Scam patterns
Advance-fee recovery scams
A person promises to recover stolen assets after an upfront payment.
Research · History · Reference
All entries A–Z · 2 / 15
438 · Articles and references
KOLs & promotion
Affiliate-link concealment
A tracking link pays the publisher while appearing neutral.
Wallets & security
After a suspected scam or compromise
Limit further exposure, preserve evidence and establish which authority was lost.
Crypto history
AirBit Club
AirBit Club sold memberships and claimed trading and mining returns; US criminal cases established a fraud and money-laundering scheme.
MASTR research
ANSEM: volume, valuation and the pools underneath
The June 2026 workbook corrects the single-pool story and separates circulating market cap from FDV.
Wallets & security
Anti-bot exemptions for insiders
Launch controls restrict ordinary buyers while exempt wallets receive favourable execution.
Chains & networks
Arbitrum: rollups and AnyTrust have different assumptions
The technology name alone does not tell you where transaction data is available.
Research methods
Audit scope drift: the badge can outlive the reviewed code
Match the report to the software users interact with now.
Scam patterns
Audit-badge laundering
An old audit is displayed after code, proxies or administrators have changed.
Market structure
Auto-deleveraging externalities
Profitable positions are reduced when the venue cannot absorb another account's deficit.
Chains & networks
Avalanche: C-Chain, other chains and bridge exposure
Similar branding can cover different execution environments and validator arrangements.
Crypto history
b-money: shared balances before the blockchain
Wei Dai’s 1998 proposal explored pseudonymous accounts, distributed bookkeeping and contract enforcement before Bitcoin.
Crypto history
BadgerDAO frontend compromise
BadgerDAO users approved malicious transactions after its web interface was compromised in 2021.
Chains & networks
Base: familiar addresses, separate balances
Using an Ethereum layer 2 requires checking the network as well as the recipient.
Crypto history
Beanstalk governance takeover
Beanstalk lost funds in 2022 after flash-borrowed voting power enabled a malicious governance proposal.
Origins & history · 1982–2008
Before Bitcoin: privacy, digital cash and the missing agreement
The history begins with several different problems: private payments, costly computation, ownership and agreement about what was already spent.
Crypto history
Binance 2023 criminal resolution
Binance and Changpeng Zhao entered guilty pleas in November 2023 in a resolution exceeding $4 billion.
Binance, CZ & Trump
Binance and CZ: what the 2023 guilty pleas established
The corporate violations, Zhao's separate offence and the later pardon belong in one dated record.
Wallets & security
BIP-39 passphrases: the wrong phrase can open a different wallet
Recovery words and the optional passphrase are separate inputs to key generation.
Bitcoin: recovery and Lightning
Bitcoin coinbase maturity: why a new mining reward cannot move immediately
A consensus waiting period for mining outputs is distinct from ordinary payment confirmations.
Blockchain fundamentals
Bitcoin halvings: a programmed subsidy reduction
The schedule changes new issuance; it does not program a market return.
Bitcoin: recovery and Lightning
Bitcoin output descriptors: the wallet backup beyond a seed
Keys, derivation paths and spending rules answer different recovery questions.
Blockchain fundamentals
Bitcoin payment links: read the request behind the QR code
A bitcoin: link carries payment instructions. Its label is not a verified identity and scanning it is not payment confirmation.
Bitcoin: recovery and Lightning
Bitcoin timelocks: a calendar condition versus a coin’s age
Absolute and relative locks start their clocks in different places.
Blockchain fundamentals
Bitcoin UTXOs: the outputs behind a wallet balance
Inputs consume earlier outputs; new outputs define who can spend the resulting amounts.
Chains & networks
Bitcoin: settlement, mining and custody
What proof of work settles, and which risks still belong to the services around it.
Origins & history · 2009 onward
Bitcoin’s early lesson: money rules need independent verification
Keys authorise a spend, nodes decide whether it is valid, and proof of work orders the valid history. None of those jobs should be confused.
Crypto history
Bitcoin’s genesis block: what the record establishes
The first block provides an inspectable starting point. Its timestamp, embedded text and special reward behaviour answer different questions.
Crypto history
BitConnect lending programme
US prosecutors alleged that BitConnect's lending programme operated as a global Ponzi scheme.