StepCoin Review: A fitness cryptocurrency?
There is no information on the StepCoin website indicating who owns or runs the business.
The StepCoin website domain (“stepcoin.net”) was registered on the 24th of March 2016, however the domain registration is set to private.
The StepCoin Partner Agreement mentions “Jannim Trading LLP” as “the company” behind StepCoin.
Jannim Trading LLP (hereinafter the “Company”) proposes any individual person to attain a status of a “Partner” of the Company, participate in the Programmes of the Company under the conditions of the present Partnership Agreement (hereinafter “Agreement”).
To become a Partner of Jannim Trading LLP and participate in Programmes of the Company, you should be familiarized with and confirm acceptance of the Agreement.
Jannim Trading LLP appears to be a shell company registered in the UK.
Incorporated in January 2015, Jannim Trading LLP’s listed officers are Kanado Investments Limited and Tioma Management Limited.
Up until March 24th 2016, around the time StepCoin launched, Jannim Trading LLP’s listed officers were Tamian Systems LTD and Folleren Services INC.
Kanado Investments and Tioma Management are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, Tamian Systems and Folleren Services in Belize.
There’s no legitimate reason for an MLM company to be operated through a shell company that in turn is operated through two more shell companies, incorporated in known tax-havens.
This is alone is highly suspect and indicative of the lengths StepCoin owners and management have gone to hide themselves from the general public.
Of note is the StepCoin website language defaults to Russian and the StepCoin website domain was registered through a Russian registrar.
The StepCoin Partner Agreement states:
The present Agreement is made in the Russian and English languages.
In case of variation between the Russian language version and the English language version, the Russian language version of the present Agreement shall prevail.
Alexa also currently estimate that 67.1% of all traffic to the StepCoin website originates out of Russia.
This strongly suggests whoever is running StepCoin is based out of Russia.
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 StepCoin Product Line
StepCoin has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market StepCoin affiliate membership itself.
Once signed up, StepCoin affiliates are given access to a fitness app:
StepFit is a series of applications that support StepCoin and counting your physical activity and providing paid fitness services.
StepFit apps that available on iOS and Android platforms allow you to track your fitness activity and associate it with currency mining.
Through the app StepCoin affiliates are able to generate points, which enhance income potential through the StepCoin compensation plan.
The StepCoin Compensation Plan
The StepCoin compensation plan sees affiliates invest between $100 and $15,000. Passive ROIs are offered, as well as commissions for recruiting new investors.
StepCoin Affiliate Ranks
There are eight affiliate ranks in the StepCoin compensation plan.
Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:
- Sapphire – invest with a Bronze package ($500) and recruit at least four affiliates who have invested at least 1000 CV
- Rubin – invest with a Bronze package ($500) and recruit at least four affiliates who have invested at least 3000 CV
- Emerald – invest with a Silver package ($1000), recruit at least two affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 7000 CV
- Brilliant – invest with a Gold package ($3500), recruit at least three affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 10,000 CV
- Blue Brilliant – invest with a Platinum package ($7000), recruit at least five affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 25,000 CV
- Black Brilliant – invest with a Pro package ($15,000), recruit at least seven affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 75,000 CV
- Crowned Brilliant – recruit at least nine affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 200,000 CV
- Ambassador – recruit at least thirteen affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 700,000 CV
- Crowned Ambassador – recruit at least fifteen affiliates who have invested in a Silver Package and have a downline who have together invested at least 1,000,000 CV
CV stands for “Commissionable Volume” and is sales volume attributed to affiliate package investment by recruited affiliates:
- Starter ($100) – 50 CV
- Bronze ($500) – 250 CV
- Silver ($1000) – 600 CV
- Gold ($3500) – 2500 CV
- Platinum ($7000) – 5000 CV
- Pro ($15,000) – 10,500 CV
Commission Qualification
To qualify for commissions all StepCoin affiliates must recruit at least two affiliates who have invested at the Starter level or higher.
An affiliate must also maintain 25 PV in sales volume each month, with StepCoin suggest is achieved by ‘purchasing any products of the company‘.
Recruitment Commissions
StepCoin affiliates are paid to recruit affiliates who invest in tokens.
How much of a recruitment commission is paid out is determined by how much newly recruited affiliates invest:
- Starter ($100) – $5 commission
- Bronze ($500) – $25 commission
- Silver ($1000) – $60 commission
- Gold ($3500) – $250 commission
- Platinum ($7000) – $500 commission
- Pro ($15,000) – $1050 commission
Residual Recruitment Commissions
Residual recruitment commissions in StepCoin 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):
The first level of the binary team houses one position on either side, with the second level generated by splitting each of these positions into another two positions each.
Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated in the same manner, with each new level housing double the positions of the previous level.
Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of affiliates, with token investment volume tracked on both sides:
- Starter ($100) – generates 50 CV
- Bronze ($500) – generates 250 CV
- Silver ($1000) – generates 600 CV
- Gold ($3500) – generates 2500 CV
- Platinum ($7000) – generates 5000 CV
- Pro ($15,000) – generates 10,500 CV
CV totals are tallied up on both sides of the binary team each week, with an affiliate paid 10% of the balance of the weaker side.
How much a StepCoin affiliate can earn in total through the binary team is capped based on how much they invested when they signed up:
- Starter ($100) – $700 a week
- Bronze ($500) – $3500 a week
- Silver ($1000) – $7000 a week
- Gold ($3500) – $21,000 a week
- Platinum ($7000) – $40,000 a week
- Pro ($15,000) – $65,000 a week
Binary Matching Bonus
A matching bonus is available on binary commissions earned by recruited affiliates, paid out 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.
StepCoin cap payable unilevel levels at five, with how many levels a StepCoin affiliate can earn on determined by their affiliate rank:
- Sapphire – 10% on level 1
- Rubin – 10% on level 1 and 5% on level 2
- Emerald – 10% on levels 1 and 2 and 5% on level 3
- Brilliant – 10% on levels 1 and 2 and 20% on level 3
- Blue Brilliant – 10% on levels 1 and 2, 20% on level 3 and 25% on level 4
- Black Brilliant – 10% on levels 1 and 2, 20% on level 3, 25% on level 4 and 5% on level 5
- Crowned Brilliant – 10% on levels 1 and 2, 20% on level 3, 25% on level 4 and 10% on level 5
- Ambassador – 10% on levels 1 and 2, 20% on level 3, 25% on level 4 and 15% on level 5
- Crowned Ambassador – 10% on levels 1 and 2, 20% on level 3, 25% on level 4 and 20% on level 5
Passive Bonus
Provide yourself with a guaranteed passive income and get back the money you paid for the pack.
The Passive Bonus is a monthly ROI paid to StepCoin affiliates, based on how much they invested when they signed up:
- Starter – no ROI
- Bronze – $30 a month
- Silver – $80 a month
- Gold – $350 a month
- Platinum – $980 a month
- Pro – $2500 a month
A StepCoin affiliate can boost their monthly ROI by recruiting three affiliates who invest at the same level they did:
- Bronze – $60 a month
- Silver – $140 a month
- Gold – $560 a month
- Platinum – $1260 a month
- Pro – $3150 a month
To continue earning a passive ROI after 12 months, an affiliate must re-invest in another package.
Token Investment
StepCoin affiliates invest in tokens, with how many tokens received determined by which affiliate pack they invest in when they sign up:
- Starter ($100) – 1000 tokens
- Bronze ($500) – 5500 tokens
- Silver ($1000) – 12,000 tokens
- Gold ($3500) – 40,000 tokens
- Platinum ($7000) – 90,000 tokens
- Pro ($15,000) – 200,000 tokens
If a StepCoin affiliate recruits at least two affiliates who collectively invest at least 7000 CV within 30 days of signing up, the company rewards them with 7000 bonus tokens.
Tokens are able to be converted into stepcoins, which have a value as determined by StepCoin.
How affiliates convert stepcoins into cash they can withdraw is not explained in the StepCoin compensation plan.
Fitness Bonus
The Fitness Bonus is a point bonus that affiliates can use to ‘spend on StepCoin products’.
No clarification of what products can be purchased is made, but it is presumed to be StepCoin tokens.
Every step you take will bring you an income.
With the help of smart applications, which counts the number of steps you passed, you will daily earn a new points.
The StepCoin compensation plan advises that how many points an affiliate receives is dependent on how much they invested, “company stage development” and how many tracked steps they have.
Joining StepCoin
Affiliate membership with StepCoin is $50 annually.
In addition to this fee, StepCoin affiliates must also purchase one of the following six affiliate packs:
- Starter – $100
- Bronze – $500
- Silver – $1000
- Gold – $3500
- Platinum – $7000
- Pro – $15,000
The primary difference between the affiliate packs is income potential through the StepCoin compensation plan.
Conclusion
StepCoin is a universal decentralized currency tied to a real community and its own ecosystem of goods and products in the field of health and fitness.
Turns out the only thing fitness has to do with StepCoin is the bonus award of points, which are then re-invested back into the system.
Otherwise StepCoin functions the same as all the other MLM cryptocurrencies out there.
You invest $x, get tokens, convert tokens to inhouse Ponzi points and withdraw a ROI based on a value the company sets per point.
Naturally affiliate recruitment is incentivized, with that aspect of StepCoin functioning wholly as a pyramid scheme.
One thing that sets StepCoin apart from other MLM cryptocurrencies is the Passive Bonus.
StepCoin’s Passive Bonus is straight-up Ponzi territory, with guaranteed monthly ROIs offered.
Affiliate investment is the only source of revenue entering the company, so it’s pretty obvious StepCoin are using newly invested funds used to pay off existing investors each month.
And that’s on top of the token investment ROIs, which makes StepCoin a two-pronged Ponzi scheme.
Pay to play is also an issue, with how much an affiliate invests determining their rank, binary and binary matching commissions, as well as Passive Bonus and token ROIs.
As with all Ponzi points schemes, once new affiliate investment dries up StepCoin will run out of funds to pay existing affiliates with.
In addition to recruitment commissions stopping, this will see the Passive Bonus ROI cease and token value head towards $0.
If a regulator steps in before StepCoin collapses, don’t expect much. Russia isn’t known for it’s Ponzi policing and it’s likely the anonymous owners of StepCoin will stash funds out of reach in hidey-hole bank accounts.
That StepCoin is managed through a shell company managed in turn by two more shell companies registered in tax-havens speaks for itself.
Only a concern of if you’re stupid enough to invest in StepCoin in the first place… but worth pointing out nonetheless.
