Prodeum Initial Coin Offering Exit

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Prodeum Website

Prodeum, an Ethereum-based ICO project, claimed to offer a blockchain-based database for fruits and vegetables. The project presented a full white paper, a Twitter following, team members with LinkedIn profiles, and a roadmap, all seemingly indicating a legitimate endeavor. The project aimed to raise around $6.5 million in an ICO. However, it was later revealed that Prodeum's founders, using pseudonyms, only managed to collect a small amount of Ethereum, approximately 3 ETH, before disappearing. Despite creating a well-designed website, paying freelancers to promote the ICO, and featuring profiles linked to LinkedIn, the project turned out to be a scam. The project's website was replaced with a single word after its disappearance, raising concerns about the unchecked enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency market.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About Prodeum

"The Ethereum based ICO had all the makings of a successful project on paper such as a full white paper, alleged Twitter following, team members with Linkedin profiles, and a roadmap." "Prodeum's 12-page white paper outlined plans to build a database of fruits and vegetables on the Ethereum blockchain. That idea might sound strange, but it’s not the first of its kind. Prodeum asked investors to help raise as much as 5,400 ether—roughly $6.5 million—in an ICO." "According to the white paper, Prodeum was founded by four individuals going by the names of Petar Jandric, Darius Rugevicius, Vytaustas Kaseta, and Rokas Vedluga." "Prodeum had [also] been paying members of freelancer website Fiverr to promote the ICO by writing its name on their bodies."

"The Prodeum website, for what it’s worth, is flashy and overall very well done. To throw off the suspicious, if you click a photo of any of Prodeum’s staff, you’re taken to that person’s associated LinkedIn profile. It also appears, as Buzzfeed journalist Ryan Mac noted on Twitter, that the startup was paying people on Fiverr to promote the ICO by writing “Prodeum” on their bodies. Still, it doesn’t seem like all the promotion was enough to make Prodeum’s crowdsale profitable."

"Multiple media reports claim that the Lithuanian based project architects made off with $11 from the crowdfunding. However adding up the Etherscan transactions for the Prodeum address puts the figure closer to 3 ETH. This tallies with a forum user claiming to be behind the scam stating it only made $3,000."

"But after collecting what looks like less than the price of two Chipotle burritos, Prodeum disappeared. The company’s sparkly, professional-looking website was replaced with a single, trolling word."

"A press release on both an NBC affiliate and a New Jersey local news site vanished, along with Prodeum’s website, Twitter account, and Telegram channel. Emails to the startup’s customer support address bounce back. It seems like Prodeum—which sounds suspiciously like the urinary-tract infection medication Prodium—was yet another cryptocurrency scam."

"Nobody bothered to check that not even 5 ETH were sent to this address? Millions of dollars where?"

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Prodeum Initial Coin Offering Exit

Date	Event	Description
January 28th, 2018 10:52:41 AM MST	Website Updated	The Prodeum ICO notifies investors that they are done.
January 28th, 2018 8:32:01 PM MST	Reddit Post	Post on Reddit reports that the website is offline with content replaced.
January 28th, 2018 10:28:00 PM MST	Tweet About Fiverr	Reports of writing on body.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $3,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.