back to article Bitcoin trade biz MyCoin goes dark, investors fear $387 MEEELLION lost

Investors fear they may be $387m (£254m) in the red after a Hong Kong Bitcoin biz fell silent. The investment and trading website MyCoin reportedly closed its Kowloon offices a few weeks ago, and the company has not yet responded to inquiries from The Reg and other publications. According to the South China Morning Post, …

  1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    "We're not quite sure how that'll work"

    I'm pretty confident I know how that'll work - exactly like a Ponzi scheme it surely is an example of.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      How Many Times

      Must these idiots get stung before they come to the realisation that BitCoin is a waste of time

    2. Cubical Drone

      Re: "We're not quite sure how that'll work"

      Phase 1: Collect underpants

      Phase 2: ?

      Phase 3: Profit

    3. DrXym

      Re: "We're not quite sure how that'll work"

      Bitcoin is the ponzi. Buying contracts on a ponzi seems like a double dose of stupid.

  2. Gordon 10
    FAIL

    Final Nail in the bitcoin coffin?

    at the very least its set it back about 5 years

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bitcoins - The modern South Seas Bubble...

    Oh my - how a fool and their money are soon parted.

    Unregulated and unprotected investments - will they never learn?

    1. Any mouse Cow turd

      Re: Bitcoins - The modern South Seas Bubble...

      ah, but you are forgetting - "There is one born every minute"; therefore these type of investments will never disappear, just evolve.

  4. Phil O'Sophical Silver badge
    Facepalm

    Did these people really solicit investments in bitcoins, and promise returns in dollars?? and they got takers?

    1. Mike Moyle

      @ Phil O'Sophical

      No -- THEY are the TAKERS, the others are the TAKEES.

  5. Bruce Hoult

    how is this bitcoin related?

    Is there any evidence that this shonky outfit actually invested people's funds in anything, let alone in bitcoins? It sounds like it's just a pure con for the greedy.

    The reporting seems very unclear to me whether people paid in dollars, or bitcoins, or what.

    HK$400,000 is about US$50k. If that is promised to pay out 90 bitcoins, that's only about US$20k at the moment, though it was up to $90k at this time last year.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: how is this bitcoin related?

      because setting it up as a Bitcoin operation makes it super easy to run away with everyones money.

      No regulation, no ability to track transactions, no ability to trace the money.

      It's a scammers dream come true, especially with all the media attention BitCoin received last year.

  6. Finder Keeper

    Old fashioned Ponzi - nothing specifically about bitcoin

    The scheme promised to "invest" punters' money in bitcoins. There were no actual bitcoins involved, as far as I can see. They could have said bamboo plantations instead of bitcoins and it would have "worked" exactly the same.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Old fashioned Ponzi - nothing specifically about bitcoin

      No, as was pointed out in a post above this one, there almost certainly were real bitcoins involved. It is much easier to transfer bitcoins to your personal account without a trace than it would to do so with dollars.

  7. Amorous Cowherder
    Facepalm

    "Some customers claim they were told that if they wanted to bring about their promised returns on investment, they should recruit other investors to pump additional funds into the operation."

    Ah there we go....nothing but a naff pyramid scheme then!

  8. Adam JC

    Such gullible.

    Many profit.

    Sorry, couldn't resist... ;-)

    1. gerryg
      Coat

      read like a haiku

      but three syllables short, inspired me

      virtual currency

      how on earth does that work then?

      ah, virtually

      I'll get my kimino

  9. Frank Bitterlich
    WTF?

    Does not compute...

    Can anybody enlighten me on how anybody who has been on this planet for longer than six weeks would ever invest large sums of money into a Hong Kong-based sub-company of another company that has a "sole director" (who apparently does more successful business on Virgin Islands), promises extraordinary large gains, and that requires you to bring new marks into the game (sorry, "sign up new investors") in order to get your money back?

    And how these people have made a fortune (apparently) while being that stupid? I mean, come one, they cannot *all* have inherited their wealth, can they? Lottery winners, maybe?

    1. Jedit Silver badge

      "Can anybody enlighten me..."

      Greed.

    2. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Does not compute...

      Rich people need not have made their fortune, someone else could have made it for them. For example, they could simply inherit it. No intelligence, or indeed any other talent, is needed.

      The selected icon is a "shining" example of this

      (note: Paris might not be as stupid as she apparently likes to appear, but her wealth does not stem from any talent she may or may not have)

  10. razorfishsl

    The HK police are on the case, they don't take kindly to this sort of thing in HK.....

    But there is at least one other company that is 'illegally' registered in HK.....

    I made this point back in 2013,2014 that ANY company in HK has to be legally registered and MUST provide business registrations when requested, not doing so is illegal.

    Just pop over to the government website and for 10US$ you can get a list of all directors & their registered address.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      HK DIrectorships

      True, but shadow directors are common and there is no requirement to record the beneficial owner, or at least there wasn't a few years ago (more than 7, which is why I'm commenting - ah, good times).

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have a scheme they may be interested in

    I invest your money in a <insert techno-babble> and promise to return your money to you at a <insert large value> increase. For maximum profit send your cash to <insert off-shore financial institution> care of <insert pseudonym here>.

    For further inquiries as to where your cash has gone contact <insert name of someone who gives a fuk>

  12. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge

    So

    you're investing your 100 million with us...

    .

    .

    .

    ..

    . ...... And its gone

  13. smackbean

    The irony...

    The irony is that although it looks like a straight ponzi scheme, the scamster will probably use bitcoin to hide the money trail...

    Actually forget that, they'll probably use HSBC.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: The irony...

      Or... HSBC cut out the middle man and ran the "exchange"...

  14. Ivan Headache

    Just an observation -

    Not a comment.

    There's what looks like a bitcoin ATM in the CEX on Tottenham Court Road.

  15. phil dude
    Black Helicopters

    propaganda...?

    I am no fan of bitcoins, it does seem a touch to similar to an avarice outdoor adventure park.

    However, I cannot help thinking that the ${GOVT} dislike of the competition might be in play.

    Dirty tricks and currency is not a new invention...

    P.

  16. knarf

    I can see how would work

    1) Take money promised XX bit coins

    2) Pretend to fold the company

    3) Bit coin prices free falls

    4) Buy these coins on the cheap

    5) Give the punters (mugs) their XX bit coins

    6) Pocket the change.

    Or just run away with all the money.

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: I can see how would work

      You can pretty much just skip to that last step.

      But it's Risky Bizness. Some of those investors will have resources.

      Having a few hundred million is going to help avoid those resources for a while. But it's not going to be a quiet and relaxed rest-of-life, however long it is.

      On the upside it's less dangerous than making off with Swiss tax secrets. (Probably.)

    2. Kanhef

      Re: I can see how would work

      Not a bad idea, pretty much naked short selling bitcoins. Promise sales (of something you don't actually have yet) at one price, trigger a market panic, buy cheap and deliver. This would be illegal in a regular stock market, but due to the lack of regulation of bitcoins, you could get away with it. Once.

      1. jonathanb Silver badge

        Re: I can see how would work

        The problem is that Bitcoin is so thinly traded that any more than about 100 BTC in naked shorts would lead to a short squeeze and cause the price to shoot upwards.

  17. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    r"Some customers claim they were told that if they wanted to bring about their promised returns on investment, they should recruit other investors to pump additional funds into the operation."

    So a pyramid scheme.

    "Final Nail in the bitcoin coffin? "

    No, not at all. This is a standard scam, and it doesn't reflect at all on Bitcoins. After all, if I said "I'm going to invest in US Dollars and Euros to (insert financialbabble* here) to double your money in x months", it's obviously a scam and does not reflect in any way on the dollar or euro (the US and EU are doing a good job of digging these currencies into a hole on their own.)

    Could one double their money via bitcoin exchange? Sure, bitcoin exchange rate is fairly volatile. Are there any guarantees? No, and the big red flag is right there when someone claims "I'll make x within y time." These investors showed a supreme lack of common sense being taken in by a fairly standard investment scam.

    *I guess if you can have technobabble you can have financialbabble.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh look, the Emperor is shivering!

    but the Tech Elite and their cronies keep saying the New Clothes of Bitcoin are just too hard for us peons to see the benefits of....

    yet again, another failure of the promises and hype of BC and alt currency in general.

    The True Believers will of course, go off in defense. Many of whom were hoping to score big on the pump n' dump but like Amway sellers on the bottom of the pyramid, are stuck holding the bag. Anything to not admit how they were suckered and refused to get out with smaller profits when the getting was good.

  19. JimWin
    FAIL

    Bricks and Morter

    Virtual here, virtual gone. Maybe the reason banks use buildings for branches is that it builds trust. Chasing an e-bank is always going to be tough. Am I surprised? Not really. And where are the independent regulators to make sure this virtual money is sound money? Oh, there are none? Well there's a surprise.

    It's a nice idea, but to be acceptable there needs to be regulation together with financial backup to make sure the virtual bank can be trusted.

  20. Medixstiff

    So when he moved to the Virgin Islands and stopped people taking out their coins, why the hell didn't these "investors" wake up and go after him?

    This really does smack of greed getting the better of people and it serves them right.

  21. Catweazle666

    Bridges for sale!

    "The idea is you buy a bunch of contracts for, say, $260,000 and get $400,000 back"

    Yeah, right!

    Incidentally, anyone want to buy a nice cheap bridge?

  22. Bitbeisser
    Thumb Down

    I still can't understand how people can be so stupid of all these "funny money" scams...

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