Hello readers - at the end of the last post I had a link to BitMiner and their promises of earning .0006btc a day for FREE (other than a btc deposit address) here's that BitMiner link - and today here's a link for a similar business set-up BitATM with promises of .0005btc a day. I will detail in this post my experiences with each.
WARNING
DO NOT SIGN UP FOR EITHER
DO NOT SIGN UP FOR EITHER
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BitATM
(I HAVE BLOCKED BITATM ADS VIA A-ADS.COM AND NO LONGER USE THEIR BANNERS ON MY BLOGS)
I first noticed BitATM's ad on one of my blogs and somehow it stuck in my mind enough to search out the website btcatm.cc - and it was off to the races. Seemingly, the new site - less than three weeks old (19 days old then, just turned 43 days old) when I invested - and seemingly checked out more than other Bitcoin ponzi's, "lifetime incomes" and similar Bitcoin scams I'd seen since 2014. This one (BitAtm) had a persons name behind the operation, and a functioning and easy to use dashboard/webpage. With BitATM, the "catch" to earning .0005btc a day was to buying in on the first level for .01btc (about 10 bucks fiat a couple weeks ago) - not too steep a climb for myself, so I did. The best feature at BitATM (other than an awesome name) was that it promised to Instantly return your deposit and any profits you earn - "instantly" to your given btc deposit address.
Rarely Was It Instant
BitATM business plan does not include FREE Bitcoin, you have to buy in with your .01btc investment (in stupidity).
All I can say is that at this stage of the game...that is exactly what happened for me - and I was able to earn the profit - to withdraw it and to withdraw my .01btc investment.
Earned Total:
Ƀ0.00567000
Pending Withdrawal:
Ƀ0.00000000
Withdrew Total:
Ƀ0.01510000
Active Deposit:
Ƀ0.00000000
BUT THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME AROUND
AS YOU KNOW...PONZI'S PAY IN THE BEGINNING
While the website promised free withdraws...I found that I was charged 10,000 satoshis for EACH transaction (I made 5 withdraws my first "investment", each one requiring a bit of time that was not instant.) There was reason to be suspicious by their over promising on instant and free withdraws.
Nonetheless as you can see from above I "made" .0051btc over the course of a short time frame of the constantly updating (hourly) deposits from BitATM - shown hourly on a page for you to see, 2100 Satoshis each hour. It was a good return (I left a small token of 7000 satoshis in my account at the end of my first investment - BEFORE once again going in for the BUY IN of .01btc about a week later again, about two weeks ago now).
I thought I had done my homework - looking at a Badbitcoin list of websites - and, I also followed all the links posted on the BitATM webpage, and they seemed to check out...ultimately BitATM is the company of evidently a British man - Aidan LAMBERT - who also seems to have some interest in a gambling website. BItATM seems to indicate being tied to the BitFury mining pool.
Dear Lord...it could be a possibly legit way to get folks into Crypto - or was it the beginnings of a ponzi....
As it was.... I was suckered in the 2nd time. And, almost right away...it was apparent I was gonna be ripped off.
The bad part...I had given my affiliate link to a blogging friend....and he put in his .01BTC... (I was waiting on my end to see my affiliate Btc reward too)...and while his BTC was gone and it was recorded as being a Referral for my account...it showed that the account never activated.... (one can only join by depositing the active deposit - RED FLAG)...so....I never got paid and my friend never even got the fake, unremovable btc from his dashboard...as it always remained at Zero.
Of possible interest is the Live Stats and indeed what they say in a sense
Looking at their LIVE Stats shows the BS
# of members and BTC Deposited
3218 day 19 - BTC in 1038btc
4034 day 31 - BTC in 1360btc
1391 day 37 - BTC in 1391btc
5167 day 43 - BTC in 1442btc
BITCOIN PAID OUT
718BTC - DAY 19
1065 - DAY 31
1110 - DAY 37
1117 - DAY 43
Eventually - today - I got an E-Mail from BitATM about a special offer to deposit 1 Bitcoin and get it back instantly...the latest deposits all show huge deposits coming in....one problem, IF anyone is still getting paid...the latest payouts dont show anyone getting much at all. And here's my final attempts to get my deposit and earnings back....NOTHING since Feb 26th.
Referrals: 1
Active referrals: 0
Total referral commission: Ƀ0.00000000
Withdrawal request Ƀ 0.01000000 [cancel] Mar-2-2017 02:05:17 PM
Withdrawal request Ƀ 0.00190000 [cancel] Feb-26-2017 04:16:16 PM
BOTTOM LINE - MY FIRST GO AROUND MADE .005BTC
MY SECOND GO AROUND LOST .01BTC
(NOT INCLUDING SO CALLED EARNINGS AND REFERRAL COMMISSION)
cheated of .005btc
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BitMiner
(I have also blocked BitMiner from my blogs via a-ads.com)
I have much less nice things to report about BitMiner (LOL) ... a system in place for a claimed 250 days plus WHEN I STARTED (which I construed as good...without checking deeper first - dumb perhaps). It too has seen an explosion in interest as evidenced by it's live statistics too. Especially in just the past few weeks.
But like BitATM - it too appears to be nothing more than a slow ponzi, same British set up, etc....the promise of FREE Bitcoin at the .0006 level each day a foolish come on. (But perhaps a brilliant way to force noobies to obtain their first bitcoin wallet address.)
Interestingly, it was only after I had actually made a withdraw of "profit" at BitATM the first time that I signed up for my FREE bitcoin from BitMiner. I watched it grow...knowing that one cannot withdraw the FREE bitcoin until it hit the minimum withdraw of .005btc. Meanwhile...I told a buddy...who watched his grow... I bit first...and up "Upgdared" --- NO...not upgraded... UPGDARED (their typo...which I pointed out via Email and never got a response OR did they ever fix it...it's still there spelled this way).... I should have known at that moment.....but then my buddy upgraded and even another buddy I turned onto the link had upgraded - each of these upgrades costing .01btc - the same business approach as BitATM....only BitMiner promised even more...with the upgrade we were to expect .0012btc a DAY....yeah....right.
I'm not gonna slug you through the details but the pattern was once again the same.... you'll be able to pull out that first withdraw for .005 - and never get another.. so...WHY you ask? well, when you go to withdraw you next amount...you get suddenly a pop-up box you see below...detailing your LOW IPV...something NEVER mentioned anywhere on the website. IPV you ask? Instant Payout Value...which is conveniently below their preset level of .005 for withdraw...do you sense a catch 22?
AFTER getting paid the only time on the 13th... I began to have IPV problems on the 15th and never have received any bitcoin since.
2017-02-15 20:12:09 1308716 -0.00500000 BTC Withdraw Cancelled
And below I provide the unexpected IPV box when you got to withdraw a second time.
Increase your IPV for instant withdrawals, or wait 20+ days until your withdrawal is processed manually.
Your IPV (Instant Payout Value) is Low (0.00412300 BTC) | What is IPV?
IPV allows you to withdraw instantly without waiting days for manual processing.
- Upgrading BitMiner to V1.2 will greatly increase IPV and make withdrawals process faster.
- IPV increases every time your referrals upgrade their BitMiner. We strongly recommend to invite referrals.
- IPV slightly increases every day depending on your BitMiner version. Higher version gives more IPV.
- You can upgrade to V1.4, this is the highest version and have infinite IPV. All V1.4 withdrawals are instant.
- If you don't feel like upgrading or inviting referrals - try to cancel existing orders and withdraw lesser amount (from 0.005 BTC)
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So, they shamelessly tell you to go out and recruit more for the ponzi or to buy in yourself at a higher level...with no guarantee of what you IPV will be btw....
IF it smells like a skunk....
Bottom line
one friend got back his .01 total (no profit)
one friend got .005 total (lost .005btc)
I got back .005, (and lost .005) despite providing TWO friends who upgraded their accounts and upgrading myself.
So, pay some and rip others...the slow ponzi... the internet seems to have lots of them out there (some on this page) ...be super cautious...don't have any expectations and don't ever go over your head.
(I will talk about what I consider legit in my next post.)