Athene Network, a crypto mining Ponzi scheme, collapsed following a trademark infringement judgment earlier in 2025, leading its operators to reboot as Atheus Network, per the article. The rebrand was announced on September 22, 2025, claiming the original domain “athene.network” was suspended due to the dispute. Atheus Network launched on “atheus.network,” registered privately on September 20, 2025, per WHOIS data. This move mirrors classic Ponzi tactics to evade legal scrutiny, as seen in similar schemes like Forsage and Meta Force, per
Athene Network’s ATM token mining plans were terminated on October 31, 2025, with Atheus Network pivoting to a “staking” model using the ATN token, launched in August 2025, per. ATN, pitched as a “x100” opportunity, has plummeted 99.99% since its March 2025 listing, trading at near-zero value, per CoinMarketCap. The “staking” is essentially a Ponzi, promising returns funded by new investments, with early users lured by high yields but facing withdrawal restrictions, per . X users like @BMidimahou91180 call it a “scam,” noting account deletions and lost coins, per [post:10].
Based on SimilarWeb data, Athene and Atheus primarily targeted users from India and Pakistan, with website traffic peaking at 307,000 monthly visits in July 2025, per. Recent shifts show momentum in Cote d’Ivoire and Hungary, as recruitment in Australia and France collapsed, per. The schemes exploited MLM structures, promising AI-driven mining but delivering no real tech, per . Victims report lost deposits, with one user claiming “500+ dollars gone,” per [post:12].
The reboot highlights persistent crypto fraud risks, with ATN‘s collapse echoing Forsage‘s $340M losses, per . Bitcoin (BTC) at $113,234 and Ethereum (ETH) at $4,070 remain unaffected, but such schemes erode trust in DeFi, per CoinMarketCap. Regulators like BaFin and SEC have warned against unlicensed staking, per. Investors should avoid unsolicited mining/staking offers; verify via sec.gov or BaFin.de, per. Diversify into USDC or ETH with stop-losses below $112,000 BTC, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for fraud alerts. Atheus may face shutdowns, but reboots could continue, urging vigilance in 2025.
