BitConnect Comes Crashing Down
The BitConnect saga seems to have finally fallen apart this afternoon with the following announcement:
Settling customer lending balances in Bitconnect Coin was the endgame the company must have always envisioned as their "out" from the very beginning. Bitconnect was a US$1 billion+ Ponzi scheme that thrived on two things:
- A rising Bitcoin price to gather attention
- New investors to continue pumping in money
By creating their own coin (BitConnect Coin or BCC) they created an artificial market by making people buy BCC with Bitcoin in order to lend BCC back to their "lending platform" to generate all the crazy returns that you've heard all about. Now the joke is on everyone who stayed in BitConnect up to today, because they have announced they are shutting down their exchange and lending platforms and "transferring all your lending wallet balance to your BitConnect wallet balance at 363.62 USD" - this is the "out" they always knew they had and hence why BitConnect created an artificial market for their BCC coin which should have been called Ponzi Coin. Now everyone who was "lending" money through BitConnect is stuck with BCC coins which are NOT Bitcoins, and in all likelihood BCCs are completely worthless now because there is no demand for them. Only supply. This is how a Ponzi scheme ends in the 2018 world.
This is the latest quote for BCC from coinmarketcap.com as the avalanche of selling hits:
I will say that the BitConnect scam was extremely clever, i'm sure Bernie Madoff is jealous. They fooled a lot of people for much longer than I could have possibly imagined.
UPDATE: One hour after I published this post BitConnect Coin has crashed -85%, wiping out more than $1 billion in market valuation in one swoop
Yup, I put a tiny amount into Bitconnect a little while back just as one of those "super risky but might possibly pay off type moves". Certainly not all of my crypto by any stretch. I will report honestly on how the situation ends for me.
Class action lawsuit. Get everyone together and call some lawyers... Good you didn't invest much.
Eh, lawyers cost way more than I lost, personally, but I'm sure there's going to be plenty of others to pick up some figurative pitchforks. I'm not roughed up about it. Anyone starting any legal action that you're aware of?
Not that I've heard of yet... It's always free to consult a lawer and good ones take a percentage and won't charge you a penny if they don't win. At least accident lawyers work that way.
Some ponzi have lasted years, but yeah it was cleverly disguised, still you didn't needed to be a genius to see it was a Ponzi.
I even think most people knew what it was but same as why people buy lottery ticket even though they have no chance to win: GREED
I feel so badly for those who got caught up in this. I have to admit that seeing some of the folks’ incredible returns on YT, it was tempting. I never took the plunge though. That doesn’t make me smarter or better than those who did. In fact, I wish I could be braver sometimes and take a chance. Sitting safely on the sidelines never made anyone a dime. It’s okay to dream.
I hear you. We need decentralized crypto exchanges out and active. It’s a sad day when anyone has their money disappear, hacked, or locked down in the crypto community.
not surprised; many of us have warned people for months now ---- sadly people have lost money and I hope they 'learned their lesson' from NOT listening to people with actual experience in Crypto; telling them BCC is not like all the others -
well... Madoff is jealous of this Ponzi now!! :/
Any idea how to withdraw this stupid bcc????
You have to send it to an exchange that offers it.
How in the world does BitConnect think that BCC is going to regain it's value when they have completely destroyed their own credibility?
Very good review! please come to my page to read how to get your bitconnect money back if you have been affected by this!
Thanks for documenting this. Yes. There were lots of warnings some of us tried to warn people but they did not listen. It really was an interesting case of people believing what they wanted to believe, fooling themselves and buying in. It was very interesting to watch.