GladiaCoin Multi-Level Marketing Scheme Collapses

Notice: This page is a freshly imported case study from the original repository. The original content was in a different format, and may not have relevant information for all sections. Please help restructure the content by moving information from the 'About' section to other sections, and add any missing information or sources you can find. If you are new here, please read General Tutorial on Wikis or Anatomy of a Case Study for help getting started.

Notice: This page contains sources which are not attributed to any text. The unattributed sources follow the initial description. Please assist by visiting each source, reviewing the content, and placing that reference next to any text it can be used to support. Feel free to add any information that you come across which isn't present already. Sources which don't contain any relevant information can be removed. Broken links can be replaced with versions from the Internet Archive. See General Tutorial on Wikis, Anatomy of a Case Study, and/or Citing Your Sources Guide for additional information. Thanks for your help!

GladiaCoin offered investors an opportunity to double their money within 90 days, apparently exploiting arbitrage between different exchanges. The scheme was launched in November 2016 and eventually collapsed in June 2017.

GladiaCoin Website/Logo

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

About GladiaCoin

"Gladiacoin was a company founded on November 26, 2016, which promised to double bitcoin in the period of 90 days. The earnings included a 2.2% payout dividend with a fully automated system. Gladiacoin was a company based upon a “ponzi-scheme” model. The collapse of the, “Double your money in 90 days company” took place during the month of June 2017."

"The GladiaCoin website domain (“gladiacoin.com”) was privately registered on November 26th, 2016."

"Gladiacoin advertised that investors would "double the bitcoin within 90 days" and promised daily returns of 2.2% on all deposited bitcoins." "Gladiacoin claimed to buy bitcoins in one market and sell them in another market in which bitcoins had a higher value, "exploiting the difference in price on difference exchanges.""

"Spartacus 1 – invest 0.05 BTC and receive ??? after 90 days (the GladiaCoin website does not disclose how much the Spartacus 1 plan pays out) Spartacus 2 – invest 0.1 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days Spartacus 3 – invest 0.3 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days Spartacus 4 – invest 0.5 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days Spartacus 5 – invest 1 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days Spartacus 6 – invest 2 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days Spartacus 7 – invest 4 BTC and receive 200% back in 90 days"

"GladiaCoin affiliate membership is tied to an investment of between 0.05 and 4 BTC.

The more an affiliate invests the higher their income potential via the GladiaCoin compensation plan."

"A friend is into GladiaCoin. He keeps asking me to join, but it seems to good to be truth. Most of the searches for "gladiacoin scam" seem to be paid advertisement. Anybody can chime in?

EDIT: Thanks for the responses. Why the downvotes? Shouldn't this question get more upvotes so that other people can fin it?"

"I feel for it with half a bitcoin back in 2017 with a group out of Singapore. It was an MLM type scenario where you got paid based on how many people you recruited under you, and the person that got me in was a long time family friend. She was getting her payments, vouched for it, so I sent half a bitcoin. There was a payment cycle where at the end of your term, you would have a whole bitcoin back, and potential for additional commissions for those that you invited. I got paid once for .11111111, and then the Ponzi dried up. The website went dark, and I never saw the rest of my payouts. As I mentioned, it was an old family friend that got me into it, and she paid me back the rest of my .39999999 to make me whole, after a bitter argument. I was new to crypto and panic sold for an $80 loss overall. Three weeks later was the fork that led to bitcoin peaking over 10k for the first time. I still cry in my sleep over it sometimes."

"If you use that logic it is also true of a real estate company or a corner shop. "as long as there are customers the shop works". It may be a Ponzi scheme or it may not. You can't assume it is, just because it is working. You can't assume it is not either. There are many traders who more than "double their money in 90 days", so just because that is outside my and your experience does not mean it can't happen. If you are going to label something a Ponzi, you really need some proof other than just the scheme's success."

"Gloria Sun Jung Yun commenced this action by filing a pro se complaint, on July 18, 2017, asserting that Gladiacoin.com ("Gladiacoin") and several other defendants ran a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme through which they fraudulently obtained Yun's bitcoins." "Yun brings claims, not only against the entities and individuals directly liable for defrauding her (collectively, "Defendants"), but also against companies and service providers, such as GoDaddy.com, LLC ("GoDaddy"), from which Yun seeks information to prove her claims (collectively, "Codefendants"). (Doc. 1, at 1-2, 15)."

"The balance of Yun's complaint consists of allegations of Portillo's ties to Gladiacoin and the ways in which he knowingly defrauded Yun and others. Despite having disclaimed any ownership in Gladiacoin, (Doc. 1, at 7, ¶ 20), Portillo apparently put up promotional videos on Facebook and YouTube touting and flaunting the wealth he obtained by investing with Gladiacoin."

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 - GladiaCoin Multi-Level Marketing Scheme Collapses

Date	Event	Description
November 26th, 2016	Founding	Gladiacoin is founded according to BitcoinWiki.
December 7th, 2016 6:14:35 PM MST	Website Captured	The GladiaCoin website is captured online for the first time in the Internet Archive.
March, 2017	Reported Launch	GladiaCoin launched in March and promised affiliate investors a 200% ROI in 90 days. Run by anonymous scammers, GladiaCoin has since spawned a number of clones.
April 29th, 2017 7:36:22 PM MDT	Explanation Of Earnings	A YouTube video explains the earning methods based on a structure with left and right legs.
May 13th, 2017 8:40:10 AM MDT	Reddit Discussion	Some users of Reddit start to become suspicious and have a discussion in a large thread about Gladiacoin.
May 14th, 2017 9:03:53 AM MDT	GladiaCoin Versus Betbot	A video comparing GladiaCoin versus another platform named BetBot.
May 18th, 2017	Technical Glitch	Another technical glitch resulted in Gladiacoin's system being down between May 18 and May 24, 2017.
June 5th, 2017 8:53:52 AM MDT	BTCSession Example	BTCSession prepared a video about GladiaCoin as a warning of the scheme.
June 8th, 2017 3:38:11 PM MDT	Victim Video	A victim reports using GladiaCoin and how they got one payment, then withdrawals were postponed, and fees were added.
June 11th, 2017	Collapse Reported	Gladiacoin reportedly collapses according to BehindMLM.
June 28th, 2017 10:19:05 PM MDT	Post In BitcoinTalk	A post in BitcoinTalk estimates the size and number of victims. The community continues discussing.
July 18th, 2017	Lawsuit In Philadelphia	"Gloria Sun Jung Yun commenced this action by filing a pro se complaint, on July 18, 2017, asserting that Gladiacoin.com ("Gladiacoin") and several other defendants ran a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme through which they fraudulently obtained Yun's bitcoins." "Yun brings claims, not only against the entities and individuals directly liable for defrauding her (collectively, "Defendants"), but also against companies and service providers, such as GoDaddy.com, LLC ("GoDaddy"), from which Yun seeks information to prove her claims (collectively, "Codefendants"). (Doc. 1, at 1-2, 15)."
December 7th, 2017 9:27:00 PM MST	Mention In Promotion	GladioCoin is mentioned in a promotion for another trading platform, as an example of what not to participate in.

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 is unknown.

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.