tossed the coins. Definite stay away for me.

Steeley

[ChiBitCTy]

Came across this company which very much reminds me of cold storage coins - https://kryptokeepsafes.com/

Seems they are based out of Australia (ColdStorage has a hub there) but besides that it looks like everything about them and their website is hidden/private. There is no info about the team at all. I first found them on instagram where they made their first post on Oct 4th. They already have 12.3k followers (and have had around that many since the start). These are clearly bought/fake followers, which scammy/dishonest profiles buy and implement all the time. Just look at the followers pages, all have about 7-8 generic posts.. ie fake profiles. I couldn’t seem to find a straight connection between the two companies, but my intuition tells me they likely are another sub company. That means a hill of beans of course..

It led me to digging around for connections between the two and I came across some info I’m embarrassed I hadn’t before.

First their apple app reviews







Then I started searching around for Rearden Metals info. They are the parent company of ColdStorageCoins and a handful or more of other separate but completely related companies (as I’ve stated above in my original post).

Some very interesting info about Rob Gray the owner and owner of several defunct businesses and scam claims from former business partners (Liberty Dollar being one)-




In depth Details of the issues with Liberty - http://dont-tread-on.me/?p=29291

Another detailed write up about Rob- http://www.gatheringspot.net/topic/moneynew-paradigm-finances/free-lakota-bank-good-idea-dont-trust-them

An altcoin issue spoken about here on btalk involving Rob and his former “bank”-  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=494105.2300



There’s A LOT more stuff that can be found via a simple google search. The theme is Rob constantly making all these sub companies to escape past defunct businesses , fraud, and corruption. This is why he fled to Singapore and runs everything from there now.

I knew something was up, now here’s a lot more proof that you should not trust these coins. Everything about them is shady, clearly.  

OpenCurrency thread - another one of their many websites, this time talking about the Lakota Bank (which was never actually licensed and is another defunct project with plenty of issues) and how it was going to offer a better alternative to bitcoin. Funny thing is Rob has stated his disdain for bitcoin over the years and since all of his other business bankrupted/went out business etc he’s now on to bitcoin & cryptocurrency storage coins. Note how many complaints in this thread from those who were left empty handed after placing orders with the Mulligan Mint and whatever else. http://opencurrency.com/moving-on-from-mulligan-mint/

Edit: my apologies to MJB Monitary Metals/Mick. ColdStorageCoins told me they designed the famous MJB Bitcoin coin, but in fact they just took the design from them and have been profiting off it ever since as seen in this thread from btalk where Liberty & MJB talk about Rob/AOC/Mulligan Mint etc - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=23256.240

[krogoth]

Good hunting Sherlock TY!! We need more people like you to expose scumbags! Thankyou!

[MoparMiningLLC]

I have 2 anacs slabbed cold storage coins - if I recall, I got them from rxalts  - the funding has been on there since May 2020. Not sure if they were DIY coins or if they were bought funded.

[sweeteye]

Nice forensics -- Thank you!

[MoparMiningLLC]

I don't see where you mentioned it above - but here is the guy supposedly at the head of Krypto Keepsafes

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.hockin.1

and the paypal account associated with the website for krypto keefsafes is tied to the same name "Daniel Hockin"


not sure if this proves/disproves any association with cold storage coins.

[Suzuki Matt]

I don't see where you mentioned it above - but here is the guy supposedly at the head of Krypto Keepsafes

https://www.facebook.com/daniel.hockin.1

and the paypal account associated with the website for krypto keefsafes is tied to the same name "Daniel Hockin"


not sure if this proves/disproves any association with cold storage coins.

Is Daniel connected? I didnt see where KeepSafes was mentioned. I ask because I currently have some Keepsafes and wonder if I sould sweep them. 

[Eclipse33]

The amazon reviews for this product are even worse.




These coins are a trap

[JanEmil]

Not that it matter much but the 2x1 star reviews posted tell more about the users than the product in my eyes.

[ChiBitCTy]

Randomly came across a company on insta trying to say they created the MJB coin design and that they have it trademarked..so I thought I’d check in on someone else who stole the design and claims they created it…

Every single website I’ve listed here that this company has used has now been shut down. They seem to currently be operating one main site atm. https://silverstatues.com .  Their TOS is insane. It essentially was made to try and take away any liability of any sort for any reason ..because you know, legit companies always do this (sarcasm). https://silverstatues.com/policies/terms-of-service


Their posts are littered with compliments of never receiving coins paid for… here’s a link to one of the worst one - https://www.instagram.com/p/CK2Hcbvn6E2/?igshid=OTRmMjhlYjM=

Since it will surely be taken down, some examples..





Someone asking where to find a coin they have listed on their insta as for sale ..would you believe the page they directed the customer to , has been taken down , shocking for sure ..



I guess they think if they say this enough they will even believe it, but so they don’t forget ..

[ChiBitCTy]

And another new website and registration - https://patriotcoins.com/roman-booteen/   a d’Anconia Copper LLC company 11625 Custer Road #110-301 Frisco, Texas 75035,



 Despite still having this one up still - which they are trying to sell - https://booteencoins.com/ (a whole other mess, apparently “waiting to go back to Singapore to be able to finish their booteen coins).  Side note - they claimed to be Romans exclusive replica maker at first, I asked Roman if that was true, and he stated he only sells his coins to one buyer and the buyer can do what they please, they are the sole approved replica maker of that specific coin.. The Roman trap coin went from being theirs to sell, to they lost out on the top bid but made a deal with the buyer to replicate some of them, to now stating on the booteen page that Roman gave them permission to make trap coin replicas, which he doesn’t do unless you buy it.


Their story - https://patriotcoins.com/about/ . Playing victim card, leaving out major details where they explain they needed some “fresh air” so went to Asia to find it, settling in on Thailand and Singapore. They claim to be back in Texas now (which coincidentally coincides with Singapores new extradition agreement with the US).  They state they “aren’t hero’s” and have paid off some of their debts, and that if they still owe you anything, to contact them, so they can try and make it right. As you can see above people try and don’t get response.

What’s clear is they just keep making new sites, new registered company’s, sell some stuff and ship and some they don’t, and move on to the next country , website, etc, leaving many high and dry.

Also clear to me now is they use JM Bullion as a way to sell stuff while being able to avoid having any stock on their websites so they can claim “it’s in progress” , and just keep dodging with new sites, 3rd party sellers (they offer affiliate programs (but make you join their facebook page to discuss it).  

I messaged JM about this last August, they said “we aren’t clear what you’re asking. I messaged them again yesterday, very curious to see what they say.


Note - I don’t have any sort of personal agenda here . As with many shady coin makers,  I share/expose what I see that is wrong. I can’t let shit slide when I know it’s going to screw people over.  If I don’t keep up with this, they’ll keep doing what they do with less pressure , and likely no one else expose their scams.

[ChiBitCTy]

Thanks to Unciphered & partners  …



https://youtu.be/a1Vw0mDY64I?si=pXu4dsl5rrhl2X-6

“ TAMPER-RESISTANT HOLOGRAM
Discover one of the most tamper-deterring cold storage hardware wallets on the planet. Each of our coins has a random destructive pattern that ensures foul play is quickly recognized. The secret behind it all? The KURZ Trustseal hologram - German engineering that uses 12 of the world’s best security protocols including 25-micron Nanotext. If there’s tampering, you’ll easily know it”.  lol

JM Bullion (whose been made aware of what’s going on),Amazon, and Walmart all offer these coins online. Hopefully others will reach out to these massive vendors to encourage them to act.

New video they released shows what looks like a fake scan of the QR code at 2:32 https://youtu.be/iYB-18U-gxY?feature=shared .. Not to mention promoting unsecure sweeping of private keys.

[tread93]

Oh yeah, you've had an itch about these guys for a long time. I remember when I got one as a novelty for my dad  years ago and you schooled me on the fishy smell that ranks from these guys! Its pretty wild that despite your best efforts to inform JM bullion of this fishiness they continue doing business as usual, won't that be a fun day for JM when they get all these headlines saying "Big Bullion biz now into crypto scamz" LOL. I wish they would partner with some folks much more legitimate that can keep up with new demand and new releases. Guys like Polymerbit for novelty notes & Alpencoin. What a swiss duo that would be!

[ChiBitCTy]

My days of scam busting are coming to an end. It’s time consuming and my love for the hobby isn’t there any more.

However for these fucks, making a special exception..



Lies. No social media banned them. None, ever. Here’s their instagram page still up and active (. https://www.instagram.com/texitcoin?igsh=MTM4M2c5Y3RlcjRvcw== ) , renamed from cold storage coins to Texitcoin. Surely their next bs “project”. The irony, the coin reads “You may all go to Hell, and I will go to TexitCoin”. If anyone’s going to hell, first off. Also, what a ridiculously stupid “moto”. Not sure what they’re aiming at here. Will dig in to see if they actually creating a “textit” shitcoin.



 Also, they claim to have moved operations from Singapore to Texas, hence “Texit” name. Just more smoke and mirrors, changing of things to avoid being shut down or jailed.  They claim they built a company building there. Their listed Texas address shows a farm house of some sort. Anyone live in Texas wanna make a trip ?



True to their scam business model history, they issue a nonsensical apology. They state they got busy and distracted, but then say immediately after that  “we decided best to hang on the sidelines and give the industry time to evolve and mature”  I made up better worded excuses in pre-school.

Then state their coins held up to perfection over that time. Two posts above show these are some of the worst security holograms money can buy. All one has to do is rub the outside rim of the holo with an eraser which reveals the private key. I imagine heat of some sort could likely raise the holo up enough to make it look like the keys had always been safe and snug. Not to mention they’ve got complaints on every single outlet their on like crazy stating the coins they put on them were taken or unredeemable.



Their mission today they say is solely focused on cold storage coins. But a few hours ago posted about their hearts and tales company being in Singapore working on sales deals for their Roman Booteen Banksy coin



Scammers calling out scammers to finish it off.  



“New branding to reflect our modern identity”…Xfinity is still shitfy scamming Comcast, VOYA is still ING, common tactic to fool people.