• Press Releases
    • Submit a press release
    • Read All
  • Advertise
  • Contact us
Crypto.com Logo Crypto.com Logo
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Bet & win BTC
Breaking News: Ecommerce Giant Amazon To Launch NFT Initiative
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Bet & win BTC
Bitcoinist.com
No Result
View All Result
Breaking News: Ecommerce Giant Amazon To Launch NFT Initiative
Plagiarism, Identity Theft, and False Promises All Too Common in Cryptocurrency Market
Advertisement

Plagiarism, Identity Theft, and False Promises All Too Common in Cryptocurrency Market

Adam James by Adam James
5 years ago
in News, Altcoin News, News teaser
0
Advertisement

A Wall Street Journal analysis of 1,450 cryptocurrency offerings has unveiled unchecked plagiarism, rampant identity theft, and false promises of impossible financial gains. 


‘Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics’

Though it might not come as much of a surprise to those more intimately familiar with the cryptocurrency space, a Wall Street Journal review of 1,450 documents for digital coin offerings as unveiled 271 indicators of fraudulent tactics — including “plagiarized investor documents, promises of guaranteed returns and missing or fake executive teams.”

Get 30 FREE SPINS at Punt Casino - NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED! Start Playing Now.

Investors have reportedly dumped more than $1 billion into the flagged projects, with $273 million already claimed as losses.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

Red Flags

Plagiarism is one of the most rampant signs of fraudulent activity in the cryptocurrency space. The Wall Street Journal explains:

BitStarz Player Lands $2,459,124 Record Win! Could you be next big winner?
570% up to 12 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 1 BTC in bonuses every day, only at Wild.io. Play Now!

Of the 1,450 white papers downloaded from three popular websites that track coin offerings, the Journal found 111 that repeated entire sections word-for-word from other white papers. The copied language included descriptions of marketing plans, security issues and even distinct technical features such as how other programmers can interact with their database.

Swiss-based UTrust has had its whitepaper plagiarized numerous times –  something CEO Nuno Correia already knows. “We get a lot copies of our white paper,” Mr. Correia told The Wall Street Journal, “My picture, my description, my team, even our website was copied.”

Even high-profile projects like TRON (TRX), the 10th most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, has been accused of plagiarism by many in the blockchain space, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

8. Better white paper writing capability (Ctrl+C + Ctrl+V much higher efficiency than keyboard typing new content)

— Vitalik "Not giving away ETH" Buterin (@VitalikButerin) April 6, 2018

The Wall Street Journal also found that “at least 121 of the projects didn’t disclose the name of a single employee and several of them listed team members who either didn’t appear to exist […] or were real people who said their identities were being used without their knowledge.”

Companies promising unrealistic returns – such as weekly payouts or doubled returns – without any risk are also running rampant in the cryptocurrency space, despite such practices being prohibited by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Crypto pyramid schemes

All of these red flags should be serious “warning signs for investors,” Bradley Bennett, a former enforcement chief at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, told The Wall Street Journal. Bennett explained:

There are going to be some legitimate players that emerge from this but it’s going to be a handful – a lot of it looks like penny-stock fraud with lower barriers to entry.

What do you think about the rampant fraud currently present in the cryptocurrency marketplace? Do you think this trend will continue, or die out as the cream rises to the top? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!


Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitcoinist archives

ShareTweetShareShare

Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

For updates and exclusive offers enter your email.

I consent to my submitted data being collected and stored.

Adam James

Adam James

Adam James lives in Budapest and is the Managing Editor of Bitcoinist.com. He digs Gibson guitars that sound like Tyrannosauruses, Romantic & Victorian poetry, Franco-era Spanish films, LPs, Chelsea FC, Bob Dylan, Pilot G2 10s, black coffee, video games, and cryptocurrency.

Related Posts

Korean Financial Services Commission Chair Announces Security Tokens

Korean Financial Services Commission Chair Announces Security Tokens

1 week ago
DCG

Tron Founder Justin Sun Ready To Invest $1 Billion On DCG Assets

2 weeks ago
Denver

ETHDenver Primer: What You Can Expect From Ethereum’s Largest Annual Conference

2 weeks ago
ETF

Samsung Unveils Bitcoin Futures ETF Amid Escalating Crypto Interest

2 weeks ago
Hong Kong Flag

Hong Kong to Limit Retail Investors’ Crypto Trading to Only ‘Highly Liquid’ Assets

2 weeks ago
Mango

CFTC Sues Trader Over Alleged Mango Markets Scam

3 weeks ago
Please login to join discussion

Premium Partners

Premium Casino Partners

Top Casinos

BitStarz
BitStarz
Punt Casino
Punt Casino
mBit
mBit
Metaspins
Metaspins
1xBit
1xBit
Coinplay
Coinplay
K8
K8
Vegas Casino
Vegas Casino

Sportbooks

Coinplay
Coinplay

Press Releases

  • Is Aptos (APT), Solana (SOL), or Snowfall Protocol (SNW)...

    8 hours ago
  • Hector Network launches its NFT marketplace on Fantom...

    8 hours ago
  • Fantom (FTM) launches ecosystem vault to finance dApp...

    8 hours ago
  • Esports Driving the Advancement of Cryptocurrency in Sports...

    22 hours ago
  • Connecting the dots on $PAW. Is Ryoshi back?

    1 day ago

Bitcoin news portal providing breaking news, guides, price analysis about decentralized digital money & blockchain technology.

Bitcoin

  • News
  • Price
  • Businesses
  • Acceptance
  • Technology
  • Investment
  • Regulation
  • Reviews

Altcoins

  • News
  • Price
  • Ethereum
  • Ripple
  • Litecoin
  • EOS
  • NAGA

Categories

  • Blockchain
  • Security
  • FinTech
  • Technology
  • Trending
  • Breaking News
  • Press Releases
  • How to

Pages

  • Contact us
  • Editorial Policy
  • Advertise
  • Crypto Prices from Nomics
© 2023 Bitcoinist.com. All Rights Reserved.
  • Bitcoin
    • News
    • Price
    • Businesses
    • Acceptance
    • Technology
    • Investment
    • Regulation
    • Reviews
    • All Bitcoin News
  • Altcoins
    • News
    • Price
    • Ethereum
    • Ripple
    • Litecoin
    • EOS
    • NAGA
    • All Altcoin News
  • Tech
    • Blockchain
    • Security
    • FinTech
  • Industry
    • Industry News
    • Press Releases
  • Price
    • Bitcoin Price
    • Ethereum Price
    • Litecoin Price
    • Binance Coin Price
  • How to
    • Buy gift cards/mobile Top Ups with Cryptos
    • What Is Bitcoin?
    • Best Bitcoin Wallet
    • Bitcoin vs Ethereum
    • Why Use Blockchain Technology?
    • Bitcoin Cash ABC vs. Bitcoin Cash SV
    • How to Buy Cryptocurrency
    • Bitcoin Mining
    • Best Bitcoin Brokers
    • Best Bitcoin Forex Brokers
    • How To Earn Bitcoin
    • What is Facebook Libra?
    • Ripple and XRP: The Complete Guide
    • Bitcoin Casinos – Where, What and How to Play
  • Events
  • Play Games
  • Play Casino Games
  • Bet & win BTC

© 2022 Bitcoinist. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.