Final up to date: December 2025
In July 2017, the Ziber ICO promised to revolutionize worldwide telephone calls utilizing blockchain expertise. Inside hours of launching its fundraiser, roughly $200,000 vanished. The staff blamed hackers. Then they went silent. Nobody was ever charged.
That is what occurred.
Editor’s Be aware: This text replaces a damaged hyperlink from Crypto-Information.internet. We’ve compiled this account from blockchain information, archived discussion board discussions, and ICO monitoring databases.
What the Ziber ICO Promised
Ziber marketed itself as “The First Blockchain Cell Operator.” The pitch: obtain an app, make worldwide calls for nearly nothing.
The thought was that the app would route calls by way of different customers’ telephones as an alternative of conventional telephone networks. Ziber would pay these customers in cryptocurrency tokens for lending their unused name minutes. In idea, this is able to undercut providers like Skype and Viber.
Ziber LTD, a UK-registered firm, launched its ICO (preliminary coin providing, primarily a cryptocurrency fundraiser) on July 27, 2017. They aimed to boost between £1 million and £10 million.
They by no means obtained shut.
Ziber ICO Warning Indicators
Earlier than the ICO even launched, cryptocurrency neighborhood members flagged issues:
The staff couldn’t be verified. Reviewers on Steemit and BitcoinTalk reported that almost all staff members’ social media profiles appeared to have been created days earlier than the ICO. Searches for his or her skilled histories got here up empty. Nobody on the staff had any obvious telecommunications expertise.
The code regarded incomplete. Analysts who examined Ziber’s public code repository discovered disorganized information and minimal growth exercise, not what you’d count on from a undertaking asking for thousands and thousands.
Critics had been silenced. When YouTubers and bloggers posted damaging critiques, Ziber filed copyright claims to have the movies eliminated. They attacked the critics quite than addressing the issues.
The Ziber ICO “Hack”
On July 27, 2017, the identical day the ICO launched, Ziber introduced their fundraising contract had been hacked.
In line with evaluation posted on BitcoinTalk’s Rip-off Accusations discussion board, the vulnerability was easy: anybody may name a perform in Ziber’s code and reassign possession of the funds to themselves. Inside hours, roughly 1,000 ETH (price roughly $200,000 on the time) was drained.
Neighborhood investigators documented the cash path:
The unique fundraising tackle (0xf0a924661b0263e5ce12756d07f45b8668c53380) confirmed solely 37 ETH remaining. A secondary tackle held simply 8.7 ETH. The remaining moved to wallets managed by the “hijacker.”
Technical reviewers had been cut up on whether or not this was gross incompetence or an intentional backdoor. Both means, the Ziber staff blamed an outsourced developer (smartcontracteam.com) and revealed the developer’s contact info publicly.
Then communication stopped.
What Occurred to the Ziber Workforce?
The Ziber web site listed 5 individuals: Mark Braun (CEO), Michael Kaufman (CTO), Jason White (Operations), Michael Cordy (Co-founder), and Nick Rozhdestvensky (Advertising and marketing).
Neighborhood investigators couldn’t confirm most of them. As one reviewer famous: “there’s little or no data that I may discover on-line about anybody on the core staff other than Mark Braun, not one of the different 3 appear to exist on LinkedIn or different social websites.”
After saying the hack, the staff posted one message blaming the third-party developer. Then they vanished. The official BitcoinTalk account went silent. No staff member has been publicly traced since.
Why No One Was Prosecuted
In contrast to bigger ICO frauds akin to Centra Tech ($25 million, founders sentenced to jail) or REcoin (founder charged in 2017), Ziber’s smaller scale possible saved it under the edge for main investigations. The “hack” narrative, nonetheless suspicious, offered authorized cowl. Cross-border jurisdiction between the UK and Russia difficult any potential enforcement.
Because of this, Ziber is now listed with “SCAM ALERT” warnings on ICOholder. The web site is defunct. The staff by no means constructed a product.
Classes From the Ziber ICO
The Ziber case illustrates patterns that repeated all through the 2017 ICO increase:
Confirm the staff. Should you can’t discover staff members’ skilled histories by way of primary searches, that’s an issue. Official initiatives have individuals keen to stake their reputations.
Test the code. An energetic growth repository with significant commits suggests actual work. Sparse or disorganized code is a crimson flag.
Watch how they deal with criticism. Groups that assault critics as an alternative of addressing issues are hiding one thing.
Perceive the expertise. Should you can’t clarify how a undertaking would truly work, don’t make investments. “Blockchain” shouldn’t be a magic phrase.
For a complete framework on defending your self from related schemes, see our full information on learn how to keep away from harmful Web3 initiatives and forestall crypto scams.
Disclaimer
This text is for informational functions solely and doesn’t represent monetary or authorized recommendation. Cryptocurrency investments carry vital danger. All the time conduct impartial analysis earlier than investing.
Data compiled from ICOholder, BitcoinTalk boards, Steemit archives, and Etherscan blockchain information. We now have made cheap efforts to confirm accuracy however can not assure all historic particulars.
Sources
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