Latest news about Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies. Your daily crypto news habit.
A cryptocurrency staking app which offers 1.5% daily returns might be a Ponzi scheme related to one that exit-scammed two years ago.
A cryptocurrency staking wallet that offers users as much as 1.5% daily returns is bearing striking resemblance to a Ponzi scheme.
Thatâs according to a Medium article published on April 19 by Jan Kowalski which warns readers to steer clear of an app known as StakedWallet. The website offers Proof-of-Stake âinvestment opportunitiesâ wherein the userâs daily payout increases the longer they keep their funds staked.
Staking payouts begin at 0.6% per day, and increase to 1.5% after nine months. Seemingly effortless daily returns such as these have been a hallmark of almost all well-known cryptocurrency scams in the past, including the infamous BitConnect.
At first glance the app appears to have overwhelmingly positive reviews on both Google Play and the App Store, as well as Trustpilot. However, closer inspection of the reviews shows them to be either incredibly vague, or lacking in logic.
One Gabriel CÄtÄlin Baltac wrote on Trustpilot on April 19 that he had already made âmillions of bitcoinsâ using the app:
âGreat app i've made millions of bitcoins using this thank you!â
As of press time, total supply of BTC is roughly 18.34 million.
Return of Westland Storage?
Of the 945 reviews left on Trustpilot, just 4% fall under the âbadâ category, while 93% are either âexcellentâ or âgreatâ. However, many of the bad reviews echo a similar sentiment - and they also make mention of âWestland Storageâ:
âAll of you should be arrested. I am following and you will see the result. I will see all of you under arrest. Only way is you refund me. Pay my money back scammer. You thieves from westland storage and now stakedwallet.io have rubbed my 10 LTC. Pay it backâŠâ
Kowalskiâs article also mentions Westland Storage â a defunct cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that exit-scammed in late 2018. Indeed, Kowalski claims that the operators of Westland Storage are the same people running StakedWallet today.
His article draws attention to similarities between StakedWalletâs website and that of Westland Storage, seen below. Kowalksi also notes similarities in the user interface of both mobile apps, while the in-app token, SWL, is a slight rearrangement of Westland Storageâs WSL token.
The landing page of Westland Storage. Source: Medium
Kowalski â a victim of Westland Storageâs exit-scam two years ago â is well-placed to compare the two projects. He says he registered for StakedWallet and noticed the similarities straight-away:
âI knew what it is. Same bounty system, suspiciously similar in-app currency called SWL (Westland Storage had WLS), literally the same part of UI in StakedWallet as in Westland Storage mobile app. The similarities are just too huge.â
The StakedWallet website links to documents displaying the projectâs status as a legally registered company in Australia, however, as Kowalski notes, Westland Storage was also a registered company.
The websiteâs traffic jumped from 72 clicks per month, to 437,000 clicks, within the last three months, according to data from a free SEO plugin tool. No ownership information is present on the website. Attempts were made to reach the site owners, but no reply has been forthcoming thus far.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.