Another round of scam forks is hitting the market. The latest addition to the growing portfolio of fake coins piggybacking off of established cryptocurrencies is Bitcoin White. A scam fork so obvious it’s hard to believe anyone forked over any of their cash.
According to CoinMarketCap, roughly 2.5 BTC in volume has exchanged hands within the last 24 hours.
But with an unknown market cap and absolutely no visible ties to Bitcoin, no legitimate sources have come to defend this project.
Even if the problem is fairly contained in this instance, the Bitcoin White scam can be a teaching lesson for future investors on what to look for when analyzing a new coin.
What is a Scam Fork?
A scam fork uses an established blockchain with the intent of manipulating brand recognition to foster a facade of legitimacy. In a time where accepted forks like BCH are still battling a war for mainstream adoption, it’s incredibly bold to try and capitalize on Bitcoin’s name. This was recently seen with Bitcoin Gold, which managed to use its supposed ties to Bitcoin to secure a high-value for their initial tokens.
If some kind of technical breakthrough happens on the initial Bitcoin blockchain, the best course of action is usually to rebrand into a new coin. It’s doubtful that anyone who is not involved with the Bitcoin Core team has come up with any revelatory innovations that warrant a new fork. But these claims continue to be made.
Anonymity and Legitimacy – Bitcoin White Has Only One
There is room for anonymity when launching a new project. It was the foundation for the blockchain revolution after all. But there is a fine common sense line that should be drawn when looking into new projects. The team section of Bitcoin White has a photo roster of masked men or women, and no professional credentials or valid Github links.
The majority of the website is littered with typos and broken translated English. There also some very bold claims like using the “sidechain architecture” which no current leaders in the blockchain space know how to feasibly accomplish at this time. This in itself would be a breakthrough in the industry.
Beware of Buzzwords
Tech jargon is inherently opaque and it takes a dedicated effort to explain it in layman’s terms. But that doesn’t mean it is incommunicable. The nonsense keeps piling up once you dig deeper into the supposed Bitcoin White use cases.
Take a look at this gem:
“Bitcoin White appeals to both developers and businesses because it offers a strong platform where prosperousness of the “ecology” has direct relation with the developer’s productivity.”
Uh.. what?
The whitepaper is arguably the most important part of a new crypto coin. It gives the developers a chance to connect with tech-minded folks and allows them to disseminate that information to investors. BTW’s white paper has instead simple directly copied sections from the Asch paper.
Tests used to run the actual wallet result directly in an error. The wallet lacks basic functionality.
Overall, with a plagiarized white paper, an unintelligible website, outrageous claims and software that doesn’t even work – it’s a safe bet to stay away from a “project” like this. These are all sure signs to look out for when researching new entries into the cryptocurrency space.
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