Ethereum Startup Confido Vanishes, Scams Users in $375K After ICO

[Raevenlord]

ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings) are one of the most important facets of Ethereum, responsible for propelling the cryptocurrency's value to its values of today. These are the cryptocurrency equivalents of community-backed investments and startups - not unlike Kickstarter, but based solely in the crypto world. Demand for Ethereum usually sees vast increases in volume after a promising ICO goes live (or in preparation for it), and is one of the premier channels for value to be chained towards this cryptocurrency. However, as is usually the case - and one needs only look towards Kickstarter as an example of this - there are both success and disaster stories to be met in this space.

Case in point of a disaster, Ethereum startup Confido has recently made headlines both for its $375K ICO, and after it surfaced that the entire initial coin offering was nothing more than a scam. Confido claimed to be a blockchain-based app for making payments and tracking shipments, and as is usual in ICOs, it sold digital tokens to investors over the Ethereum blockchain in an ICO that ran from November 6 to 8. Last Sunday, the company started erasing all marks of its short, profitable foray into the ICO world: it deleted its Twitter account and took down its website. A company representative posted a brief comment to the company's (now-private) subforum on Reddit as well as Medium, citing legal problems that prevent the Confido team from continuing their work.





"Right now, we are in a tight spot, as we are having legal trouble caused by a contract we signed," the message stated (a cached version of the Medium post is viewable). "It is likely that we will be able to find a solution to rectify the situation. However, we cannot assure you with 100% certainty that we will get through this," wrote Confido's self-proclaimed founder, Joost van Doorn, whose only presence in the Internet, via is LinkedIn account, has since seen deletion as well.



Confido tokens, which had a market cap of $10 million just last week, are now worthless. TokenLot, a website that specializes in enabling startups to put out their ICOs, is really the only hope of resolution for the investors. "We're the only remnant online right now in terms of people contacting us asking for answers," said Eli Lewitt, co-founder of TokenLot, to Motherboard.vice over the phone. "These were very good scammers."



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[RejZoR]

Yet another reason why crypto mining is BS which is best to avoid.

 

[StrayKAT]

Luckily, in the big picture of things, that wasn't too much money.

 

[ensabrenoir]

...crypto-currency.....such potential for greatness yet glaringly just as/ sometimes even more unsafe as everything else out there.....

 

[dozenfury]

Cryptocurrency in general is fine, but these tiny ICOs that anyone can spin up are a total gamble. Anyone putting money in those hoping to get rich quick might as well go to the casino. It's unfortunate since it gives the legit ones a bad rep and people lump them all together.

I wouldn't use it as evidence that all cryptocurrency is a scam though. Bitcoin and to a smaller degree Ethereum and Litecoin, are well-entrenched enough that we can confidently say they are legit. That's not to say Bitcoin couldn't drop to $500 tomorrow because of all of the speculators, but the currency itself is legit. You can pay with Bitcoin lots of places nowadays; Subway, Expedia, Microsoft, Newegg, Dish Network, etc. I suspect Amazon isn't too far off. And that's without converting it to cash which is quite easy and then you can indirectly use it anywhere.

 

[Mescalamba]

Yet another reason why crypto mining is BS which is best to avoid.

Regular currency is scam too. Except most ppl never realize that. Crypto currencies might have a lot of issues, but at least they truly represent freedom, in good and bad.

 

[RejZoR]

Freedom, mostly for those who created the crypto currencies (they're all pyramid schemes). The rest of you are just stupid peasants for them. So much for "freedom"...

 

[StrayKAT]

Regular currency is scam too. Except most ppl never realize that. Crypto currencies might have a lot of issues, but at least they truly represent freedom, in good and bad.

Regular currency is not a scam with all of the power backed behind it. No different than some iron age thug with a big axe, who insisted that you do what he says. Pretending this doesn't exist is the real scam. Or worse, a fantasy.

 

[Basard]

I wish my first thought wasn't "LOL, noobs...."
Kinda make me feel like a jerk. I'm over it now though.

 

[R-T-B]

Yet another reason why crypto mining is BS which is best to avoid.

This has as much to do with mining as the stock market has to do with printing dollar bills. ie nothing.

It's even worse when people attack Ethereum because it's one of the few coins out there actively trying to eliminate PoW, or in other words, eliminate mining.

Regular currency is not a scam with all of the power backed behind it. No different than some iron age thug with a big axe, who insisted that you do what he says. Pretending this doesn't exist is the real scam. Or worse, a fantasy.

There's a lot of power and wealth behind Crypto now too. It's approaching a very large number.

Freedom, mostly for those who created the crypto currencies (they're all pyramid schemes). The rest of you are just stupid peasants for them. So much for "freedom"...

How so? You can spend it as freely as the next guy.

 

[GreiverBlade]

my main question that was always up about Crypto and mining ...

to what your GPU power is used (or any other mean to mine CC) .... breaking block and popping V$ out of them? but what are these block .... assuredly not WU for something "noble" like BOINC/F@H WU ....

sooooo what are you doing when you mine? of course, they won't tell you ... at last not the real explanation ...

 

[Grey Beard]

This has as much to do with mining as the stock market has to do with printing dollar bills. ie nothing.

Correct, but the last time I checked the stock market still looks at things like market cap, earning and etc based in dollars. That is still the standard. Trading electricity for something is no different than giving your doctor a dozen eggs when you’re a farmer. That does not happen today.

It's even worse when people attack Ethereum because it's one of the few coins out there actively trying to eliminate PoW, or in other words, eliminate mining.

People attack because this is another example of a payment mechanism rooted in illegal activities trying to make it in the main stream. Nefreious characters created and are all around it. That is not to say there are not any around or in the banking system just that you have some legal recourse. In this instance it just evaporated. That is why it gets attacked, as Madoff’s scheme is not that much different than this.

There's a lot of power and wealth behind Crypto now too. It's approaching a very large number.

Not sure there is the backing of a government behind it. When all things fail, which it will for this, who will back it and prop it up? For hard currencies it is the millions of tax payers of said issuing country. For crypto?

How so? You can spend it as freely as the next guy.

Additionally, you cannot spend it freely as it is no where near accepted as much as cash or credit cards. Until then, it is not “freely as the next guy” who has a wad of cash in his pocket.

 

[R-T-B]

Additionally, you cannot spend it freely as it is no where near accepted as much as cash or credit cards. Until then, it is not “freely as the next guy” who has a wad of cash in his pocket.

Lack of acceptance is a different problem. It is as freely as the next crypto user, which was my point.

sooooo what are you doing when you mine? of course, they won't tell you ... at last not the real explanation ...

It's been explained several times and is well known.

You are effectively hashbreaking. It's like trying the combination to a big tressure chest repeatedly millions of times per second until someone gets it right. There is no way of hiding this, it's well known and has been for some time.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

ICOs are what drive the entire market. Without ICOs, the market stagnates. ICOs have no regulatory controls.

 

[GreiverBlade]

It's been explained several times and is well known.

You are effectively hashbreaking. It's like trying the combination to a big treasure chest repeatedly millions of times per second until someone gets it right. There is no way of hiding this, it's well known and has been for some time.

not that explanation (it's the "at last not the real explanation ..." i mentioned ).... it's too vague soooooo it's "trying the combination to a big treasure chest repeatedly millions of times per second" yes... ok .... annnnnnnddddd what are you fueling with that? surely they do not "reward" you with CC for nothing ... but rather something and that something is probably ... well ... you know ... "what are you cracking in reality" ....

to quote a post i saw at random while searching a bit more on CC
"or could you create a (hopefully fictional) crypto currency that is explicitly designed to pay users for cracking passwords?"

 

[R-T-B]

not that explanation (it's the "at last not the real explanation ..." i mentioned ).... it's too vague soooooo it's "trying the combination to a big treasure chest repeatedly millions of times per second" yes... ok .... annnnnnnddddd what are you fueling with that? surely they do not "reward" you with CC for nothing ... but rather something and that something is probably ... well ... you know ... "what are you cracking in reality" ....

to quote a post i saw at random while searching a bit more on CC
"or could you create a (hopefully fictional) crypto currency that is explicitly designed to pay users for cracking passwords?"

The code is openly auditable so there are no secrets. If they were doing anything other than meaningless hashes, we'd know. That's baseless conspiracy talk, and provably false.

All these currencies started off as meaningless tokens. The only thing that makes them worth anything is investor money and public interest.

 

[Prima.Vera]

Yet another reason why crypto mining is BS which is best to avoid.

Meanwhile, BitCoin is marching to the 10K $ value per unit

 

[Grey Beard]

Meanwhile, BitCoin is marching to the 10K $ value per unit

Better convert it to real currency before it is worth $0.01.

 

[Grey Beard]

Lack of acceptance is a different problem. It is as freely as the next crypto user, which was my point.




It's been explained several times and is well known.

You are effectively hashbreaking. It's like trying the combination to a big tressure chest repeatedly millions of times per second until someone gets it right. There is

Lack of acceptance is a different problem. It is as freely as the next crypto user, which was my point.




It's been explained several times and is well known.

You are effectively hashbreaking. It's like trying the combination to a big tressure chest repeatedly millions of times per second until someone gets it right. There is no way of hiding this, it's well known and has been for some time.

 

[punani]

Looked at this ICO stuff some week ago and thought, boy what an easy way to scam someone. got to apply a healthy dose of critical thinking in the world of crypto.

 

[plåtburken]

I still don't get how people could fall for this.
There is a big red flag as soon someone say "hey we need money for uh, making an app that we have just made posters/art about, thx."

 

[StrayKAT]

I still don't get how people could fall for this.
There is a big red flag as soon someone say "hey we need money for uh, making an app that we have just made posters/art about, thx."

Uh, that's pretty much how the whole dotcom boom started too. And that was "legit". lol

 

[R-T-B]

Better convert it to real currency before it is worth $0.01.

It's gone way beyond that point, if you ask me. It's not coming down that low ever again.

Not to say it's not overvalued, mind.

 

[bug]

The code is openly auditable so there are no secrets. If they were doing anything other than meaningless hashes, we'd know. That's baseless conspiracy talk, and provably false.

All these currencies started off as meaningless tokens. The only thing that makes them worth anything is investor money and public interest.

That's not very nice. Throwing a monkey wrench into such a nice conspiracy theory, tsk, tsk...

 

[R-T-B]

That's not very nice. Throwing a monkey wrench into such a nice conspiracy theory, tsk, tsk...

I do it all the time. I'm an ass, I know.