IPO scams exposed -- How Viacoin, etc may actually be smart scams

[oldmarsh]

Here is why IPOs for new coins may just be a genius scam that allow the devs to silently rake in tons of BTC.

The scam is set up by the dev who is launching a new coin. Before the launch of the coin, there is an IPO phase where a certain number of premined coins are designated to be proportionately distributed to investors depending on the amount of BTC they invest. The dev sets up an address where any user can send in BTC and upon launch of the new coin, they will receive a share of the premined coins.

Now, the dev already wins in this situation as they collect all of the BTC that is invested in the new coin that they created. Hundreds of BTC are gained this way by the dev as we can see from even very recent IPOs such as Viacoin (http://presale.viacoin.org/list.html) with over 600 BTC invested (at the moment equal to $360,000+ USD).

But the real scam part is revealed when you realize that there is nothing stopping the dev from sending his own BTC to the IPO address. Since the dev is the one who controls the IPO address, they are actually just sending themselves BTC. So without losing any money, they will now gain a percentage of the IPO coins for the new coin. Once the launch of the new coin happens, the dev collects their new IPO coins, which they got for free. Now they can proceed to dump the coins on an exchange for BTC.

Furthermore, the dev can also invite his close friends to send BTC to the IPO address (which the dev will of course return to them) so that they can also get in on the scam.

Taking a look at the Viacoin investors list here: http://presale.viacoin.org/list.html what if half of those investors are actually the dev sending himself BTC? That means the dev is going to receive half of the coins released in the IPO, coins which he got for free, and can now dump them on the exchange for BTC. The price of the new coin goes into freefall and all of the legitimate IPO investors watch the majority of their investment melt away.

It's genius really and it could even be happening right now...

[BTC_Hero]

TL;DR summary though we all already know how this works

Step 1 - scammer dev sets up IPO for new coin, asks investors to send BTC and receive coins from IPO
Step 2 -scammer dev sends BTC to themselves and receives a share of the IPO coins
Step 3 - scammer dev sells IPO coins on exchange. aka PROFIT$$

the real question is why do so many people still fall for these scams???

[digitalindustry]

TL;DR summary though we all already know how this works

Step 1 - scammer dev sets up IPO for new coin, asks investors to send BTC and receive coins from IPO
Step 2 -scammer dev sends BTC to themselves and receives a share of the IPO coins
Step 3 - scammer dev sells IPO coins on exchange. aka PROFIT$$

the real question is why do so many people still fall for these scams???

^^^

actually i might add this TL;DR to the blog and post nice.

[statdude]

I agree and this is why I haven't participated in any of these "IPO" coins.

I would rather have a small, accounted for and smartly managed premine than to trust "rando" internet person with $500-5mm.

Counterparty is the exception by destroying the coins. However, that seems like a waste of money in a way (although a good "proof" of sunk cost/value for coin holders).

Maybe we are missing something here?

[eureka]

给我给我一双慧眼吧！
Viacoin的IPO以及当前的价格让人害怕，最起码在当前没看出来这个币有什么真正的花头！
大家在弥漫着骗子气味的氛围中岂行岂珍惜吧。

[Shivalein]

Viacoin is traded 6 times higher than IPO. Wow what a massive scam.

You are right I should buy one of your pump and dump POW shitclones, so you can make money for nothing than buying some rigs.

Nice try trolls

[Wulfcastle]

Can someone explain to me what makes Viacoin so different than every other coin released? All I see everywhere is "Welcome to Viacoin", and something about their "ClearingHouse", but nothing telling us what it actually is.

[weedo84]

Can someone explain to me what makes Viacoin so different than every other coin released? All I see everywhere is "Welcome to Viacoin", and something about their "ClearingHouse", but nothing telling us what it actually is.

Well,  You can just go to blog.viacoin.com, to read what it is.    Once you understand, maybe you'll start buying : )

[coinsolidation]

Step 2 -scammer dev sends BTC to themselves and receives a share of the IPO coins

If the IPO is escrowed, they cannot do this.

[TiberiuC]

I agree in general but not the case for viacoin. The big investments came in the last days of the presale.

[e-coinomist]

I agree in general but not the case for viacoin. The big investments came in the last days of the presale.

TiberiuC, you misunderstood the Scam. Time of BTC transfer doesn't matter, if it comes early or late. The scammer would choose the last days to avoid deeper blockchain inspection, of course.

The Escrow argument is valid.

Then comes code inspection on top

Topic: Viacoin Code Review  (Read 74 times)

Here are all the VIA specific code commits: https://github.com/viacoin/viacoin/commits/master?author=btcdrak
I encourage any independent programmers to also review and check my findings.
Viacoin is simply Bitcoin Core, rebranded, with basic scrypt support, and limited testing.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=710099.msg8024604#msg8024604

[balanghai]

How about looking for other coins without IPO?

[e-coinomist]

How about looking for other coins without IPO?

Not necessary. Let's see it as a special form of Ponzi cheme that is able to run on variable speed. Cannot bust, ever. Will grow.

What classical Ponzi artists like Bernie Maddof suffered from, was the risk of final bust because of promised, fixed returns on investment every week.
So the pyramid has to grow in perfect shape. Promise a high return, and you have to shape up a perfectly grown pyramid like a crystal.

On no promises of a return however, investors can be glad on anything returned. Nothing can bust, merely returns can dry out into very low regions.