Swiscoin and Onecoin: Are MLM schemes invading Bitcoin and Blockchain? (Op-Ed)

Recently, I was offered to join an MLM scheme. Larry Pantling, owner of Capstone Digital Mining, offered me an opportunity to buy a beginner package for mining onecoin, swiscoin or ilcoin. He also gave me some information about the so-called “promotion programs” to involve other people into mining. In other words, I was offered to join an MLM business.

Frankly speaking, I’m not new at this; I know how MLM works. But in traditional schemes you at least get some goods in exchange for your money. But what about cryptocurrency MLM? I still don’t get all the mechanisms of crypto operations, but I really felt like I was asked to pay just for thin air. To tell the truth, I never had the idea to join any kind of crypto MLM, but I decided to conduct some research with the help of Nathan Wosnack, CEO of Ubitquity. And I’ve had some interesting results.

I decided to get some information about the companies I’ve been offered to join – OneCoin, Swiscoin and Ilgamos. The first thing I found out about OneCoin was that it was exposed as a Ponzi scheme by Cointelegraph earlier this year. In addition, I found further information concluding OneCoin is not trustworthy. For example, behindmlm.com stated:

“There is no information on the OneCoin website indicating who owns or runs the business. The OneCoin website does have an “about” section, however no information about the company’s ownership structure is revealed”.

Also, the company does not operate in the USA. It would be turned down by the SEC in no time, failing to comply with regulations. OneCoin has no retailable products or services. Furthermore, onecoin is not on the list of all available cryptocurrencies on CoinMarketCap. Having studied all information on OneCoin, Nathan Wosnack told Cointelegraph:

“OneCoin is an interesting one that has been floating around all year. I am personally surprised that it is still in the wild, as it were. As you reported in the past via William Suberg, there has been considerable evidence pointing to OneCoin's scheme”.

By the way, swiscoin and ilcoin are not on CoinMarketCap’s list either. In fact, all information about SwisCoin is even more vague and uncertain. Again, behindmlm.com states:

“There is no information on the SwisCoin website indicating who owns or runs the business. The SwisCoin domain “swiscoin.com” was registered on the 15th of September 2015, with Kathrine Harbor listed as the owner. An address in Dublin, Ireland is also provided. Further research reveals this address belongs to Regus, who sells virtual office space. As such it would appear SwisCoin have no actual physical presence in Ireland. As for Kathrine Harbor, outside of the SwisCoin domain registration, her name doesn’t appear linked to SwisCoin. I’m flagging this as highly suspicious, with there being a big question mark as to whether or not Harbor actually exists.”

This doesn’t sound very good, does it? Nevertheless, Larry Pantling commented:

“I have more than two hundred people signed under me in a month with swiscoin. It is a way to make money without buying the cloud and equipment.”

Seems promising, at least for Larry. But what raised a red flag for me is that company management refused to speak to me. That is odd, isn’t it? I mean, if you have nothing to hide you would probably be willing to talk to press to promote your company or product. Then, maybe, they do have something to hide. Nathan Wosnack commented on Swiscoin, saying:

“The problem with SwisCoin is the information is sparse. Their site is vague, they aren't listed on any exchanges that I can see , and it all appears to be geared towards affiliate marketers and MLM types rather than developers and the community. The fact that all positive news I can find is based on MLM marketer reviews or foreign spammy sites, I'd personally give it a high probability this is a scam or at least a pump and dump.”