Recently, a new account named Altcoin Alpha posted an article about OTC scams, refer to it for a better understanding of the situation.
The basic mechanism is that these scammers will pretend to be a large fund named 'Source 1' - from India, to invite purchases of hot OTC projects at discounted prices, specifically the steps are:
1. Sow the trust – October 2024 to January 2025
- Launch OTC deals with discounts of 30–50% vesting over 4-5 months, tokens like $GRT, $APT, $SEI, $SWELL
- Fully fulfill – receive real tokens => create FOMO and credibility
- Funds like Aza Ventures and early KOLs receive interest as promised
2. Expansion - February to May 2025
- The list of tokens expands with more and more big names like $SUI, $NEAR, $GRASS, Axelar
- New capital pouring in is getting larger => further consolidates trust and attracts larger amounts of money
3. Red alert - May 2025
- Some teams like SUI, MultiversX raise alarms 'No OTC deal'! They are not selling any projects
- But no one listens - because they trust the history of successful token payments too much.
4. Collapse – 01/06/2025
- Final deal: Token $Fluid. After that, stop all vesting payments.
- Reasons given: 'KYC issues', 'busy with business trips', 'stuck with exchanges'...
- Aza Ventures announces: also been scammed, accuses Source 1 of being the mastermind behind the Ponzi scheme.
*The amount alleged to be scammed is 50 million USD
5. Personal conclusion
- The information from last year until now in Vietnam about OTC deals may be part of these scams without knowing?
- This is a wake-up call for both retail and institutions that are 'tempted by low prices' in a hot market.
- There will need to be a cleansing and refreshing of OTC deals, requiring KYC or clearer proof, to avoid scams.
- What do you think?
#Steven_Research