Last updated on February 28th, 2018 at 10:41 am
What is USI Tech?
USI Tech (United Software Intelligence Technology) is a technology company that claims to have built the world’s first automated trading platform for Bitcoin. Since May 2017, the company has focused on providing Bitcoin packages which allow customers to automate their Bitcoin mining and trading. This has proved particularly popular among newcomers to cryptocurrency.
Needless to say, USI Tech has received a great deal of attention online of late. This is evidenced in the spike in Google searches of ‘USI Tech’ in mid to late 2017. Many people believe that USI Tech is a Ponzi scheme at best. However, others say that they have made good money from it and that it’s a legitimate business. So who are you to believe? In order to fully understand whether USI Tech is legitimate, we’ll need to take a closer look.
Who is behind USI Tech?
You would think that the USI Tech website would shed some light as to who is behind the company. Unfortunately, there is little to no information to be found about the company or its team members. This lack of transparency is enough to set alarm bells ringing. There’s also a lack of information regarding the products on offer with information hidden behind the free registration.
Nevertheless, USI Tech was founded by Joao Severino and Ralf Gold, both of whom have a history of being involved with some very questionable projects. It is reported that Joao Severino has been barred from financial activity in Portugal due to his involvement in a scam called AMC Invest. Ralf Gold has been reported to be involved with a number of Ponzi schemes including AdsProfitReward, MX Fast Money, World Consumer Alliance, HourlyRevShare, AdsProfitWiz, APR Clicks and Upper Game.
Aside from Severino and Gold, the company’s COO is Horst Jicha and the VP of Marketing is Mike Kiefer. The USI Tech website states that the company headquarters is located in Dubai. However, the registration number of (ICC20160282) actually shows them to be registered as a company in Ras Al Khaimah (a popular place for offshore companies to register in the UAE). There seems to be an overall lack of transparency surrounding the USI Tech team and company history and is certainly cause for concern.
How can you make money with USI Tech?
USI Tech offers people a way to get involved with Bitcoin regardless of their level of experience. Creating an account is free and users can then choose if they want to purchase a Bitcoin package (or multiple packages) at a rate of €50 each. Naturally, the more packages purchased, the greater the potential return.
The automated software of USI Tech mines cryptocurrencies and performs daily arbitrage trading of Bitcoin. This generates passive income with little hands-on involvement required from users. The company claims to offer 1% daily payout on average (over 5 days per week) with 140% return over the 140-day lifetime of the package, 5 days per week. Some customers have allegedly enjoyed profits of up to 150% though there has been no proof provided for such claims.
Another way to make money with USI Tech is via the referral program. Users simply sign up and then encourage friends and family to purchase packages as well as promote USI Tech by leaving their referral links on social media, online forums and article comment sections. This MLM (multi-level marketing) referral system allows users to earn up to 10% commission from anybody they refer to USI Tech. As such, it is possible to earn with USI Tech without personally buying any Bitcoin packages.
USI Tech claims to offer an average of 1% daily payout. While there certainly seems to be plenty of evidence online of users achieving profits, it’s not unfair to question how an automated trading platform can produce such results. Of course, USI Tech was helped by the rise in the price of Bitcoin in 2017. However, the returns seem too good to be true, particularly when you consider how volatile an investment Bitcoin is. Meaning, nothing only goes up forever.
USI Tech Shutdown in US and Canada
In January 2018, following a December 2017 cease and desist order from the Texas State Securities Board, USI Tech shut down its US and Canada operations. The cease and desist order had come following an internal investigation in which evidence of securities fraud was found. The Texas State Securities Board claimed that USI Tech had failed to disclose details regarding its operations.
USI Tech has since blamed its own affiliates and asked them to remove any evidence of promoting USI Tech on websites and social media. Since USI Tech shut down its operations in the US and Canada, many users have been unable to access and withdraw their funds. This is undoubtedly the biggest reminder so far that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Public Opinion/Online Reviews
It’s fair to say that opinion on USI Tech is very much divided. One thing that’s clear is that many online reviews should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, some of those who so highly praise USI Tech are affiliates and have something to gain. Likewise, some of the most critical reviews dismantle USI Tech and then promote their own money-making schemes. In all honesty, it’s hard to know who to trust.
What cannot be denied is that many users have indeed made good money from purchasing Bitcoin packages from USI Tech. Indeed, there’s plenty of USI Tech proof of earnings online. What’s also clear is that there’s a real lack of transparency surrounding the company and how they produce the profits they’re providing to customers.
Conclusion – Would I invest in USI Tech?
While USI Tech has generated profit for many users, it’s hard to argue that it isn’t essentially a Ponzi scheme. USI Tech has told us how they earn Bitcoin for customers but there has been no evidence of this. It’s highly unlikely that USI Tech’s stated strategies of mining and arbitrage trading generate sufficient revenue to pay the returns plus the complete referral downline for new sign-ups.
So while it’s all well and good when people are making money, there are those who may well be burned if and when it all comes crashing down, if you want an example, take a look at Bitconnect’s case. If you’re ever in doubt about the legitimacy of a project such as USI Tech, you can always use our Bitcoin Scam Test tool. Personally I wouldn’t risk my money on a business that raises so many questions.
Do you have experience with USI Tech? Do you think that it’s legitimate or is it simply a scam? Let us know in the comments below.