A 63-year-old woman traveled thousands of miles to sell the IPFS mining machine game that was broken

"Young man, Shenzhen is under so much pressure, why don't you buy a mining machine to mine? It guarantees a profit ." Zhang Qi (pseudonym), who was listening attentively in the meeting, was suddenly patted on the shoulder. He turned his head in surprise and found that an old lady wearing gold earrings and Buddhist beads around her neck was looking at him with a smile.

Zhang Qi was attending the 2nd Shenzhen International Blockchain Technology and Application Conference 2019. When he saw the old lady’s attire, he thought he had run into the legendary “ cryptocurrency trading auntie .”

"What mining machine?" Zhang Qi couldn't help but ask curiously.

The old lady smiled but said nothing, and pointed to the sponsor background board on one side of the venue. Zhang Qi followed the direction and found that it was a promotional advertisement for Huaye Blockchain (China) Co., Ltd.

(A middle-aged woman selling MLM mining machines is filming a Huaye blockchain advertisement)

“Have you heard of IPFS? It is the next-generation Internet protocol that subverts HTTP. It represents the future of blockchain.” The old lady continued to introduce confidently, “ The currency of IPFS is called Filecoin. In the future, it will completely replace Bitcoin and become a 100-fold or 1,000-fold currency. ”

Seeing Zhang Qi half-surprised and half-doubted, the old lady urged, " Filecoin mainnet will be launched in September. Buy mining machines now and get on board early. The first batch will definitely make a lot of money. If you are late, there will be nothing to sell. "

Zhang Qi asked tentatively, "Where can I buy it?"

"Of course you came to me." The old lady opened WeChat and looked through the chat history. "I have sold it to more than a dozen people. There are generous rewards for developing subordinates. You will also get rewards if you recommend it to others in the future . The old man in front is my subordinate."

Zhang Qi looked up and saw that an old man with white hair in the front seat turned his head and looked him up and down. "Why don't you take him with you to visit the Guangzhou headquarters?"

"Of course you have to report to the boss. I'm 63 years old and I've come all the way here. You're still young, so you must go." The old lady patted Zhang Qi on the back.

"Where are you from?"

"Tianjin, we came here specifically to attend the meeting, and Huaye Group organized us to visit the headquarters."

"You guys are also developing downlines, aren't you doing pyramid selling?"

"You don't understand. This is called direct selling. Huaye Group is the only company in the country that can do direct selling of mining machines. "

“Filecoin hasn’t been listed on the exchange yet, how do you know it will surpass Bitcoin?”

“ I’ve already told you that IPFS will overturn the entire Internet and defeat HTTP’s dominance in the Internet. I’ll scold anyone who says it can’t surpass Bitcoin !”

Seeing Zhang Qi's questioning, the old lady spoke in a decisive tone, with a hint of anger flashing across her face. Zhang Qi was speechless for a moment.

At this time, David Hung, Vice President of Huaye Blockchain, took the stage to give a speech, and the audience cheered. Zhang Qi turned around and found that 60% to 70% of the audience raised their mobile phones to take pictures, and the aisles on both sides of the venue were already crowded with middle-aged aunts and uncles.

At the 2019 CITE Expo hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Shenzhen Municipal Government, a pyramid scheme selling IPFS mining machines booked a corner of the exhibition hall, attempting to use the official name to endorse and develop downlines.

In fact, IPFS (Interplanetary File System), which is hailed as the underlying protocol of the next-generation Internet, has always attracted much attention since its birth. However, the blockchain project Filecoin, which serves as its incentive layer, has gradually become a hot spot for speculation due to its delay in going online .

"Filecoin's mainnet is still in the testing phase, and the IPFS mining machines currently sold on the market are useless." Dong Tianyi, IPFS/Filecoin evangelist in China, said in an interview with Interchain Pulse that the hot-selling IPFS mining machines on the market are all gimmicks, and after the Filecoin mainnet goes online, the tokens mined by these mining machines will be useless .

So, how did the IPFS mining scam of Huaye Blockchain work? How did the highly anticipated IPFS mining be ruined by a pyramid scheme? Interchain Pulse conducted an in-depth investigation.

Huaye Blockchain’s MLM Scam

According to the WeChat chat records between Zhang Qi and the old lady that he showed to Hulian Pulse, new users who purchase Huaye Blockchain mining machines must fill in information through a designated website.

(Source: Hualian International official website)

After logging into Hulian Pulse, I found that there was no information on the website. A membership card number would be automatically generated for each new user registration, but to purchase Huaye Group's IPFS mining machine, one must have a recommender and an installer, otherwise it cannot be purchased.

Not only that, Hulian Pulse checked Huaye Blockchain Company and found that it has no official website , let alone the physical product and performance introduction of IPFS mining machine . However, when choosing IPFS products on the registration page, four different price levels appeared, ranging from 5,600 yuan to 504,000 yuan .

(Huaye Blockchain IPFS product price)

"After payment, you will be given an account and password, and the mining machine will be directly managed by Huaye Group. You don't need to take it home, you can just lie down and make money." An auntie who sells Huaye blockchain mining machines boasted to Hulian Pulse, "IPFS+Filecoin will surely become the king of coins in the blockchain 3.0 era. If you plan ahead and buy IPFS mining machines, you will have a greater chance of getting the first wave of dividends. If you continue to wait and see, you will miss the opportunity."

This means that after users pay for the so-called mining machines, they cannot see the physical products at all, but can only see the growth of virtual assets in their accounts .

(Source: Hualian Gome offline promotion meeting)

According to the aunt mentioned above, the digital asset token mined by Huaye Blockchain's mining machines is called ABT (Bank of America Token). After purchasing Huaye Blockchain's mining machines, a certain proportion of SKB will be given as a gift. SKB is magnified 6 times and 15 times respectively according to the source computing warehouse and cooperative computing warehouse methods. After the warehouse is unlocked through computing power, 20% of SKB can be used for shopping in the mall, and the other 80% can be used for recharge, mall shopping and holding and trading ABT.

In addition to the so-called ABT Bank of America Token, Huaye Blockchain has also created five sub-token systems including equity token (CFT), real estate token (JJT), mining pool token (IPT), transportation and travel token (CUT) and e-commerce token (ECT), claiming to create an internal and external circulation token economy ecosystem.

(Huaye Blockchain Token Economy Ecosystem)

According to David Xuanguan, vice president of Huaye Blockchain and executive president of Hualian Gome, who often appears offline, in this token economy ecosystem, in addition to Huaye Blockchain Company, it also includes Guangdong Hualian Gome, Guangdong Huaye Cloud, Huaye Elephant, Yiwu Mall and many other companies, covering shopping, real estate, supply chain and other fields.

(David, Vice President of Huaye Blockchain and Executive President of Hualian Gome)

A WeChat communication group called "Huaye Group Lifelong Career Group" is the main battlefield for "aunties" to brainwash newcomers. Not only do they publicize the benefits of investing in IPFS mining machines every day, they also share the so-called Huaye "leader" speech videos and course recordings at a high frequency.

According to the 73rd Anti-MLM Butler's list of reports and complaints received and released by the Anti-MLM Network on December 30, 2018, Hualian Gome has been listed as a suspected MLM or illegal fund-raising entity.

(Source: Anti-MLM Network, Anti-MLM Alliance)

This model of "offline hype and development of downline + frequent brainwashing online" has already trapped many victims.

(Source: Baidu Post Bar)

Interchain Pulse found that many victims were exposed in Baidu Tieba. Hualian Gome used the concepts of blockchain and virtual currency to make a lot of money. Some victims currently claim that they have been defrauded of hundreds of thousands of yuan.

In fact, blockchain is not the first stop for Huaye Group to develop a pyramid scheme . Interchain Pulse checked public information and found that Hualian Gome had previously sold health products and water purifiers such as Cordyceps King Oral Liquid, Ginseng Yuan, and Sexual Happiness Worry-Free in a pyramid scheme model, targeting middle-aged and elderly people. Some victims even broke the news on Zhihu, "(Hualian Gome) was called Wutong World Union a year ago, but when I contacted Wutong World Union a year ago, I found that it was also a changed name. Basically, it changed a name to attract a wave of people. "

(Source: Zhihu)

In addition, Huaye Group’s pyramid scheme project “Huaye Lianzong” and Xiaoxiang Health’s “original stock” scam have already been exposed, and the IPFS mining machine is just another pyramid scheme project that it has repeated in the blockchain field.

Why has IPFS mining machine become a hotbed for pyramid schemes?

In fact, Huaye Group is not the only one selling MLM mining machines under the name of IPFS.

The "Snail Interstellar Server" developed by Henan Lianxin Technology Co., Ltd., which was recently exposed by the media, also used the gimmick of mining IPFS token Filecoin to sell mining machines through pyramid schemes, with the amount involved reaching 2 billion yuan.

According to incomplete statistics from Interchain Pulse, there are at least 30 companies openly selling IPFS mining machines on the market, and they are a mixed bag. Among them, there are also many IPFS cloud mining machines with slogans such as "IPFS fundraising" and "free gifts with real-name registration", which are used by pyramid schemes as gimmicks to attract people and develop downlines.

"Anyone can use the concept of IPFS, but it is useless for users to buy the IPFS mining machines sold by these manufacturers now. We still have to wait and see the situation after the Filecoin mainnet is launched." Dong Tianyi told Interchain Pulse that currently there are a small number of mining machine manufacturers in the market that have connected to Filecoin's test network, but it is difficult to distinguish them. Specific identification depends on the core code.

Dong Tianyi revealed that the Filecoin mainnet testing phase has encountered several difficulties and the launch may not be so fast. It is estimated that the earliest it will be launched will be the end of this year.

So, why did IPFS/Filecoin mining machines, once a highly anticipated star project, become a hotbed of pyramid schemes?

Interchain Pulse found that on August 29, 2018, Filecoin officially released the " FileCoin 2018 Q1 & Q2 Update " work report. According to the project roadmap disclosed in the report: Filecoin plans to launch a test network from the fourth quarter of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, and invite qualified early miners to participate in network testing. On the premise of ensuring that the network is stable and secure, the Filecoin mainnet is planned to be launched in the second to third quarter of 2019.

At that time, the cryptocurrency market continued to decline, and at the same time, a large number of fake projects such as pyramid schemes and air coins were exposed by the media and ran away. For a large number of pyramid scheme organizations, the model of issuing coins and engaging in pyramid schemes has long been unsustainable, and the launch of the Filecoin test network is undoubtedly an exciting news.

Since the end of the third quarter of 2018, a large number of fake cooperation projects have emerged in the name of IPFS mining machines, IPFS wallets, etc. Since the operators of the IPFS/Filecoin project are far away overseas, for a while, IPFS has become a packaging cover for domestic pyramid schemes to blatantly deceive people.

(Screenshot of the statement released by Filecoin’s official website)

In December 2018, Filecoin officials realized the seriousness of the problem and issued a "Statement on Community Fraud Prevention in Mainland China and Hong Kong", but this statement did not have much effect, and the IPFS pyramid scheme mining machine became more and more serious.

At present, IPFS mining machines including the Snail Interstellar Server have begun to run away. After more than half a year of hype and operation, this round of IPFS mining machine pyramid schemes may also be entering the harvest period.

The mainnet has been delayed in going online, but it has encountered a pyramid scheme scam. How many believers of IPFS/Filecoin are left?