Bust Nigerian Ponzi Scheme is Coming Back with Bitcoin

MMM Nigeria has announced that it will introduce bitcoin as a form of payment when it reopens customers’ accounts on January 14.

In December, participants in the MMM Ponzi scheme were informed that all confirmed subscriber accounts would be frozen for a month. It was reported that this was to help prevent any problems over the festive period.

Earlier last year, MMM Global announced that it was closing its Republic of Bitcoin, a website that had promised up to 100 percent returns on donations; however, in a blog it stated that the Republic of Bitcoin was an experiment that had failed.

In a report from The Sun, a Nigeria-based news website, promoters of MMM Nigeria have issued instructions to participants’ accounts that have been frozen.

In a bid to drive traffic and participation, a message to subscribers asks them to perform tasks, both online and offline, to endorse the scheme.

The message states:

Being an MMM member implies not only opportunities, but also a responsibility for the state and development of the MMM Community.

Since the announcement that MMM Nigeria would be freezing subscriber accounts, it has affected nearly three million Nigerians who have invested into it.

MMM Participants to Receive Bitcoin Payments

Prior to MMM Nigeria freezing subscribers’ accounts, those who had invested could give bitcoins to help those in the scheme, but were paid back in naira, the currency of Nigeria.

Now, however, it’s reported that when MMM Nigeria re-opens next week participants will be able to receive payment in bitcoin too.

In a statement, MMM said:

Due to the recent sharp price fluctuations of Bitcoin, MARVO-BTC is being introduced in the system.

It adds that invested individuals now have the chance to have a 30 percent monthly growth of the bitcoin amount, not the naira amount. “In a month not only 30 percent will be added to your initial amount, but, it can increase itself due to Bitcoin price growth,” the statement added.

If the price of bitcoin should fall, though, participants have been informed that they can convert back to naira at any time.

Ponzi Scheme

While many have stated that MMM Global is a Ponzi scheme putting people’s finances at risk, Sergey Mavrodi, MMM head, wrote an open letter to the Nigerian authorities asking what basis they had for attacking the scheme.

He said:

What is the scam here, if all the members are warned in advance about all the risks, the possible and impossible ones?

And yet, while it may provide financial help for many Nigerians who are struggling with day-to-day live, the fact remains that there are many people in the background who are profiting from subscribers who are putting their trust in a scheme that can just as easily go bust.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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