Businesses in Central African union rue tough forex ...

Well today was interesting. After seeing a ton of people trying to spam their referral links into some of the big Facebook groups we run at work, I decided to investigate a bit more after dinner & a couple of glassses of wine.
Let me introduce you to PIPcoin. (for those like me who missed it when it last came up on the sub)
PIPcoin from the horses mouth
PIPcoin's CEO on SABC
One of his "free" seminars.
Here is a quick recording off their homepage :-(

Pipcoin is Africa’s first P2P Cryptocurrency and is more seen as an emerging digital currency that seeks to revolutionize accessibility and raise awareness about the importance of online trading to the multitudes of both the aspirant traders and those who are completely unaware of the abounding benefits and opportunities offered by the digital market. Thus, for all its worth as a potential life-changing tool, we want Pipcoin to be everybody’s business.

So this is new... lets take a look at their FAQ's because I have many! here are my favourite bits:

What Is The Structure Of A Pipcoin? Pipcoin Concept (for developers) -IF YOU HAVE 0,9999 MICRO-PIPS THEN IT WILL BE ROUNDED OFF TO 1.0000 – MAKING IT 1 PIPCOIN-

lol really? Where does that extra micro tit pip come from?

Why Pipcoin Isnt A Get Rich Quick Scheme Whenever there is a new digital breakthrough it is natural for people to be sceptic, this has been scientifically proven. Even at one stage the internet was said to be a scam, same goes to online trading, they said it won’t last. Same goes to Facebook; they said it’s an information-leaking scam. Same goes again to Bitcoin they said it’s a ‘failed experiment’. Pipcoin is the people’s currency and can never in a scale be compared to ponzi schemes and investment bonanzas; Pipcoin is a friend-to-friend digital currency which has its own crypto keys and public ledger just like any other legit digital currency. Everyone is a host to the currency, every participants’ computers serve as servers to the system and just like forex trading it is a zero-sum game, when you buy the coins there will be someone selling to you.

SkepticalHippoIsSkeptical.jpg

Who Is The Founder Of Pipcoin? However the inception of the idea can be credited to David Schwartz and the inception of the algorithm and mathematics behind to Ref Wayne, a 21 year old South African who is behind the creation of most high-tech forensic software as well as the indicators for financial trading platform (Forex Metatrader), it is without chance that the creation of Pipcoin is water-proof and crack-free.

Aside from the laughable wording, this is perhaps the most interesting part. If you can make it through this interview or this video his story sounds a lot like this "David Schwartz" story here. Excuse the popups but give it a read and obviously the comments at the bottom.

Is Pipcoin Legal? ...After all, there is no authority that can stop anyone from buying and selling a product online.

hahahahahahahahAHAHAha!

Do I Need To Provide Any Id Documents To Join Pipcoin is a cryptocurrency which means it’s completely encrypted, even for its users, it remains completely confidential. You don’t need to submit any documents.

erm... surely this goes against SO many laws in SA?

How Reliable Is This Website In Terms Of Security And Keeping Personal Data And Pipcoins [no ? at the end of these ones for some reason] We pay great attention to security and the confidential information on the website is protected by EV SSL. We don’t divulge any personal data of members to third parties. Your participation too, is strictly confidential.

thats...not really explaining it at all. SSL isnt the be-all and end all - but oh there's another one right below. Im sure that'll clear it up...

Are You Protected From Hackers We have installed power Anti-DDOS protection on our servers and have many other security measures.

well that settles it.
ok ok so whats next?
Some points/gems from their Terms of User PDF [mirror here] (i've never heard that phrase) but looks like something from the lawfirm of Copy, Pasta and Google.

All references to the ‘company,’ ‘us,’ ‘our,’ ‘we’ or ‘Pipchain’ means Pipchain South Africa S.a.r.l., a company registered under the laws of South Africa, with a share capital of EUR 55,222.08, having its registered address at L-2340 South Africa, 1, rue Philippe II, registered with the South Africa Trade and Companies Register under number B 190.078 (Business License number B190078).

I tried to find out if thats real but I couldnt figure out how to do it via the new http://www.cipc.co.za/ site.

Their privacy policy link https://pipchain.com/PrivacyPolicy.pdf 404's
Typos galore eg - " Server failure ordata loss;"
We make no warranty that the Website or the server that makes it available, are free of viruses or errors, that its content is accurate, that it will be uninterrupted, or that defects will be corrected.

wut?!

1. AGREEMENT TO HOLD PIPCHAIN HARMLESS

wut²

7.2. If you are obligated to indemnify us, we will have the right, in our sole discretion, to control any action or proceeding (at our expense) and determine whether we wish to settle it.

ok...

9.1. You need not use a Pipchain Wallet. If you wish to use the Wallet, you must create a wallet with Pipchain to access the Services (“Wallet”)

I need an adult.

10.5. No Storage or Transmission of Pipcoins. Pipcoins are an intangible, digital asset. They exist only by virtue of the ownership record maintained in the Pipcoin network. The Services do not store, send or receive Pipcoins. Any transfer of title that might occur in any Pipcoins occurs on the decentralized ledger within the Pipcoin network and not within the Services. We do not guarantee that the Service can effect the transfer of title or right in any Pipcoins.

and

10.8. No Cancellations or Modifications. Once transaction details have been submitted to the Pipcoin network via the Services, The Services cannot assist you to cancel or otherwise modify your transaction details. Pipchain has no control over the Pipcoin Network and does not have the ability to facilitate any cancellation or modification requests.

In the SABC interview (linked at the top of this post) the CEO says he took bitcoin and 'modified' it to be safer and so you can track 'stolen or lost' coins. So thats a lie.

1. DISCONTINUANCE OF SERVICES 15.1. We may, in our sole discretion and without cost to you, with or without prior notice and at any time, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, any portion of our Services. You are solely responsible for storing, outside of the Services, a backup of any Wallet Address and Private Key pair that you maintain in your Wallet.

erm, ok but because PIPcoins can only be traded on their website and not transferred to anything else... how does that work?

17.1.3. Use any robot, spider, crawler, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access our Services or to extract data; 17.1.4. Use or attempt to use another user’s Wallet without authorization

the enter key is a hard one to find on a laptop I'll give them that one...
---- gets more wine ---
They claim to have a 30-35% growth rate on any and all investments! Crazy returns.
I did a bit of a google on them and immediately found these posts.

• http://kipicommunity.org/pipcoin-crypto-currency/ (this one does a great in-depth review)
  
• http://www.marketingxtreme.net/pipcoin-review/
  

Some choice excerpts:

The company has promised that it will soon be issuing a debit card. Promising to issue a debit is an old trick used by fraudulent companies to create a false sense of trust and legitimacy to unsuspecting investors.

and

The transfer of pipcoins is verified by one sources, instead of 3 independent source as is usually the case with legitimate crypto currencies with a blockchain.

and

They also use wording similar to ‘get-rich-quick' scheme lines such as “Pipcoin will create over a 100 millionaires by the end of this financial year”. These are revealing signs of a fraudulent scheme. Moreover, pipcoin is a closed system, you cannot trade with anyone other than randomly chose people registered on the website. Their blockchain is not public or transparent, in fact, they do not have a blockchain and, if they do have one, then it is not operational.

So who's behind it? Who is this Ref dude?
According to his Twitter bio he's "Youngest Billionaire in Africa | Founder of African 1st ever digital currency ! Get a minimum interest of 35% @infopipcoin"
here are some choice images from his public FB:

• i8
• Gold plated Aston
• No comment

I tried to register on https://mypipcoins.com/ but there's an ASPX error during the registration process and it kept trying to switch between https and http. Great start. I tried in all major browsers and they all failed so I gave up on trying to signup with my temp email [email protected] :(
So then, lets take a closer look at the support they offer on their site. They've got one of those "live chat" widgets on their site and this evening there was actually someone online :)
I said "hello" and saw "busi has joined the conversation" - sweet.
Here is the transcript I downloaded before they killed the chat. Lucky I insta-clicked the download before they killed my chat session.
As you can see by the chat log, Busi linked me to whats obviously the new 'site' they're launching this weekend https://pipchain.com/
The site looks a lot like the blockchain.info website.
Their market page is awesome compared to blockchain.info's one! its even got a bigger market cap! Note the article links are all the same, except for two small things.

1. None of the links work...because
2. they've done a find&replace in the code, replacing all instances of "bitcoin" with "pipcoin" XD

Anyway, I thought I'd try signup on THIS site and lo 'n behold I managed to sign up! [email protected] lives!
Here is PIPcoin's dashboard and here is Blockchain.info's dashboard.
Here is PIPcoins transactions page and here is Blockchain.info's transaction page.
So pretty much a blatant copy/pasta job.
-- final thoughts --
Its unfortunate that the quality of journalism in SA is so weak. PIPcoin getting a lot of media attention for something thats honestly so dodgy, if you looked at it for more than 5 minutes you'd know. Many people are going to fall for this and if you look at the comments on twitter or on his FB posts or on any video calling out the scam you'll shake your head.
Someone (not me) has even put this site together https://www.pipcoin.co/ which is as informative as it is awesome! Click the login and it takes you to "Logging in should be the last thing you should be worried about right now." and the bottom of the site has the best burn ever

"This website was built as a public service announcement by concerned citizens (and shows what a legitimate site should look like"

I did try connect with the 'owner' via twitter to find the source/calculation of the "R40 314 800,00 lost & counting" figure but so far no reply.
Anyway its late and I'm going to bed. I hope you learnt something and if you see anyone in your social circles promoting this please make them aware.
EDIT: Reddit formatting is hard.
EDIT2: Got a reply from the person behind the pipcoin.co site - http://imgur.com/a/995oN which honestly shows the lack of skills the scheme has in the development/security field and now if you rewatch the interviews you can see why he's so scripted when talking about the tech stack.
EDIT3: Sigh. I made a comment on the PIPcoin FB page to warn people about this and this is the response I found this morning - http://imgur.com/a/tFoAy I dont even know what/how to respond...

BBC

• "Mr Macron defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen by about 65.5% to 34.5% to become, at 39, the country's youngest president, the results show."
• "Mr Macron will also become the first president from outside the two traditional main parties{Socialist Party and The Republicans} since the modern republic's foundation in 1958." | the coup of 13 May
• " 'I want it to be a page of hope and trust,' he (Macron) said."
• "...he would 'guarantee the unity of the nation and... defend and protect Europe.' "
• "Mr Macron's supporters gathered in their thousands to celebrate outside the Louvre in central Paris." | Louvre to Eiffel Tower
• "Security remains tight in the capital and there were reports of police firing tear gas at several hundred anti-capitalist protesters near the [Ménilmontant metro] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9nilmontant_(Paris_M%C3%A9tro) in the 20th arrondissement." Menilmontant Metro to Louvre || Metro Map
• "she (Le Pen) thanked the 11 million people who had voted for her. She said the election had shown a division between 'patriots and globalists' and called for the emergence of a new political force."

Deutsche Welle

• "The youngest French leader since the Emperor Napoleon walked through the courtyards of the Louvre in central Paris alone, to the sound of Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy,' the European anthem on Sunday night to speak to thousands of his supporters."
• "president-elect admitted, was facing an 'immense task,' in reinforcing European unity, fixing the economy and ensuring the country's security in the face of terror threats."
• " source close to Macron told the Reuters news agency he had spoken with Chancellor Merkel on Sunday night and said he would travel to Berlin "very quickly." Merkel's spokesman said she had telephoned Macron to congratulate him on his victory..."
• "Merkel 'looked forward to working together with the new president on the basis of trust in the spirit of the traditional German-French friendship,' her spokesman Steffen Seibert said."

Reuters Canada

• "bring huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain's vote to quit the EU"
• "His immediate challenge will be to secure a majority in next month's parliamentary election{11 and 18 of June 2017} for En Marche! (Onwards!), a political movement that is barely a year old, in order to implement his programme."
• "Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, told Macron: "I am delighted that the ideas you defended of a strong and progressive Europe, which protects all its citizens, will be those that you will carry into your presidency"."
• "Trump also tweeted his congratulations on Macron's 'big win', saying he looked forward to working with him."
• "He plans to blend a big reduction in public spending and a relaxation of labour laws with greater investment in training."
• "projected abstention rate on Sunday of around 25 percent, the highest this century, and by estimates that around 9 percent of those who did vote cast blank or spoiled ballots.
• * Many of those will have been supporters of the far-left maverick Jean-Luc Melenchon, whose high-spending, anti-EU, anti-globalisation platform had many similarities with Le Pen's."
• "France's biggest labour union, the CFDT |Website, welcomed Macron's victory but said that the National Front's score was still worryingly high."
• "Le Pen will now have to work to try to convert her presidential result into parliamentary seats, in a two-round system that has in the past encouraged voters to vote tactically to keep her out."
• "her (Le Pen) deputy Florian Philippot distanced the movement even further from him by saying the new, reconstituted party would not be called 'National Front'."

Aljazeera

• "He promised to 'fight the divisions that undermine France' and to 'rebuild the links between Europe and its citizens'."
• " '"He only just launched his political movement a year ago... that he had no political experience ' Al Jazeera's Natasha Butler "
• "Le Pen called to congratulate Macron shortly after news broke of her defeat"

Reuters

• "Pollsters' projections gave Macron a winning margin of around 65 percent to 35 - a gap wider than the 20 or so percentage points that pre-election surveys had suggested."
• "Macron will become the eighth president of France's Fifth Republic."

Middle East Eye

• " Le Pen said she had called Macron to wish him 'success' in tackling the 'huge challenges' he faces."
• "The euro rose against the dollar in Asian trade and other financial markets are expected to react positively to the news."
• "Macron will now face huge challenges as he attempts to enact his domestic agenda of cutting state spending, easing labour laws, boosting education in deprived areas and extending new protections to the self-employed."
• "Hundreds of thousands of emails and documents stolen from his campaign were dumped online on Friday and then spread by anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, leading the candidate to call it an attempt at 'democratic destabilisation.' "

Bloomberg

• "Transfers of power...No date has been set for Macron’s swearing-in, but it must be before May 14, which is Francois Hollande’s last day as president."
• "first step is to name a prime minister, who then must go to work selecting a cabinet. Macron says he already has a candidate in mind, so his announcement could come almost immediately."
• " How could Macron’s party win Parliament? Most likely it would need to partner up with another party, which would very much shape Macron’s governing agenda. His policies would look different if he’s forced into a coalition with the Socialists or with the center-right Republicans."

The Globe and Mail{not secure | pause ad block}

• "Macron’s team successfully managed to skirt several attempts to derail his campaign - by hacking its communications and distributing purportedly leaked documents - that were reminiscent of the hacking of Democratic Party communications during Hillary Clinton’s U.S. election campaign."
• "shows no sign of wishing to change France’s traditional alliances or reshape its military and peacekeeping roles in the Middle East and Africa."

CBC

• "The result wasn't even close"
• "He has promised a France that would stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin but that also would seek to work with the Russian leader on what he says will be one of his top priorities: fighting the Islamic State "
• "France has been in a state of emergency since then and 50,000 security forces safeguarded Sunday's vote."

Time

• "At just 39, Macron is France's youngest leader ever—breaking a 169-year record held by emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who took power at age 40."
• "Macron's victory has shattered the two-party system of Socialists and conservatives that have endured for 60 years."

Toronto Star

Financial Times

• "Without a legislative majority for his fledgling En Marche! party, Mr Macron, a self-styled independent, may become a prisoner of traditional parties"
• "Without a majority, he will have a less-convincing mandate for the pro-business measures, labour market reforms and overhaul of the state that form the core of his economic programme."
• "...French society is in despair about high unemployment, stagnant living standards, blighted suburbs and racial and religious tensions"
• "Berlin has heard promises of far-reaching change before from newly elected French presidents. But if Germany is not to assist Mr Macron with support for pro-growth investment policies and less dogma about public finances, who in Paris will the Germans ever help?"

Business Insider{pause ad blocker}

The Telegraph

• "The euro went above $1.10 - the first time it has done so since the US election result - after opening at $1.09 and the single currency also surged against the pound, hitting 84.9p from an opening level of 84.7p." 1 euro = 11.12 Venezuelan Bolívar

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty