Quinex, an MLM crypto Ponzi masquerading as an AI trading platform, collapsed around November 20, 2025, after turning off withdrawals. Investors were hit with a fabricated “firewall attack” narrative, claiming funds were “secured and encrypted” while redirecting them to a new site for “recovery investments,” per. The scheme, launched in May 2025 via quinex.io, promised 1.8-2% daily ROI through “AI arbitrage” across 15+ exchanges, but relied on new deposits to pay earlier investors, per. CEO Sebastian Abrego, a fictional persona, fronted the operation from Panama, per. X posts from @CryptoScamAlert warn of the classic Ponzi signs.
Post-collapse, Quinex admins urged users to migrate to Coinage Bits (coinage-bits.ltd), registered privately on July 10, 2025, claiming existing accounts would work for “recovery,” per. Coinage Bits offers 8% referral commissions down one level (non-MLM), but mirrors Quinex’s Ponzi structure with high-yield promises, per. This “reboot” is designed to extract more funds from desperate victims, either by the same operators or via sold data, per. Similar schemes like NovaTech ($650M fraud) used recovery fronts, per. No refunds have been issued, and Quinex deleted its YouTube channel.
Quinex lured users with a $100 minimum, MLM ranks paying up to 10% on referrals, and bonuses for team volume. The “AI bots” were a ruse—no verifiable trading or audits, per. Traffic at collapse: U.S. 94%, India 6% (SimilarWeb), with unknown total victims but estimates of millions lost, per. Regulatory warnings from California, Russia, and the Netherlands preceded the fall, per. X user @FraudWatchCrypto notes Quinex as part of a 2025 Ponzi wave.
Avoid Coinage Bits, it’s a secondary scam, per. Report to SEC (sec.gov/complaint) or FBI IC3 (ic3.gov), per. BTC ($85,778) and ETH ($4,070) remain volatile but unrelated, per CoinMarketCap. Diversify into USDC with stop-losses below BTC’s $80,000, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for scam alerts. Recovery rates for Ponzi schemes are low (<40%), but whistleblower programs offer rewards.
