coinye-coins-logoCoinye is a cryptocurrency that launched in 2014. It was abandoned shortly after launch, following a trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Kanye West.

On January 6, 2014, Kanye West’s lawyers sent the development team a cease and desist order on the basis that the then-unreleased currency constituted trademark infringement, unfair competition, cyberpiracy and dilution.

In response to the legal threats, the development team changed the name of the currency from “Coinye West” to “Coinye” and moved to a new domain name.

By January 10, 2014, the development team stated that they had removed all references to West but instead “to a half-man-half-fish hybrid,” a nod to a South Park episode in which West fails to realize why people are jokingly calling him a “gay fish.”

These actions were not sufficient to appease West’s legal team and a lawsuit was filed against the creators of the coin, prompting them to sell their Coinye holdings and leave the project. (Wikipedia)

Coinye as a cryptocurrency has since stagnated. Development of the coin is dead but it’s still tradeable.

Now, through the website “coinyecoins.com”, someone is trying to attach an MLM opportunity to Coinye.

The Coinye Coins website appears to be modeled on existing marketing literature for Coinye. The website lists Robin Clayton as CEO of the company, alongside of a photo of deceased actor Robin Williams.

Similarly the photo provided for COO Clive Bruce, is actually that of Bruce Berkowitz, an equity fund manager and registered investment adviser.

Needless to say it’s highly likely that neither Robin Clayton or Clive Bruce, as represented on the Coinye Coins website, actually exist.

The CoinyeCoins website domain meanwhile was registered on the 25th of December, 2015. The registration appears to be bogus, listing “COINYEYE” of “COINYECOINS” as the owner. An incomplete address in Thailand is also provided.

This conflicts with the Coinye Coins website and compensation plan material, which provide an address for “Coinye Digitial Inc.” in Malta.

Further research reveals Coinye Coins Malta address actually belongs to Fairwinds Management Limited.

Fairwinds Management provides cost-effective and efficient company incorporation services in Malta.

The minimum share capital required to set up a company in Malta is €1,165. The share capital does not need to be paid in full, however a minimum of 20% needs to be paid up.

This suggests Coinye Coins exists in Malta in name only.

A source of further confusion is the Coinye Coins “User Agreement”, which starts off with “Welcome, and thanks for using coinye.co”.

Coinye.co appears to be the source for most of the information on the Coinye Coins website.

The Coinye.co domain was registered on November 21st, 2015. Anil Shah of Alibag Webhosting is listed as the owner, with an address in Maharashtra, India also provided.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.

The Coinye Coins Product Line

Coinye Coins has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market Coinye Coins affiliate membership itself.

The Coinye Coins Compensation Plan

The Coinye Coins compensation plan sees affiliates in invest in “Coinye Packages”:

  • Basic – $200
  • Starter – $700
  • Business – $1500
  • Professional – $3000
  • Executive – $7000
  • Owner – $15,000

Commissions are paid when Coinye Coins affiliates recruit others who do the same.

CoinYe ROIs

Coinye Coins solicit investment from affiliates of up to $15,000.

The company claims that after 365 days, affiliates will be able to claim “400% profit or more”:

how-does-coinye-work-compensation-plan-slide

How much of this ROI Coinye Coins affiliates are able to withdraw daily is determined by how much they initially invested:

  • Basic ($200) – $100
  • Starter ($700) – $300
  • Business ($1500) – $700
  • Professional ($3000) – $1500
  • Executive – ($7000) – $3000
  • Owner ($15,000) – $7500

Finally, a 10% referral commission is paid on funds invested by personally recruited Coinye Coins affiliates.

70% of the 10% referral commission is paid out in cash. The remaining 30% must be reinvested back into the company.

Residual Commissions

Residual commissions in Coinye Coins are paid out via a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

binary-MLM-compensation-plan

The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting each of the two first level positions into another two positions each.

Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.

Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of new Coinye Coins affiliates.

At the end of each day Coinye Coins tallies up new investment on both sides of the binary team, with affiliates paid 10% of funds invested on the weaker side.

70% of the 10% commission is paid out in cash and 30% of it must be reinvested back into the company.

Matching Bonus

A Matching Bonus is available on residual commissions earned by recruited affiliates.

The Matching Bonus is paid out via a unilevel compensation structure, with affiliates able to earn a match on five levels of recruitment.

How many levels of recruitment a Coinye Coins affiliate receives a match on, is determined by how much they initially invested.

  • Basic ($200) – no matching bonus
  • Starter ($700) – 10% on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
  • Business ($1500) – 10% on level 1 and 15% on level 2
  • Professional ($3000) – 10% on level 1, 15% on level 2 and 20% on level 3
  • Executive – ($7000) – 10% on level 1, 15% on level 2, 20% on level 3 and 25% on level 4
  • Owner ($15,000) – 10% on level 1, 15% on level 2, 20% on level 3, 25% on level 4 and 30% on level 5

Rewards

Based on invested funds on both sides of the binary, Coinye Coins affiliates are able to claim the following rewards:

  • Co-ordinator ($10,000 on both sides of the binary and recruit 2 affiliates) = Coinye recognition pin
  • Team Leader ($25,000 on both sides of the binary and maintain 2 recruited affiliates) = iPad Mini and 2500 bonus Coinye coins
  • Supervisor ($50,000 on both sides of the binary and 2 personally recruited Co-ordinators) = iPhone and a car “worth $5000”
  • Executive Director ($100,000 on both sides of the binary and recruit four Co-ordinator ranked affiliates) = Mac Air Book and a car “worth $10,000”
  • Diamond ($150,000 and have 1 Team Leader and 1 Supervisor on both sides of the binary) = Mac Air Book, a Rolex watch and a car “worth $20,000”
  • Blue Diamond ($300,000 and have 2 Supervisors on both sides of the binary) = Mac Air Book, Blue Diamond Luxury Trip “worth $10,000” and a car “worth $30,000”
  • Black Diamond ($500,000 and have 1 Supervisor and 1 Executive Director on both sides of the binary) = Mac Air Book, a Black Diamond Luxury Trip “worth $15,000” and a car “worth $50,000”
  • Royal Diamond ($1,000,000 and have 2 Diamonds on either side of the binary) = Mac Air Book, a Blue Diamond Luxury Trip “worth $20,000” and a car “worth $100,000”

Joining Coinye Coins

Affiliate membership with Coinye Coins is tied to investment in a Coinye Package:

  • Basic – $200
  • Starter – $700
  • Business – $1500
  • Professional – $3000
  • Executive – $7000
  • Owner – $15,000

The primary difference between the above packages is income potential through the Coinye Coins compensation plan.

Conclusion

Become a part of Coinye masses.

Join us as a [sic] owner and become a billionaire in year 2020.

When I first began researching Coinye Coins it wasn’t long before I was inclined to write the whole thing off as some sort of joke.

I don’t know what got lost in translation in Thailand, India or even Malta… but it appears someone out there still thinks Coinye is a thing.

Jokes aside, Coinye Coins attaches the abandoned Coinye cryptocurrency to what is otherwise a pyramid scheme.

The owner(s) have likely bought up a large reserve of Coinye coins, which they are reselling through the opportunity. The ROI projections appear to be based solely on a hypothetical demand increase of Coinye.

With no practical use for the coin… the chances of that happening are pretty much zero.

Meanwhile the owners of Coinye Coins who are reselling the worthless coins to their affiliates, make bank.

Then there’s the pyramid side of the business, that sees affiliates paid to recruit new investors. Realistically with Coinye publicly tradeable, all recruitment does is line the pockets of Coinye Coins’ owner(s).

It also serves as the primary method Coinye Coins investors will recoup their losses.

In true pyramid scheme fashion though, the base layer of the pyramid is always going to be the largest. Meaning the majority of Coinye Coins investors will lose money.

Looking at the bigger picture, here’s hoping Coinye Coins isn’t the start of a trend that sees scammers snatching up abandoned low-value cryptocurrencies, and then attaching them to nefarious MLM compensation plans.