One ICO project that was recently issued a cease and desist order in Colorado appears to have gone poof into the ether, leaving investors worried about their investments. PinkDate planned on providing an escort service that used blockchain technology to help record its revenue via dual signature transactions. Investors in its 115 million tokens are starting to panic as the PinkDate recently sent out an email saying that it’s “temporarily” pausing the project due to lack of funds.
A Security Token to Avoid IPO Regulations
Escort services aren’t exactly legal around the world, so getting people to invest into the firm would have been very difficult using a traditional IPO. Instead, PinkDate opted for an ICO where 115 million security tokens were given to investors. PinkDate created a further 170 million which it kept for itself incase funds ran out and it needed to host a second ICO to raise funds. Despite this reserve of tokens, it appears as if PinkDate is about to vanish for good with investor’s funds.
Brushes with the Law
PinkDate was issued with a cease and desist order from the Colorado Division of Securities (CDS). However, after the news was announced PinkDate claimed that it never received the notice. The CDS did say that due to the fact it couldn’t find an address for PinkDate or find more information about its president – Sarah Stevens – and a COO known as Roger. The CDS issued the cease and desist order due to the fact the security token sale was accessible by residents of Colorado and that the project didn’t register with the local securities board.
We didn’t get anything! ?♂️
— PinkDate – Global Platform – Safe & Secure (@goPinkDate) November 20, 2018
A Parting Email
In a recent email from a man known as Brad, PinkDate said:
To our Faithful Investors, this is a difficult conversation: so I will just jump into it. We have reached a point [at this time] where we can not go further.
The email goes on to explain that the project has run out of funds and cannot afford to put the finishing touches on its platform. Despite the fact it kept 170 million tokens designed for this purpose, it won’t be doing another ICO. On top of this, it held a Black Friday token sale, but this sale raised barely any money and the platform has promised to repay all of the Black Friday investors.
Brad continues his ramblings while trying to reassure the current pool of investors. He finishes by explaining that he will start to explore Europe and Australia as a potential new home for the app – clearly the cease and desist order from the CDS has scared PinkDate away from America.
The Verdict
The entire project reeks of scam and has done so for some time, so we are inclined to brand it as such. With no operating address, along with secretive and fake names of key figures in the company, it just has too much going against it to be a real project. Unfortunately, for everyone who bought into the ICO, it looks like your money is gone forever – PinkDate can’t even afford to pay you back for your tokens.
After trying to reach out to PinkDate for an interview to clear the air, BitStarz News heard nothing back. While there appears to be more in terms of project than the Maltese Scudo scam, it could all be images made up with a bit of Photoshop skill. Remember, always do your own research and be very careful when investing in ICOs, a lot of them are scams looking to make a quick buck with a fancy idea.
