Lately, things have been chaotic in the circle, with a bunch of Ponzi schemes and scam organizations becoming active again. As someone who has been in this market for several years, I’ve decided to break down these套路 (schemes), hoping to help everyone avoid falling into traps.

Honestly, these scams seem diverse on the surface, but fundamentally they all follow the same logic: using later investors’ money to fill the holes left by earlier investors. Fund pyramids, multi-level marketing coins, community tokens, Ponzi schemes—different names, but the gameplay is largely the same.

Let’s start with the most common fund pyramid schemes. These are basically a “who can run faster” game. The operator first lets you observe during a “waiting period,” showing you screenshots of successful withdrawals (which are actually fabricated numbers from the backend), then tricks you with concepts like “splitting” — saying one coin can be split into two, with the price halving but assets doubling, making you feel your money is increasing. But in reality? When the new incoming funds each day aren’t enough to pay interest and withdrawals, people just run off. The core of a fund pyramid scheme is this simple brutality.

Multi-level marketing coins are traditional MLM disguised as blockchain. You must download their specific app, enter a referral code to register, then they scam you into buying “virtual mining machines” that produce coins daily. They also set up levels like V1, V2, partners, super nodes—your level determines how much you can earn from downline referrals. The most ruthless part? These coins are not listed on mainstream exchanges; their prices are entirely controlled by their backend. You see your assets rising daily, but you can’t withdraw. Now, these MLM coins are making a comeback, especially projects claiming to be meme coins. I’ve already seen many on major exchange platforms.

Community coins and meme coins might seem harmless at first glance, but they can easily turn into “shitcoin pyramids.” These coins rely on consensus and emotion to stay afloat, with no real product backing. The operators add liquidity to decentralized exchanges,誘導 (induce) you to swap ETH or USDT for their “air coins.” When the pool accumulates enough real funds, the operators simply withdraw liquidity, leaving your coins worthless and unsellable. Some coins are even hardcoded in the contract, giving ordinary users no selling rights at all. Although some platforms issue community tokens without directly withdrawing liquidity, they can still be driven to zero—there’s no real difference.

Ponzi schemes are often packaged as “arbitrage robots,” “quantitative trading,” or “deep-sea mining.” Initially, they pay out bonuses very punctually, even support withdrawals at any time, to gain your trust. But once you invest a large sum, they disappear on a holiday or after a big deposit.

How to avoid these traps? Here are some self-check methods. First, ask yourself three critical questions: Where does the money come from? If it’s not from products or services, but from new investors’ principal, it’s a pyramid scheme. Why are they looking for me? If you can earn 1% daily effortlessly, why wouldn’t the operator go to a bank for a loan instead of sharing profits with you? Is there an exit threshold? If they restrict withdrawals, require approval, or need to recruit new users to withdraw, you should run immediately.

On the technical side, check contract permissions. On BscScan or Etherscan, if the owner can mint tokens at will or modify transfer logic, it’s extremely dangerous. Also, look at the distribution of holdings—if the top 10 addresses hold over 90% of the supply, it’s a highly controlled single-machine coin. Finally, check if liquidity is locked. Good projects lock LP tokens on third-party platforms like PinkSale or Uncx and publicly display the lock period. If not locked? The operator can withdraw liquidity and run at any time.

Remember these key points to block 99% of scams: Anything that requires recruiting others to maintain profits is a scam. Anything promising high returns with zero risk is a scam. Don’t trust any stranger promising to make you rich, no matter how friendly they seem. Anything that paints a rosy picture to get you to buy coins is a scam.

Real community tokens and communities are not just for “cutting leeks” (exploiting new investors). You should look at the core team—how many experienced industry insiders are involved. That’s the key to judging a community’s quality. Compared to fund pyramids, MLM coins, and Ponzi schemes, genuine healthy communities and community tokens are fundamentally different. I hope everyone can survive longer in this market.