Dominant Finance Review: 400 day ROI crypto mining Ponzi
Dominant Finance operates in the financial MLM niche and is headed up by President Thomas Eklundh.
According to Eklundh’s Facebook profile he’s based out of Gothenburg, Sweden. There are a few photos of Eklundh on the profile so he, or at least the person playing him, appears to be an actual person.
I say this because there’s a potential red-flag in that the Thomas Eklundh Facebook profile was only set up on April 30th, 2018.
A few marketing meme type posts were made, before Eklundh (right) began promoting Dominant Finance on June 7th. This is not typical Facebook profile activity of an actual person.
Supporting this is the fact that “Thomas Eklundh”, as represented on the Dominant Finance website, doesn’t appear to exist anywhere on the internet prior to 2018.
There is another suspicious “Thomas Lucas Eklundh” Facebook profile featuring the same person, which again has no actual content until March 2018. After which it’s again nothing but Dominant Finance promotion.
A point of interest is the Thomas Lucas Eklundh Facebook profile states Eklundh lives in Chicago, Illinois.
Update 1st January 2019 – As suspected, Thomas Eklundh doesn’t exist. He is being played by someone going by “Sander Lime” on Facebook:
Lime’s real name appears to be Sander Sellin. In an October 2018 interview with Buduaar, Sellin is cited as the Artistic Director of the Ballet Royal Gala.
As per Sellin’s Facebook profile, he is based out of Tallin, Estonia. Why he is fronting Dominant Finance is unclear. /end update
On their website, Dominant Finance provides incorporation certificates for Belize, the UK, Hong Kong, the US and Russia.
We’ll preemptively discard Belize, the UK and Russia, because incorporation in these jurisdictions is practically meaningless.
The Hong Kong certification is an 18th May one-page incorporation document for “Dominant Holdings Limited”.
There doesn’t appear to be anything behind the incorporation other than the minimum requirement of filing some paperwork.
The US incorporation for “Dominant Finance LLC” in Florida. There’s a gun range at the address provided (different suite) but not much else.
A “Dmitri Garusov” is cited as the registered agent on the incorporation document. Garusov is cited as an Executive Director of the company on the Dominant Finance website.
A Facebook profile bearing the name Dmitry Garusov was set up on or around April 27th, 2018. Most of the content is in Russian.
Outside of that there’s nothing connecting Garusov to Dominant Finance. Like Thomas Eklundh, he doesn’t appear to have existed prior to early 2018.
At the time of publication Alexa cite Russia as the largest source of traffic to the Dominant Finance website (26%).
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.
Dominant Finance Products
Dominant Finance has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market Dominant Finance affiliate membership itself.
The Dominant Finance Compensation Plan
Dominant Finance affiliates invest funds on the promise of an advertised ROI.
The company accepts a number of cryptocurrencies, USD and EUR but to keep things simple we’ll analyze only USD below.
Here are the details of Dominant Finance’s four investment plans:
- Crypton – invest at least $100 and receive a daily variable ROI
- AltPool – invest $50 to $10,000 and receive a daily 0.3% to 0.53% ROI for 400 days
- Dominant – invest $100 to $15,000 and receive a daily 0.33% to 0.6% ROI for 400 days
- Mastodon – invest $30,000 and receive a 0.37% to 0.67% daily ROI for 400 days
Referral Commissions
Dominant Finance pay referral commissions via a unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
Dominant Finance don’t appear to cap payable unilevel team levels.
Referral commissions are paid out as a percentage of funds invested across the unilevel team as follows:
- Partner (sign up as a Dominant Finance affiliate) – 4% on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
- Trainee (invest $50 and convince others to invest at least $2500) – 5% on level 1 and 1% on levels 2 and deeper
- Junior Agent (invest $500 and convince others to invest at least $10,000) – 6% on level 1 and 1% to 2% on levels 2 and deeper
- Agent (invest $1000 and convince others to invest at least $25,000) – 7% on level 1 and 1% to 3% on levels 2 and deeper
- Senior Agent (invest $2500 and convince others to invest at least $75,000) – 8% on level 1 and 1% to 4% on levels 2 and deeper
- Manager – invest $5000 and convince others to invest at least $150,000) – 9% on level 1 and 1% to 5% on levels 2 and deeper
- Sapphire (invest $10,000 and convince others to invest at least $350,000) – 10% on level 1 and 1% to 6% on levels 2 and deeper
- Ruby (invest $20,000 and convince others to invest at least $700,000) – 11% on level 1 and 1% to 7% on levels 2 and deeper
- Emerald (invest $40,000 and convince others to invest at least $1,500,000) – 12% on level 1 and 1% to 8% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond (invest $60,000 and convince others to invest at least $3,000,000) – 13% on level 1 and 1% to 9% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond 1 Carat (invest $80,000 and convince others to invest at least $5,000,000) – 14% on level 1 and 1% to 10% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond 2 Carats (invest $100,000 and convince others to invest at least $7,000,000) – 14.5% on level 1 and 0.5% to 10.5% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond 3 Carats (invest $150,000 and convince others to invest $10,000,000) – 15% on level 1 and 1% to 11% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond 4 Carats (invest $200,000 and convince others to invest $15,000,000) – 15.5% on level 1 and 0.5% to 11.5% on levels 2 and deeper
- Diamond 5 Carats (invest $300,000 and convince others to invest at least $20,000,000) – 16% on level 1 and 1% to 12% on levels 2 and deeper
Note that investment amounts are cumulative.
Downline investment contributes to monthly quotas as follows:
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 100% of invested funds
- level 2 – 50% of invested funds
- level 3 – 40% of invested funds
- level 4 – 35% of invested funds
- level 5 – 30% of invested funds
- level 6 – 25% of invested funds
- level 7 – 20% of invested funds
- level 8 – 15% of invested funds
- level 9 – 10% of invested funds
- level 10 and deeper – 5% of invested funds
Where a percentage range is given (levels 2 and deeper of the unilevel team), the percentage paid out is the sum of the downline affiliate’s rank percentage subtracted from that of the qualifying affiliate.
E.g. If you are a Sapphire (6%) and earning on a downline level 3 Senior Agent (4%), you’ll earn a 2% residual commission on their investment.
Matching Bonus
Dominant Finance pay a Matching Bonus on referral commissions earned by unilevel team affiliates:
- Junior Agents are paid a 5% match on level 1 (personally recruited affiliates)
- Agents are paid a 6% match on level 1 and 5% on level 2
- Senior Agents are paid a 7% match on level 1, 6% on level 2 and 5% on level 3
- Managers are paid an 8% match on level 1, 7% on level 2, 6% on level 3 and 5% on level 4
- Sapphires are paid a 9% match on level 1, 8% on level 2, 7% on level 3, 6% on level 4 and 5% on level 5
- Rubies are paid a 10% match on level 1, 9% on level 2, 8% on level 3, 7% on level 4 and 6% on level 5
- Emeralds are paid an 11% match on level 1, 10% on level 2, 9% on level 3, 8% on level 4 and 7% on level 5
- Diamonds are paid a 12% match on level 1, 11% on level 2, 10% on level 3, 9% on level 4 and 8% on level 5
- Diamond 1 Carats are paid a 13% match on level 1, 12% on level 2, 11% on level 3, 10% on level 4 and 9% on level 5
- Diamond 2 Carats are paid a 14% match on level 1, 13% on level 2, 12% on level 3, 11% on level 4 and 10% on level 5
- Diamond 3 Carats are paid a 15% match on level 1, 14% on level 2, 13% on level 3, 12% on level 4 and 11% on level 5
- Diamond 4 Carats are paid a 16% match on level 1, 15% on level 2, 14% on level 3, 13% on level 4 and 12% on level 5
- Diamond 5 Carats are paid a 17% match on level 1, 16% on level 2, 15% on level 3, 14% on level 4 and 13% on level 5
Rank Achievement Bonus
Dominant Finance reward affiliates for qualifying at the Agent and higher ranks with the following bonuses:
- Agent with two personally recruited Junior Agents or higher = $500
- Senior Agent with two personally recruited Agents or higher = $1000
- Manager with two personally recruited Senior Agents or higher = $1500 plus Antminer S9 (or $1000)
- Sapphire with two personally recruited Managers or higher = $3000 plus mining rig (or $2000)
- Ruby with two personally recruited Sapphires or higher = $7000 plus trip to a Leadership Congress (or $3000)
- Emerald with two personally recruited Rubies or higher = $15,000 plus 7-day “luxurious holiday” in Dubai (or $5000)
- Diamond with two personally recruited Emeralds or higher = Mercedes-Bend E-Class car or $50,000
- Diamond 1 Carat with two personally recruited Diamonds or higher = Mercedes-Benz GLX SUV or $100,000
- Diamond 2 Carat with two personally recruited Diamond 1 Carats or higher = Mercedes-Benz Maybach S 560 car or $150,000
- Diamond 3 Carat with two personally recruited Diamond 2 Carats or higher = Bentley Bentayga SUV or $300,000
- Diamond 4 Carats with two personally recruited Diamond 3 Carats or higher = Rolls Royce Wraith or $500,000
- Diamond 5 Carats with two personally recruited Diamond 4 Carats or higher = Rolls Royce Phantom V12 or $1,000,000
Joining Dominant Finance
Dominant Finance affiliate membership is free, however free affiliates only earn single-level referral commissions (non-MLM).
Full participation in the Dominant Finance MLM opportunity requires a minimum $50 investment.
Conclusion
I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest the Dominant Finance is likely being run by Russians.
That said they’ve certainly stepped up their game on the “here’s a ton of bullshit to convince you we actually exist” front.
Hell, there’s even a Dominant Finance Twitch stream set up showing a monitor with chat and some mining hardware:
As with any attempt to feign legitimacy however, there are major inconsistencies to be found if you dig a little deeper.
Perhaps the best example I can give you is from the Dominant Finance website FAQ:
As above, according to the FAQ Dominant Finance “is not an investment fund”.
Scroll down a bit on the same page and you’ll then see this:
Talk about a pseudo-compliance fail…
Dominant Finance solicits investment on the claim its generating external ROI revenue through bitcoin mining (trading is mention on the site too but not on the investment package page).
Naturally there’s no explicit evidence of external ROI revenue being used to pay affiliates a daily ROI.
All Dominant Finance offer up are photos of computer equipment with company stickers and banners. This is par for the course when it comes to an MLM crypto company trying to convince you its legit.
Fortunately there’s no substitute for audited accounting, which Dominant Finance is required to keep so as to not run foul of securities law (which applies to pretty much every jurisdiction they operate in).
Hence the baloney about not being an “investment fund”, an excuse Dominant Finance blows to smithereens itself.
As it stands Dominant Finance’s only verifiable source of revenue is new investment.
The use of which to pay affiliates a daily ROI makes Dominant Finance a Ponzi scheme.
On top of that you have recruitment commissions (no retail here), adding an additional pyramid layer to the scheme.
As with all Ponzi schemes, once new investment runs out so too will ROI revenue.
This will see Dominant Finance stop paying affiliates and then eventually collapsing.
A 400 day maturity period gives Dominant Finance plenty of time to implement an exit-strategy.
Typical excuses used by MLM cryptocurrency companies pretending to be mining include “changed market conditions” and “securities regulation they weren’t aware of”.
Toss in the murkiness of Dominant Finance’s corporate structure, and you’ve got yet another dodgy MLM crypto company to stay well-clear of.
Nice article !
I se among others Andreas Kartrude shilling this “liftimeoppertunity” (guess the last to scams he did since swisscoin collapsed didnt takeoff).
Guess he got tired of lying to his downline about the “soooon” to come succes of the onecoinclone swisscoin he was shilling last year.
I dug around abit after This Thomas Eklundh fellow and couldent find him (so either he emigrated from swe our he yust plain didnt exist).
Keep up the good work Oz!
The address in Florida is an industrial park, and not a particularly good one either. It’s just some bare warehouses.
I see the “Eklundh” person in videos, but no assurance of not being an actor. I cannot place the accent, but that is hardly surprising for me. The farthest back I can find Eklundh mentioned so far is June 6.
youtube.com/watch?v=A2JY2E4WCBU
There is also an associated YouTube channel under the name Eugen Kuschtan which appears to be a German-speaking member of the group’s inner circle.
Seems to be the new project of the Questra people (after Digitherum and Alpha Cash):
scampol.org/dominant-finance-novaja-afera-aleksandra-prochuhana-i-cheslava-konjuha-pestjuka-prishedshaja-na-smenu-digithereum-i-alpha-cash/
Go to the profile of Lea Innez:
It seems that the biggest problem with crypto tokens is that the market is barely regulated and controlled by financial authorities that makes Ponzi schemes and financial pyramids like Questra/ AGAM, Five Winds (FWAM), Digitherium, Alpha Cash, Golden Island or Dominant Finance possible.
And their creators, like Prochukhan and Pestyuk are still able not only to avoid criminal punishment and attack other market players with black PR-campaigns.
The market definitely needs international professional standards to be implemented as well some global regulative acts.
Also, in my opinion, the players shall create and participate in the professional associations, which would provide no place for the people like Alex Prochukhan and Cheslav Pestyuk.
A 80% Russian team (just have a look at the their board) of scammers residing (?) in Gotenburg, Sweden.
What’s the funniest thing after the all procurator’s office of Stockholm is going to apply to Interpol with request regarding Alex Prochukhan based on the claims of 10 or so Swedes involved in the previous Prochukhan’s projects.
Recieved no refback from them!!! Registered in Belize, one of the poorest in Central America and have a fake office in Gotenburg, Sweden with a half-Russian team, but no one to have a talk with, who is in charge for it personally!
Scam! Stay away from dealing with them!!!
This is scam! You can’t to make money at this project!
Owners of this project are criminal persons. They scamed people from many countries!
Looks like scam…Be carefull!
This is same scam hyip like Alpha Cash, Crypto Pride and Digithereum! Don’t try it!
Not paying.
(Ozedit: link to dodgy HYIP monitor website removed)
this Thomas Eklundh is fake person, real name is Sander Sellin.
teatmik.ee/en/personprivate/58924-Sander-Sellin
facebook.com/sander.lime
facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1854407061271848&set=a.834311423281422&type=3
Research checks out. Well done!
So that collapse came as no suprise, Thay frozen all accounts, and are pulling the plug