pyra

On-chain data analyst Murphy posted on social media that after Bitcoin reached a high of $97,000 on January 15, it quickly dropped to $73,000, swiftly breaking through the psychological support of $80,000. Under the dominance of panic sentiment, the trapped positions above $80,000 have net decreased by over 610,000 coins within 20 days, accounting for 88% of the total outflow, becoming the main source of selling pressure.However, on-chain URPD data reveals an important structural change: the selling pressure from long-term holders has significantly weakened (only accounting for 9.7% of the reduction), indicating a clear reluctance to sell among long-term holders. Meanwhile, there has been strong buying in the $70,000-$80,000 range, with a net purchase of about 450,000 BTC, nearly double the absorption volume in the $80,000-$90,000 range, suggesting that some funds are "buying more as prices drop," using real money to layer their resistance.Murphy stated that the difference in this cycle compared to previous ones is that bulls are showing sustained and layered defense during the decline, with the accumulation zones gradually moving down rather than collapsing in a step-like manner. Although there are pessimistic predictions that "the bear bottom will see $50,000 or $30,000," once the bears compress the bulls' defense to the extreme, coupled with a lack of supply, the market may welcome a strong counterattack from the bulls.

According to market news, Guizhou Qiannan Cybersecurity and Economic Investigation have collaborated to crack a "virtual currency" online pyramid scheme, successfully arresting 15 criminal suspects across multiple locations.Upon investigation, it was found that this pyramid scheme organization promoted the slogan "Everything valuable in the world can be tokenized," establishing a virtual currency platform without real-name transactions. They set up various levels, where members participated in the pyramid scheme by recharging and staking virtual currency, profiting through direct push rewards by developing downlines. It is a network pyramid scheme organization with more than three levels and thousands of participants.Criminal suspects Jia Moufu, Liu Mou, Duan Mouyao, and others set up a certain virtual currency online, using the lure of high returns from purchasing virtual currency to intentionally inflate the price of the virtual currency. They classified "identity levels" based on the amount purchased by members, with increasing returns as levels rose, encouraging "old members" to continue developing "new members" and attracting more people to participate in the pyramid scheme, achieving layered returns.The platform took advantage of most participants' lack of understanding of virtual currency, regularly conducting courses to promote phrases like "high returns, low risk," and assisted members in converting RMB into virtual currency through recharge services. Currently, all related suspects have been legally prosecuted.

The Xinhua News Agency's WeChat public account forwarded a safety reminder announcement previously released by the WeChat Security Center: "Recently, the WeChat platform has received user complaints that some WeChat accounts are involved in organizing pyramid schemes, fraud, and other illegal activities within WeChat groups.Such behaviors disguise themselves under the pretense of national asset unfreezing, national policies and engineering projects, as well as blockchain virtual currencies, stablecoins, etc., using high returns as bait to lure users into joining WeChat groups. They encourage users within the group to invite others, post suspicious links to download fraudulent apps, engage in daily check-ins, meeting courses, and other brainwashing activities, ultimately leading to fraud. The aforementioned behaviors seriously infringe upon users' property rights."

The WeChat Security Center stated that it has recently received user complaints about certain WeChat accounts engaging in illegal activities such as organizing pyramid schemes and fraud within WeChat groups. Such activities disguise themselves under the pretense of national asset unfreezing, national policies, and engineering projects, as well as blockchain virtual currencies and stablecoins, using high returns as bait to lure users into joining WeChat groups. Within these groups, users are encouraged to invite others, post suspicious links to download fraudulent apps, engage in daily check-ins, attend meetings and courses, and other brainwashing activities, ultimately leading to fraud. These actions seriously infringe upon users' property rights.Once such behavior is discovered and verified, the platform will take action based on relevant national laws and regulations, as well as the "Tencent WeChat Software License and Service Agreement" and "WeChat Personal Account Usage Specifications," among other platform agreements and rules. Depending on the severity of the violations, related accounts will be subject to a tiered approach to handling, with repeated offenders potentially facing permanent login restrictions, and confirmed violating WeChat groups will have their group functions disabled.

ChainCatcher news, according to reports from the Justice Network, from May to August 2023, Li and others, under the guise of issuing a certain virtual currency, established a hierarchical reward mechanism based on invitation relationships. They formed groups on social platforms to promote both online and offline, publicizing to the general public and enticing participants to gain entry qualifications by purchasing virtual currency, staking assets, and bidding on virtual cards, while obtaining rebates based on the number of downline members developed. By October 2023, when the case was uncovered, the organization had developed multiple levels and absorbed funds equivalent to over 20 million yuan.The Shishi City People's Procuratorate in Fujian Province reviewed and determined that although the organization packaged itself with emerging concepts such as virtual currency and NFTs, its operational model still conformed to the crime of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities as stipulated in the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China: First, the project established a "threshold fee" in disguise through the purchase of virtual currency and participation in private placements of virtual assets as a prerequisite for joining and developing others; second, it established clear superior-subordinate relationships and hierarchical structures, using the number of personnel developed and the performance of subordinates as the basis for compensation and rebates; third, there were no real business activities or sustainable sources of income, and the operation of funds relied on the payments from new members to provide returns to earlier members, exhibiting obvious characteristics of fraud.Li and others created an illusion of profit by manipulating backend parameters and artificially intervening in the so-called "synthesis probability" and "release mechanism," enticing participants to continuously invest and develop downlines, which constitutes the use of new technological concepts to cover up traditional pyramid scheme crimes, severely infringing on the property rights of the public and disrupting the economic and social order.In June 2024, the Shishi City People's Procuratorate legally prosecuted the members of the gang. In December 2024, the court sentenced four defendants to prison terms ranging from six years and six months to three years for organizing and leading pyramid selling activities, imposed fines, and confiscated illegal gains. After the defendants filed an appeal, in July 2025, the appellate court ruled to dismiss the appeal and upheld the original judgment.

ChainCatcher news, according to the "China Consumer News," the Market Supervision Administration of Shiyan City, Hubei Province, recently issued a risk warning, launching an investigation into virtual currency projects such as "Youke Chuang," "Shiyi Hui," and "Ronghui Capital." It was found that these projects operate by trading cryptocurrencies through overseas platforms, using a "referral" model to develop members, promising high returns on investments in digital currencies, and are suspected of conducting illegal financial activities using pyramid scheme tactics.Regulatory authorities remind consumers to be wary of "capital protection and high returns" scams, emphasizing that China prohibits virtual currency exchange and trading intermediary services, and that participation in such projects cannot guarantee the safety of funds. The case is currently under further investigation.

ChainCatcher News, the official reminder released by the China Internet Finance Association under the People's Bank of China, warns against pyramid schemes involving virtual currencies (new coin issuance only rises and never falls, excessive member benefits for development, obtaining membership through coin purchase, hierarchical development of upper and lower lines), "air coins" schemes (decentralized blockchain innovation projects, XX coin skyrocketing in price after launch, instant gifts of XX coins for subscribing to new projects, recommendations of XX coins by certain big names), and platform schemes (free virtual currency gifts for registration and trading, massive platform trading, quick withdrawals). These projects often carry out pyramid scheme fraud and other illegal activities under the guise of "decentralized blockchain innovation projects" and similar banners.

According to ChainCatcher news, the Suqian Court's official WeChat account disclosed a case of online pyramid scheme disguised as an investment in virtual currency financial projects. The criminal suspects created the "ACORNS" online platform, and without any actual business operations, they issued virtual currencies such as "ACO" and promoted these currencies as a means to participate in financial management for high returns. They required members to pay 100 USDT as a threshold to obtain static income. By the time the case was reported, the platform had over three thousand active members and had accumulated nearly 3.16 million USDT in funds.After hearing the case, the Suqian Court sentenced the defendants to prison terms ranging from five years and three months to three years for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposed fines ranging from 170,000 to 100,000 yuan.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official WeChat account of Jingde County People's Court, the Jingde Court recently concluded a case involving the organization and leadership of pyramid selling activities related to virtual currency.It is reported that Xu (handled in another case) planned to develop the "Mobius" project, which involved issuing and promoting MBUS (Mobius) virtual currency, cards, etc. Several individuals required participants to purchase and hold MBUS coins, NFT cards, and MSS coins under the guise of investing in virtual currency and derivative project trading. They actively developed downline personnel through "referral" methods and organized a hierarchical structure in a certain order, directly or indirectly using the number of developed personnel, the amount and quantity of purchased virtual currency and cards as the basis for compensation or rebates, defrauding participants of a total of over 964,300 USDT (1 USDT is approximately equal to 1 USD, equivalent to about 6.39 million RMB).After the incident, it was identified that the wallet addresses of MBUS coin holders recorded 29,280 entries, with a total referral hierarchy of 48 levels. The individuals involved, including Li, Xiang, Huang, and four others, were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from two to three years, with probation and fines imposed.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Anhua Public Account, the EDA project that has emerged in the city has attracted significant attention. Investigations have revealed that there are major financial risk hazards, and citizens are urged to remain vigilant.It is reported that the EDA project claims to be launched by Hong Kong EDA Group Holdings Limited, promoting its business under the guise of "cross-border e-commerce and logistics companies" and other entities' traffic popularity. Members are required to pay an entry fee to purchase popular traffic to become "new recruits," with the value of popular traffic equivalent to the value in RMB.The project currently relies mainly on overseas or uncertainly secure virtual currency trading platforms for payments. The platform's funds are characterized by instability and difficulty in regulation. In the event of financial fraud or money laundering and other illegal activities, it will be difficult for the public to protect their rights.Analysis shows that the payment channels, operating model, and reward system of the EDA project have suspected pyramid scheme characteristics, posing significant financial risk hazards. Relevant departments will continue to closely monitor and take strong measures to combat such illegal activities.

According to ChainCatcher news, as shown on the official account of the Yunnan Provincial People's Procuratorate, recently, the Shidian County Procuratorate prosecuted a case involving Li and 10 others for organizing and leading pyramid selling activities. After court hearings, Li and the other 10 defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six years to two years for the crime of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities, and were fined between 500,000 and 100,000 RMB.Since May 2021, Li has successively gathered Huang, Jin, and others, using "blockchain" and "virtual currency" as a gimmick to seek illegal profits. They set up five capital pools on an online platform under the pretext of purchasing and holding virtual digital currency A and issuing virtual digital currencies B and C. Through a combination of offline meetings and online WeChat groups, they created a successful persona, leveraged special professional backgrounds, and promoted slogans such as "one coin, one mansion; one coin, one luxury car" and "earn hundreds of thousands to millions easily in a day," widely publicizing reward systems and profit prospects. They deceived the public into obtaining membership qualifications through purchasing, destroying, and adding to the capital pools, and completing assigned tasks to receive static dividends and dynamic earnings based on the number of people developed and investment amounts, forming five levels of rebates.According to the appraisal, the pyramid selling funds collected by Li and others through the online platform amounted to over 210 million RMB. The Shidian County Procuratorate reviewed the case and found that Li used virtual currency as a gimmick, colluding with the other nine defendants to defraud property through the online platform, disrupting the economic and social order. The total pyramid selling funds exceeded 210 million RMB, and the circumstances were serious. The actions of Li and the other ten violated the provisions of Article 224-1 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting the crime of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities. After court hearings, the above judgment was made.

According to ChainCatcher news, as reported by Yunnan Legal Daily, in February 2023, seven defendants jointly discussed building an online platform for investing in virtual currency. After reaching an agreement, they contacted a company in Sichuan, where technicians developed the "3M platform" to issue the token "Mavro Coin," enticing investors to join the project with the promise of high profits from virtual currency investments. Once the platform was established and operational, the seven defendants actively promoted the investment platform's potential for high returns and conducted offline promotions to recruit subordinates, who in turn recruited others. According to the assessment, there were a total of 375 users whose subordinate levels were three or more (including three levels), and the total number of subordinates was 30 or more (including 30). The seven defendants profited between 4,300 yuan and 20,000 yuan.After hearing the case, the Xichou County People's Court found that the seven defendants used the "3M platform" to issue virtual currency, enticing investors to join the platform with the promise of high profits from virtual currency investments, and organized hierarchical structures in a certain order, developing personnel numbers as a means of profit. Their actions constituted the crime of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities. Based on the defendants' roles in the crime, the levels of development, their confessions and acceptance of punishment, and the return of embezzled funds, they were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from two years and six months to one year and six months, with probation applied, and were fined.

ChainCatcher news reports that, according to Jimu News, the People's Procuratorate of Zhongxiang City, Hubei Province recently made a ruling on a major virtual currency pyramid scheme case. The main offenders Chen, Ding, and Fu were sentenced to three years in prison, with a five-year probation, and each fined 350,000 yuan for organizing and leading a pyramid scheme.In February 2022, the three main offenders developed and launched a virtual currency trading APP, using investment in virtual currency as a pretext to establish a pyramid scheme organization called "Certain Community." The organization extensively promoted through internet platforms and offline training sessions, enticing members to purchase virtual currency and recruit downlines. The organization was divided into five major battle zones and 16 vanguard groups, implementing strict hierarchical management.As of December 2022, when the case broke, the organization had developed over 10,000 member accounts, with the highest level reaching 17 tiers, involving an amount exceeding 57 million yuan. The three main offenders have voluntarily returned all illegal gains of over 22.59 million yuan. Prosecutors emphasized that virtual currency does not have the same legal status as legal tender, and related business activities are illegal financial activities that will be strictly prohibited. The public should remain vigilant against false promises of "guaranteed profits" and reject high-interest temptations like "recruiting others" to avoid falling into similar pyramid scheme traps.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Legal Daily, the Economic Crime Investigation Team of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau has publicly reported that recently, the police dismantled a gang that organized and led pyramid selling activities under the guise of investing in virtual collectibles. The case involves over a hundred participants in the pyramid scheme, with an amount involved exceeding 2.8 million USD. The police remind that any activity that requires payment of an "entry fee" under the guise of investment, encourages recruitment of new members, and uses the number of people developed as a basis for compensation is a disguise for pyramid schemes. The general public should recognize the essence of pyramid schemes and enhance their awareness of prevention.According to police investigations, the pyramid scheme organization introduced "game rules" to the public through on-site lectures and WeChat group messages, attracting unspecified individuals to recharge and purchase under the pretext of investing in virtual collectibles, thereby earning profits and causing financial losses to many. Through the analysis and connection of police reports across the city, the police believe that this investment project is suspected of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities.Upon investigation, it was found that the organization had a complete member registration rule, and its profit-sharing model was divided into dynamic and static types. After participants recharge, they settle using virtual currency to obtain "static dividends." In addition, members can also obtain "dynamic dividends" by developing downlines, i.e., through the "recruitment" method.The police remind that some criminals turn "digital collectibles" and "virtual currency" into their own "wealth codes," using the concept and technology of the digital economy as a disguise to engage in illegal fundraising and other criminal activities. They attract investments and defraud money by boasting, exaggerating their value, or creating worthless "pseudo-coins." The general public should remain vigilant in their daily lives and avoid falling victim to scams.

ChainCatcher message: According to reports from CCTV News, the major economic crime suspect Zhang XX, who is suspected of organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, has been successfully extradited back to the country from Thailand.It is understood that since 2012, the MBI group, led by the suspect Zhang XX, has been engaging in illegal pyramid scheme activities by issuing virtual digital currencies. They required participants to pay fees ranging from 700 to 245,000 RMB to obtain platform membership, using high returns as bait and counting the number of members and the amount of funds invested as a basis for compensation or rebates. The group has developed over ten million members, with involved funds exceeding 100 billion RMB.

ChainCatcher news, the People's Court of Xingyi City, Guizhou Province, publicly tried a case of organizing and leading pyramid schemes. The defendant, Qin, used the pretext of "mining" with virtual currency to lure more than 70 people into participating in the pyramid scheme, with the involved funds exceeding tens of millions.It is reported that the company launched a short-term rental computing power hosting business, claiming to rent "computing power" to customers as bait for high investment returns, enticing participants to continue recruiting friends and family for investment. Based on the facts established during the trial and the circumstances of sentencing, the court sentenced the defendant Qin to 2 years and 6 months in prison for organizing and leading pyramid schemes.

ChainCatcher news, the Supreme People's Court and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly released 5 typical cases of punishing online pyramid scheme crimes according to the law, including cases of falsely promising high returns through investment in "virtual currency." The basic facts of the case are as follows:In early 2018, the defendant Chen and others used blockchain as a gimmick to plan and establish the "Certain Token" online platform to carry out pyramid scheme activities. They required participants to obtain membership accounts on the platform through referrals from their uplines and pay a threshold fee of over 500 US dollars in virtual currency to receive value-added services. Participants could use the platform's "smart dog brick-moving" technology to conduct arbitrage trading in different trading venues and earn platform profits.To evade crackdown, Chen and others moved the platform's customer service and currency distribution groups abroad in January 2019 and continued to carry out pyramid scheme activities using the "Certain Token" online platform. Statistics show that the "Certain Token" online platform registered over 2.6 million member accounts, with levels reaching 3,293 layers, and collected over 9 million pieces of various virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, Tether, and Grapefruit Coin from members.The People's Court of Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone in Jiangsu Province sentenced Chen to eleven years in prison for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposed a fine of 6 million yuan; the other defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from eight years and eight months to two years, and fines were also imposed. The illegal gains were confiscated and turned over to the national treasury. After the first-instance verdict, Chen and others appealed. The Intermediate People's Court of Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province ruled to dismiss the appeal and upheld the original judgment.The People's Court imposed corresponding penalties based on the position and role of the organizers and leaders of the cross-border online pyramid scheme activities in the entire criminal chain, and legally confiscated the involved virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, cutting off the defendants' economic ability to commit cross-border crimes again, demonstrating the judicial authority's firm stance in safeguarding internet financial security and maintaining the stable and healthy development of the financial market order.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by The Paper, the People's Court of Chongqing Liangjiang New Area (Free Trade Zone) recently concluded a highly publicized entrusted contract dispute case, which involves a dispute over members of a pyramid scheme organization purchasing virtual currency. The plaintiff, Qin, entrusted the defendant, Zhou, to register as a member on the pyramid scheme organization's online platform and purchase virtual currency, with a total investment of 223,500 yuan. Later, the online platform of the pyramid scheme organization suddenly shut down, making transactions impossible. After hearing the case, the court determined that the entrusted contract violated mandatory provisions of national laws and administrative regulations and should be deemed invalid. Based on the degree of fault of both parties, the court ruled that the defendant Zhou should return 106,700 yuan to the plaintiff Qin. After the first-instance verdict, Zhou was dissatisfied and appealed. The Chongqing First Intermediate People's Court made a second-instance ruling, rejecting the appeal and upholding the original judgment. Currently, this judgment has taken effect and has been automatically executed.

ChainCatcher news, according to Anhui Daily, the Anhui Provincial Political and Legal Affairs Committee, the Provincial Market Supervision Administration, and the Provincial Public Security Department jointly issued a notice. From May 13 to December 10, a province-wide crackdown on pyramid schemes called "Anhui Sword - 2024" will be launched, focusing on investigating network pyramid schemes that operate under the banners of "blockchain," "metaverse," "digital asset trading," and engage in activities such as virtual currency, mining machines, blockchain, and forex trading.