According to latest reports, a cryptocurrency mining company called Ultra BTC Mining LLC was promising to double investors money while contributing to UNICEF’s COVID-19 relief fund. A detailed analysis by the Texas government revealed that Ultra BTC could not provide any proof for the donations it made to the relief fund.
The Texas State Securities Board filed an Emergency Cease and Desist Order on the mining firm after reports came in that it had raised over $18 million from investors. This included people from the state of Texas who gave away their computing power to mine cryptocurrencies. What gave the company away were its claims of donating large sums of money for the UNICEF coronavirus relief fund.
Ultra Mining and its agent Laura Branch, had made news when they repeatedly spoke about the multitudes of charitable donations made. The numbers given by the company said that over $100,000 was donated to the fund to enable the purchase of medical equipment like ventilators. The release said:
“Ultra Mining and Branch, neither of whom are registered to sell securities in Texas, are also failing to disclose the principals or financials of its cryptocurrency mining operation. The company is promising eye-opening returns. According to the order, they are telling potential investors that a $10,000 investment in computing power will return nearly $10,500 per year. A $50,000 investment will return nearly $52,000 per year.”
Aside from direct registrations, the company is also offering affiliate partnerships where individuals can recruit new investors. Affiliates on the Ultra BTC website will get a 5 percent commission on the deposits from new investors. The red flags went up when Ultra Mining started a ‘recession special’ where investors could avail a extra 30 percent of purchased cryptocurrencies. Sources from the company claimed that during these ‘hard times’, anyone with an initial deposit of 10,000 could benefit from the discount.
The Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings said that the company has 31 days to respond to the notice of fraudulent behavior. A little digging around revealed that some of Ultra Mining’s partners were still in line for payments. These were the same partners responsible for running Ultra Mining YouTube videos. The mining firm also offers its partners up to 20 percent of the total deposits as commission.