Is Moolah.io a ponzi-scheme?

[Pangia]

The CEO of Moolah.io is an unknown person.  After weeks of refusing to provide his name, he finally came out and said that his name is Alex Green from the UK. A search reveals that there's no information on the net about such a person.

When several members of the Dogecoin community asked for him to post a youtube video of himself explaining his products, he refused.  He continues to state that his records are public and that's all that there needs to be and he finds no reason to show a picture or video of himself.  

His company's addresses are all virtual offices. What most naive members of the Dogecoin community aren't aware of is that you can easily rent these types of offices with a pre-paid credit/debit card and a pre-paid phone.  His incorporation in the States, Wyoming to be specific, can easily be done the same way. His domain can also be purchased in the same manner. So having these public records proves nothing in terms of his real identity.

When his company first started he took $550, a pre-order price, from a lot of Dogecoin members for a Dogecoin ATM machine that he promised would be delivered on March 28, 2014.  It's April 8, 2014 now and of course, there's a delay with the ATM machine.  Dogecoin members have asked for him to post a video of the ATM prototype to show that it is at least real, but he refuses.

He's been taking investments from members over and over. The suspicion is that he's paying the old investors with the new investors funds.

A few on /r/Dogecoin have tried to post warnings about him, but those posts are quickly down-voted or removed by MOD's that's pretty much in his pocket. MODs like lleti.

Give this post a read for further information on Moolah.io and how it is most likely a ponzi-scheme.
http://www.reddit.com/r/vertcoin/comments/225hop/an_open_letter_to_dogecoin_funders_and_moderators/

[ilic]

why on earth would anybody give this guy money in the first place?

[Pangia]

As a Dogecoin fan and a member of the community, I hate to admit this, but the majority of the members of /r/Dogecoin are naive and too trustworthy.

You'd be surprised at some of the fictitious sad stories that appear on /r/dogecoin seeking financial assistance and like clockwork, the naive dump coins onto the poster, because they believe them. It's nice to be nice, but sometimes I wonder how dumb some of these folks are.

[Pangia]

Here's the thread from /r/Vertcoin

An open letter to Dogecoin funders and moderators of dogecoin subreddit

submitted 3 days ago by HoodsApprentice

I posted the following Open Letter on dogecoin subreddit, but it was deleted within 5 minutes. My apologies for cross-posting it here but I believe it is very important for the health of all crypto currencies.

I can only hope that the vertcoin community allows free speech in its subreddit and lets its members form their own educated opinions
Thank you.

Below is the letter
In the light of Moolah.io starting the 4th round of investment (ATMs, PIE1, PIE2, and now PIE3) and asking once again for another 250 bitcoins ( that is 241,677,240.05 dogecoin at todays rate - 240 million dogecoins) from the members of this community:

I officially appeal to the founders of dogecoin:

* http://www.reddit.com/user/ummjackson[1]
* http://www.reddit.com/user/BillyM2k[2]
and to the moderators of this subreddit:
http://www.reddit.com/user/42points[3]
http://www.reddit.com/user/Laika1954[4]
http://www.reddit.com/user/ottothepup[5]
http://www.reddit.com/user/voidref[6]
http://www.reddit.com/user/NeutralityMentality[7]
http://www.reddit.com/user/mumzie[8]
http://www.reddit.com/user/langer_hans[9]

To take an official stance on Moolah.io and post it as a sticky post on this subreddit.

Many new members this community just by visiting the main site of this subreddit can form a conclusion that moolah is an official face of dogecoin, fully trusted and vouched by the community. (just look at this comment in welcome new shibes post http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/21gxga/hi_and_welcome_to_rdogecoin_do_you_have_questions/cgeokva[10] )

Here are some facts about moolah
* Moolah.io is a business,
* Moolah.io IS NOT a community initiative, charity, foundation,
* Moolah.io (then moolah.ch) officially raised over 27,000 USD in BTC to build prototypes of ATM, the official deadline for those prototypes was 28 March 2014. Not a single ATM machine was ever delivered, no video of working prototypes posted, no video of work in progress posted. The only update on ATM are some mock-up screens of the interface and pictures of not assembled hardware. http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/21phe0/new_pics_of_moolahs_atm_interface_and_physical/[11]

That despite the fact that on many occasions this community was assured that the machines are already built and ready for shipment.

From http://blog.moolah.ch/2014/03/17/prelude-and-the-future-of-moolah-please-read-somewhat-important-to-me/[12]
On the physical product side of things, the first of our ATM units are ready to ship. There’s a couple boxed up and they’ll be going out to a few lucky people. We’ll be continuing to ship these on a regular basis

Alex Green the founder of director of Moolah.io is not personally known to any publicly recognized person on this subeddit.

During round 1 of PIE Moolah officially raised 250 BTC
During round 2 of PIE Moolah officially raised another 250 BTC
Moolah.io is looking for another 250 BTC
750 BTC according to current rate equals to 725,513,905.68 DOGE that is 725 millions of dogecoin
if one donates 100 million dogecoins from that sum he has only 625 MILLION DOGE left for Moolah.io

My personal opinion I would not trust Moolah.io and would not recommend to a friend, quite the opposite. I have a strong suspicion that a business run under Moolah.io can be a simple ponzi scheme, and I would warn the community to look closer into this.

*I can now officially state that I expressed my concerns publicly in an open letter. Those are my personal observations and opinions. I am looking forward for an official statement from the founders of dogecoin and the moderators of this subreddit *

EDIT

link to the original deleted letter: http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/2257ni/an_open_letter_to_dogecoin_funders_and_moderators/[13]
link to letter in bitcoin sub (also deleted but some comments may be worth reading)

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/225a2d/an_open_letter_to_dogecoin_funders_and_moderators/[14] When I refer to "this subreddit" it means dogecoin as the letter was meant to be posted on dogecoin sub, but was deleted within 5 minutes

[gweedo]

It is so easy to build a trustless wallet now of days, it is sad that people have to trust anyone with coins that they just want them to hold.

[Pangia]

It is so easy to build a trustless wallet now of days, it is sad that people have to trust anyone with coins that they just want them to hold.

I'm not too savvy with this stuff, but members have recommended that moolah.io implement M of N, hope I'm saying that correctly, into his online wallet products, but he refuses and claims that those recommending such an implementation don't understand how things work and that his platform won't support it.  He claims that members trust him and his products and that's all that matters.

[baka]

With a trustworthy name like moolah I don't see how it could be a scam. Only thing I want to know now is where to send my money.

[Pangia]

Someone else said something similar about his name. That it's so generic and reflects the color of moolah, USD.

[mcphervi]

The Quark Community has had a fair bit of contact and honestly these accusations seem pretty far fetched. The fact that there is a 1.5 week delay in delivering ATMs is irrelevant considering the speed with which these guys have been growing and adding services and the fact that they are moving to Ireland. There are more than enough legitimate reasons to account for minor delays, and their actions have spoken volumes about their integrity.

Vic

[11inches]

Given all the nonsense that has happened within the cryptocurrency scene over these last few months, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to find out Moolah is a scam (despite their massive community involvement).

With that said, I highly doubt they are a scam but I certainly welcome a healthy dose of skepticism into any discussion

[Lordoftherigs]

it's 15th July now... so did the moolah deliver on their promises ?

Regards

[lynn_402]

it's 15th July now... so did the moolah deliver on their promises ?

Regards

The ATM still are not released, but it would be wrong to accuse Moolah_ of being a scam.

I've used some of his other services; the merchant platform, the Prelude exchange, and his escrow service without any problem. And he's a positive member of the Dogecoin community. His attack on the patent for the term "doge" is a very good initiative.

[Zebedee23]

any doge atms to speak of??? hahaha

[BitcoinNational]

let see ...
750 BTC from ATM scheme in Spring 2014
but that BTC could possibly have been used to say fund a buyout of an actual exchange
and also kickstart the SYS 1500 BTC fund raiser.

Whats the theme on all 3? (no products thus delivered)

[larraboj]

Yes

He is now doing IPO scams as well. (syscoin)

[Cor2]

any doge atms to speak of??? hahaha

It would be wise to follow the news if you want to avoid coming across as a nitwit.
Alex has refunded everyone who asked for the ATM deposit back.

[gustav]

As a Dogecoin fan and a member of the community, I hate to admit this, but the majority of the members of /r/Dogecoin are naive and too trustworthy.

You'd be surprised at some of the fictitious sad stories that appear on /r/dogecoin seeking financial assistance and like clockwork, the naive dump coins onto the poster, because they believe them. It's nice to be nice, but sometimes I wonder how dumb some of these folks are.

it wouldn't be dogecoin otherwise 

[urumchi]

If Alex Green isn't his real name, why people have to trust him with their coins? For example, Paul Vernon of Cryptsy is a public person.

[slex]

let see ...
750 BTC from ATM scheme in Spring 2014
but that BTC could possibly have been used to say fund a buyout of an actual exchange
and also kickstart the SYS 1500 BTC fund raiser.

Whats the theme on all 3? (no products thus delivered)

750 BTC? Where the hell are you pulling that figure from?

14 units at $550 a piece is $7700. Right now that is 16.32 BTC - not enough to kickstart anything.

[andy35]

Moolah had enough money to by Mintpal. That must have been an expensive deal.

http://blog.moolah.io/2014/07/28/were-taking-over-mintpal-heres-what-you-need-to-know/