Changenow.io, the cryptocurrency exchange accused of stealing 100 Bitcoin cash, which is currently worth $64,090, is still holding on to the funds. In addition, the apparently shady exchange has turned to upvote-buying on Reddit as well as having moderators remove legitimate posts about the robbed client’s complaints.
How it Started
On the 7th of July, a post surfaced on bitcointalk forum, with complaints of ChangeNow.io illegally holding a user’s 100 bitcoin cash (11 Bitcoins at the time). A similar message was posted on reddit.
According to these posts, on 4th July, the user with the pseudonym ni23457 sent 100 Bitcoin Cash to the ChangeNow.io platform in order to exchange them for bitcoins. Ni23457 also mentioned that it was the more reputable Changelly exchange that he intended to use for his transaction but mistakenly used ChangeNow.io because of the similar names.
User ni23457’s woes begun when ChangeNow froze his exchange account and demanded that he submit his personal identification documents in order to meet Know Your Customer- KYC requirements. ChangeNow claimed the account was flagged as a result of “trading irregularities”.
Nii23457 obliged but had to submit another set of documents because of problems with the initial one he sent hurriedly in a bid to quickly resolve the problem. Strangely, the exchange refused to release the coins even after their request for the documents had been met.
The men behind the organization have since been hiding behind flimsy excuses and playing hide and seek.
First, they claimed they were investigating the case. Ni23457 has addressed this by explaining on reddit why there was no meaningful investigation the exchange could carry out beyond using the blockchain. He added that the records on the blockchain clearly showed that he owned the coins for over five years.
The exchange later demanded a video call with ni23457 who has refused to do so.
Buying upvotes on Reddit, Having Legitimate Posts Removed
Below is a screenshot of a Redditpost showing evidence of ChangeNow engaging in upvote buying on social media.
People are also being paid to make posts and comments on the exchanges behalf.
The exchange also managed to get moderators, on some subreddits, to remove legitimate posts complaining about the issue at hand.
Did Ni23457 make some mistakes of his own?
Yes, for trusting changenow.io. Also, It is normal to mistaken certain websites for others with similar names. Nonetheless, one would expect more precaution when dealing with the amount of money involved here. Ni23457 would be the first to admit that he should have been more careful.
Obviously, ni23457, didn’t pay too much attention to the terms of use and privacy agreement. If he had, he would have figured out that the terms do not fit that of an exchange promising anonymity. Then again, “terms of use” and “user agreement” documents are rarely read by users. And changenow.io seem yo have updated theirs after the deposit was made.
The other problem is that he sent too much funds at a go. Even when dealing with legitimate exchanges, sending that much money at once is probably not a good idea. A common refrain in the ecosystem is “do not trust exchanges with your money” and ni23457 should have known better.
This is by no means an excuse for the shady characters at ChangeNow.io to continue to illegally hold on to a user’s funds.
Why ChangeNow is Shady at best and Should be Blacklisted
It is hard to tell why ChangeNow.io would not simply return the funds and avoid all the bad press and bad name this brouhaha gives them.
Another question is: Why would an exchange advertise anonymous transactions and be so keen on KYC/AML? Reddit user Gregjin aptly covered this point in his comment below.
Even more baffling is the removal of online information linking Roman Lapin, the CEO to his own company. He removed information on both his LinkedIn and angel.co profiles that showed he was the CEO of the exchange. Why would a CEO remove such details from his profiles? All these actions smack of fraud and as one Reddit user stated; ChangeNow.io needs to be blacklisted by the crypto community.
Below is an image showing screenshots of his angel.co profile before and after he made the said changes.
Beyond mere blacklisting, hopefully, the attention of Russian authorities are drawn is the matter so the people behind the fraudulent exchange are made to answer for their crimes.