{"id":39288,"date":"2021-03-20T19:55:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-20T17:55:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=39288"},"modified":"2025-08-30T08:49:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T05:49:42","slug":"bitclout-nft-marketplace-suspected-of-a-170-million-scam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/bitclout-nft-marketplace-suspected-of-a-170-million-scam\/","title":{"rendered":"BitClout NFT marketplace suspected of a $170 million scam"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some members of the crypto community suspected the BitClout NFT marketplace of a scam, calling it &#8216;Bitconnect 2.0&#8217;. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>BitClout is positioned as a decentralized social network. The project offers the ability to purchase tokens tied to the names of the owners of 15,000 famous Twitter accounts, including Elon Musk and Katy Perry.<\/p>\n<p>According to the <a href=\\\"https:\/\/bitcloutwhitepaper.com\/\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">whitepaper<\/a>, the project uses \\&#8221;a proprietary blockchain architecture similar to Bitcoin\\&#8221;. The price correlates with the activity of famous individuals.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\\&#8221;An influencer who tweets about the site may receive a portion of the tokens associated with their identity. Elon Musk theoretically has a claim to the corresponding BitClout tokens worth about $2.96 million,\\&#8221; according to Decrypt.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Among those who tweeted about BitClout was Neil Strauss, author of \\&#8221;The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists,\\&#8221; a book about him and his rise as a pickup artist.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p dir=\\\"ltr\\\" lang=\\\"en\\\">Anyone trying Bitclout yet? I\u2019m at <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/5n1Jboms5Y\\\">https:\/\/t.co\/5n1Jboms5Y<\/a><br \/>\nPublic key: BC1YLgWTMT1hecivzS4N1Dvu4UZGPZJkJQUdJRQmhSTsqD2D7LsJSV2<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Neil Strauss (@neilstrauss) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/neilstrauss\/status\/1372269065817915392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">March 17, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>When you follow the link from Strauss\u2019s tweet, the project site displays the message:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\\&#8221;Welcome to the BitClout blockchain. A password is required to access this node.\\&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The whitepaper states that participation in the ecosystem requires acquiring the project&#8217;s tokens by buying them for the primary cryptocurrency on the Buy BitClout page. However, when following the link, the aforementioned message appears:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\\\"lazy\\\" decoding=\\\"async\\\" class=\\\"size-full wp-image-128569 aligncenter\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bitclout.png\\\" alt=\\\"NFT-\u043c\u0430\u0440\u043a\u0435\u0442\u043f\u043b\u0435\u0439\u0441 BitClout \u0437\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438 \u0432 \u0441\u043a\u0430\u043c\u0435 \u043d\u0430 $170 \u043c\u043b\u043d\\\" width=\\\"1161\\\" height=\\\"136\\\" srcset=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bitclout.png 1161w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bitclout-300x35.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bitclout-1024x120.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bitclout-768x90.png 768w\\\" sizes=\\\"auto, (max-width: 1161px) 100vw, 1161px\\\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Decrypt reports that project tokens cannot be withdrawn from the platform. One can only purchase BitClout coins with Bitcoin, then send them to other participants, or buy \\&#8221;Creator Coins\\&#8221; inside the closed ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Transactions involving BitClout tokens cannot be traced. The project&#8217;s code from anonymous developers has not been published.<\/p>\n<p>Funds from users flowed to a single <a href=\\\"https:\/\/explorer.btc.com\/btc\/address\/1PuXkbwqqwzEYo9SPGyAihAge3e9Lc71b\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"noopener\\\">\u0431\u0438\u0442\u043a\u043e\u0438\u043d-\u0430\u0434\u0440\u0435\u0441<\/a>. Its balance at the time of writing stands at 2,881.97531607 BTC (about $170 million at the current rate).<\/p>\n<p>The head of blockchain company CipherBlade, Rich Sanders, concluded that the funds raised by the project flow to three cryptocurrency platforms:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>88.41% \u2014 Amber Group;<\/li>\n<li>11.17% \u2014 Kraken;<\/li>\n<li>0.42% \u2014 Coinbase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then the coins are sent to other exchanges and wallets.<\/p>\n<div id=\\\"attachment_128568\\\" style=\\\"width: 612px\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption aligncenter\\\"><img loading=\\\"lazy\\\" decoding=\\\"async\\\" aria-describedby=\\\"caption-attachment-128568\\\" class=\\\"size-full wp-image-128568\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sdfgsdfgsd.png\\\" alt=\\\"NFT-\u043c\u0430\u0440\u043a\u0435\u0442\u043f\u043b\u0435\u0439\u0441 BitClout \u0437\u0430\u043f\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0437\u0440\u0438\u043b\u0438 \u0432 \u0441\u043a\u0430\u043c\u0435 \u043d\u0430 $170 \u043c\u043b\u043d\\\" width=\\\"602\\\" height=\\\"547\\\" srcset=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sdfgsdfgsd.png 602w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sdfgsdfgsd-300x273.png 300w\\\" sizes=\\\"auto, (max-width: 602px) 100vw, 602px\\\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\\\"caption-attachment-128568\\\" class=\\\"wp-caption-text\\\">BitClout-related fund flows. Data: Decrypt, CipherBlade.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The diagram above also shows that BitClout interacted with the notorious darknet marketplace Hydra.<\/p>\n<p>Representatives from Coinfirm, a firm specializing in tracking suspicious transactions, compared BitClout to the fraudulent crypto project Bitconnect.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier ForkLog published <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/nft-tokens-a-straightforward-game-among-the-savvy-and-the-wealthy-or-a-new-phase-in-the-development-of-digital-rights\">an article about NFT<\/a>, in which opinions from various experts on the new segment are presented.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-embedded-content\\\" data-secret=\\\"ikIv6EnyJL\\\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-are-nfts\">What is NFT?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\\\"lazy\\\" class=\\\"wp-embedded-content\\\" sandbox=\\\"allow-scripts\\\" security=\\\"restricted\\\" style=\\\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\\\" title=\\\"\u00ab\u0427\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a\u043e\u0435 NFT?\u00bb \u2014 ForkLog\\\" src=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/cryptorium\/chto-takoe-nft\/embed#?secret=LlF6vIVw1r#?secret=ikIv6EnyJL\\\" data-secret=\\\"ikIv6EnyJL\\\" width=\\\"500\\\" height=\\\"282\\\" frameborder=\\\"0\\\" marginwidth=\\\"0\\\" marginheight=\\\"0\\\" scrolling=\\\"no\\\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to ForkLog\u2019s channel on <a href=\\\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCC9FnXTC8_ENzaNSO5cHQ6g\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"nofollow noopener\\\"> YouTube<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some members of the crypto community suspected the BitClout NFT marketplace of a scam, calling it &#8216;Bitconnect 2.0&#8217;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1154,1213],"class_list":["post-39288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-crimes","tag-nft"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"18","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39290,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39288\/revisions\/39290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}