GAW Miners accused of Ponzi practices, CEO Garza defends company

Monday, 24/11/2014 | 14:55 GMT by Leon Pick
  • GAW Miners is facing accusations of operating like a Ponzi scheme,
  • but CEO Garza is defending the company's practices.
GAW Miners accused of Ponzi practices, CEO Garza defends company

GAW Miners, the company marketing low cost mining hardware and services, has come under fire in the Bitcoin community. Many are branding GAW as scammers engaging in deception and Ponzi-like practices. Among the accusations levelled against GAW: - They are a Ponzi-like Mining Pool system, whereby the company's own mining pool (ZenPool) allegedly delivers high payouts consistently, relative to others. - Paycoin (a.k.a. Hashcoin), GAW's new cryptocurrency and payment system. The coin is claimed to be worth $20 apiece, making for a market cap of $5 billion (although this figure may be based on an incorrect assumption as to the maximum coin count)- roughly equal to that of Bitcoin. Privileged clientele will be able to get the coin for $4 prior to the "ICO" (initial coin offering). “Analysts and banks” are reportedly involved as well, whose identities have not been disclosed. - CEO Josh Garza reportedly announced partnerships with major retailers including Walmart, Target and Amazon, which would supposedly accept paycoin. Coinfire claims to have obtained confirmation from the three companies denying any relationship with GAW or Paycoin. - Coinfire says it was hacked by GAW or its allies in retribution for its unfavorable GAW coverage, with unsavory content posted. - Hashtalk is apparently a GAW-run forum rewarding commenters praising the company with "hashpoints", while critical commentary is downvoted or removed. Comments on the forum are dominated by GAW proxies and employees acting as shills, often under fabricated identities. Garza responds to Coinfire's claims on Hashtalk, saying their claims are inaccurate and alleging a reputation of bending the truth. He points to their Alexa rank as proof of their low article quality, and therefore, no "billion-dollar retailer would provide any information to a publication like this." He ends off by declaring as fact that "Paycoin will be able to be used at tier-one merchants, either directly or through a debit card in the coming months." Numerous other mining hardware/service companies have been the targets of complaints and legal action by customers. Two notable cases have been Butterfly Labs and Hashfast, both recently approved for liquidation.

GAW Miners, the company marketing low cost mining hardware and services, has come under fire in the Bitcoin community. Many are branding GAW as scammers engaging in deception and Ponzi-like practices. Among the accusations levelled against GAW: - They are a Ponzi-like Mining Pool system, whereby the company's own mining pool (ZenPool) allegedly delivers high payouts consistently, relative to others. - Paycoin (a.k.a. Hashcoin), GAW's new cryptocurrency and payment system. The coin is claimed to be worth $20 apiece, making for a market cap of $5 billion (although this figure may be based on an incorrect assumption as to the maximum coin count)- roughly equal to that of Bitcoin. Privileged clientele will be able to get the coin for $4 prior to the "ICO" (initial coin offering). “Analysts and banks” are reportedly involved as well, whose identities have not been disclosed. - CEO Josh Garza reportedly announced partnerships with major retailers including Walmart, Target and Amazon, which would supposedly accept paycoin. Coinfire claims to have obtained confirmation from the three companies denying any relationship with GAW or Paycoin. - Coinfire says it was hacked by GAW or its allies in retribution for its unfavorable GAW coverage, with unsavory content posted. - Hashtalk is apparently a GAW-run forum rewarding commenters praising the company with "hashpoints", while critical commentary is downvoted or removed. Comments on the forum are dominated by GAW proxies and employees acting as shills, often under fabricated identities. Garza responds to Coinfire's claims on Hashtalk, saying their claims are inaccurate and alleging a reputation of bending the truth. He points to their Alexa rank as proof of their low article quality, and therefore, no "billion-dollar retailer would provide any information to a publication like this." He ends off by declaring as fact that "Paycoin will be able to be used at tier-one merchants, either directly or through a debit card in the coming months." Numerous other mining hardware/service companies have been the targets of complaints and legal action by customers. Two notable cases have been Butterfly Labs and Hashfast, both recently approved for liquidation.

About the Author: Leon Pick
Leon  Pick
  • 1998 Articles
  • 5 Followers
About the Author: Leon Pick
  • 1998 Articles
  • 5 Followers

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