Scam patterns
Fixed-return staking fraud
A central operator markets predictable yield as protocol staking.
Research · History · Reference
All entries A–Z · 7 / 15
438 · Articles and references
KOLs & promotion
Floyd Mayweather, DJ Khaled and ICO promotion
The 2018 SEC cases show that compensation can include several arrangements hidden behind a public endorsement.
MASTR research
Following sale proceeds without counting the same money twice
A practical reading guide to MASTR’s LAPTOP records: inventory, sale receipts, routing costs, conversions and the limits of wallet attribution.
MASTR research
FOMO / MEME: launch timing and investor conflicts
The public dossier supports specific red flags and rejects the claim that the displayed traders all entered on the same terms.
Crypto history
Forsage smart-contract pyramid
The SEC charged founders and promoters of Forsage in 2022, describing a smart-contract pyramid and Ponzi structure.
Control & evidence · Research method
From a wallet graph to a finding someone else can reproduce
Preserve observations, test alternative explanations and distinguish a transaction path from a claim about identity or intent.
MASTR research
From decentralisation to attention capture
MASTR's research on how official accounts, investors and promoters determine which projects people see.
Research methods
From lead to finding: a claim ladder for crypto research
Match the strength of the language to the strength of the evidence.
Scam patterns
Front-running bot scams
A tutorial claims a simple contract can beat trades in public mempools.
Crypto history
FTX and Alameda: customer money, privileged accounts and the bankruptcy
How the exchange funded its affiliated trading firm, why the risk engine did not protect customers and what later recovery percentages actually measured.
Crypto history
FTX bankruptcy-claim valuation
FTX's confirmed plan calculated recoveries against allowed bankruptcy claims rather than returning each deposited coin.
Crypto history
FTX privileged Alameda account
How exceptional credit and risk treatment for an affiliated account undermined the protections advertised to ordinary FTX customers.
Blockchain fundamentals
Gas: resource usage and transaction price
The units consumed and the price paid per unit explain different parts of an execution fee.
Crypto history
Genesis and Gemini Earn structure
The SEC's 2023 complaint described Genesis as borrower and Gemini as customer-facing agent for Earn.
Smart accounts and governance
Governance checkpoints: whose votes counted, and when?
Delegation, historical voting weight and proposal timing determine more than a current token balance.
DeFi & governance
Governance proposals: read the transaction that will execute
The announcement and the executable payload can describe different things.
Crypto history
Harmony Horizon bridge
Harmony's Horizon bridge was drained in 2022 after enough validating keys were compromised.
Crypto history
Hashcash: proof of work before Bitcoin
A computational postage stamp for internet abuse became one ingredient in a different system: public transaction ordering.
Blockchain fundamentals
Hierarchical deterministic derivation
HD wallets derive many child keys from shared root material.
Research methods
How to write a finding people can check
Preserve the source, the observation, the inference and the unresolved question.
Web fundamentals
HTTP: what your browser asks a server to do
Requests, responses and application state explain why a working page can still show stale or misleading information.
Crypto history
HyperFund and HyperVerse
US authorities alleged that HyperFund and related brands raised money through false mining and investment claims.
Crypto history
IcomTech
IcomTech promised returns from crypto mining and trading; US prosecutions established a Ponzi scheme.