On this page, the Metacoin team will keep tabs on some of the “Passive Income Programs” (or “PIPs”) that we’re trying out. This is an experiment, and you agree that, by checking out this site, you and you alone are responsible for successes or failures with any of these programs.
We’ll also share AFFILIATE LINKS here – these are either direct links or banner ads, and, for some of them, we may receive compensation for your participation.
We’ll keep updating this site as the weeks go by…like crypto in general, this is a rapidly changing space. Stay tuned for more updates.
An Updated Soliloquy on Passive Income
INFORMATION UPDATED November 30, 2017
Ladies and gentlemen, this stuff is HARD.
If you’ve been under the impression that Passive Income of any kind is easy, well, you do need to check yourself at the door. Sure, there are some passive income experts out there – folks like Pat Flynn are really cool individuals who have it all together – but behind the scenes, they have worked their tails off (Mr. Flynn, for instance, joined Twitter in March of 2008 – so yeah, it’s an “overnight success that took ten years”).
And I am sorry if I misled you in any way into thinking that all you need to do is pick a couple of smart Passive Income Programs in cryptocurrency and you’ll get rich. I don’t believe I ever said that – and I am knee-deep in semi-constant experimentation.
I figure today is as good a day as any to do a couple things:
- Update this page with “news you can use,”
- Underscore which things are definite scams, likely scams, and things to watch out for.
Bear in mind that the disclosure at the top still stands: do your own research, you are investing in any of these platforms at your own risk, we’re not responsible for gains or losses as a result, and don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.
One last thing: we will, from time to time, reorder the information on this page. The “Good Guys” are nearer the top. The “SCAMS” are toward the bottom.
Genesis Mining
INFORMATION UPDATED February 23, 2020
The last time we updated this page was late 2017. We haven’t done much with mining since then. But we’ll leave the AFFILIATE LINK up.
Click on this link GENESIS MINING and use our AFFILIATE CODE: waVTYG
Altcoin Exchange
INFORMATION UPDATED February 23, 2020
I have no earthly idea what is going on with this site. Copyright at the bottom says 2018. BUT, until we hear it’s dead, we’ll leave it here. Follow this link for more info: Altcoin Exchange.
The Following Are SCAMS:
Bitconnect is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED December 6, 2017 – Read our November 13 FULL BLOG POST HERE.
One update to what’s below – we have today (December 6, 2017) removed the ad on the front page of the site, replacing it with a “Search This Site” bar. There is still an ad running on this Passive Income page, as well as on other pages on this site.
We’ll keep some of the early information available below for you to see the experience – we *have* actually been in this platform since early July – and it has been profitable for us.
However, beginning on the 13th of November, we started changing our approach, and rather drastically so.
On the one hand, doing the math behind rolling each day’s accrued interest into another 299-day $10 or $20 tranche could pay off in the long run, we’re beginning to think that the risks of doing that so outweigh the benefits that, well, we stopped. As a result, we are taking all interest and commission payments and transferring them first to BCC – the Bitconnect coin – and then to Bitcoin.
And once we have enough Bitcoin in the platform to move it into a wallet, that’s what we do.
Our change is due to one of many factors – but, honestly, while the platform may be legit, any legitimacy is outweighed by the unsavory characters that are promoting this platform.
I, for one, like sleeping well at night, and Bitconnect doesn’t help me do that. I have more faith in Bitcoin and some other altcoins, and maybe a couple other experiments that we’ll detail below, so those places are where my money will go.
Here’s the text detailing our earlier investments in the platform:
Bitconnect got us rolling into these platforms. Our first foray into the PIPs was one that it took us at least a little time to understand: it’s called a “Lending” program and, while you are technically lending your Bitcoins, you’re really following a more involved process than that, and you’re lending money to Bitconnect itself so it can make money on your behalf. Here’s a chart of what we’ve accomplished to date – and we’ll explain what went down below the spreadsheet.
Getting started with Bitconnect is rather easy: first you trade your Bitcoins for BCC coins (and Bitconnect itself is a currency with an $830m market cap as of this writing, so it’s not going anywhere, we think; that put us at ease), and then you invest your BCC coins into the “volatility software” bot. That’s where you’re “lending” the coins to the bot, so that the bot can work its magic.
The minimum buy-in is $100, and your money is held for as many as 299 days. But the compelling premise – again, provided this site doesn’t go under and take your money with it – is that you can compound your interest by reinvesting. You take the profits from your investment and, as long as you have a minimum of $10, you can reinvest. However, your reinvestments are basically new tranches, and each additional tranche is locked up for 299 days.
Above, our performance so far, which is not too bad. We invested $110 to start and didn’t learn the nuances of reinvestment until we had $21.50 on July 26.
The only way to really compound your earnings is to reinvest; you can withdraw any of your earnings at any time, but if you want to work the magic of compound interest, you’ll need to reinvest. (And, again, that means saying goodbye to your money for 299 days.)
Commissions can be yours, too!
We lucked out on August 9: one day after a reinvestment of $10, someone used our BITCONNECT AFFILIATE LINK to invest. And they actually put enough into the site to throw off in excess of $30 in commissions.
In theory – and here’s where our main reticence lay – this is a Multi-Level Marketing program. So yeah, that means that you could technically build a huge team of your own by signing up with the link above and that team could build a huge team, too, and everyone could be happy.
MLM plans, though, immediately get people asking “is this a pyramid?” or “is this a Ponzi scheme?” We asked the same thing – but the tell-tale sign is if you’re selling a “product” or you’re in the “recruitment business.” There is benefit to getting more people in your team – through the added referral commissions you could earn – but the centerpiece of Bitconnect is, in fact, its volatility software product.
About Those Interest Rates…
The main difference between Bitconnect and Control Finance (which we’ll talk about below) is the fluctuating interest with Bitconnect. You could have some good days, you could have some bad days, you could have some zero days (highlighted above in lavender). You won’t see your principal drop, so that’s good – but the fluctuations mean less stability.
However, that could also bring more profit: Bitconnect caps the monthly interest at 40%. Our first month was 35.44% – but we got a better performance (71.32%) thanks to commissions and compounding.
USI-Tech is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED January 6, 2018
All users of USI-Tech in the USA and Canada received a cease and desist order on Friday, January 5. We’ve removed all links from our site.
Chain Group is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED December 29, 2017
Chain Group is a scam. Don’t invest your money if you can find the website.
Hexabot is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED December 6, 2017
You can read the full blog post from December 5 for more information, but all withdrawals are now impossible, and the bots that invest on your behalf don’t work anymore. It is officially a SCAM.
Coinreum is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED November 30, 2017
Thank goodness we didn’t invest too much in this one – our normal equivalent of about $50 or so – but this had all the signs of a SCAM from the get-go…
- Awful English-language skills on the front page (so bad that we were imagining someone typing the whole thing into Google Translate and just spitting out the results)
- Outrageous claims – like Bitpetite made, 3 percent (or more) daily
- Crappy social media presence (they had a Twitter account, and that disappeared shortly after we invested)
AVOID COINREUM – WHICH APPEARS, AS OF THIS WRITING, TO STILL TAKE INVESTMENTS…
Bitpetite is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED November 2, 2017
You can read our post on Bitpetite and lessons learned here.
- First, site was under maintenance.
- Then, those behind the site tweeted several updates about how, in effect, they weren’t a scam and weren’t shutting down and weren’t taking everyone’s money.
- Finally, all traces of the company disappeared off of the web and off of Twitter.
Our advice, as always, is to proceed with caution and if you have the chance to withdraw – e.g. “profit taking” – you should do that with any of these platforms as sensibly as possible.
But it’s a scam. We’re not surprised. We’re bummed – but we’re not surprised.
Bithaul is a SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED September 26, 2017
We’ve removed our affiliate links – Bithaul is a scam. Don’t invest.
Control Finance – IT’S A SCAM
INFORMATION UPDATED September 14, 2017
**EDITOR’S NOTE: We’ve updated this to simply tell you that it was a SCAM and your money is likely gone.
Again, with any of these platforms, CAVEAT EMPTOR, do your own research, and don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.**
