Unlike the previous ICO scam alerts that we explored in my last post, Synthorn provide much more detailed account of their token, its purpose and its intended market.
You might read the abstract to the white paper and think to yourself…wtf is this all about?
To many, it may seem like a scam right away but what makes it a little more sophisticated than Beer Token and Wounded Warrior Coin is that it targets a serious issue while conflating it with the development of their token.
This is the issue of Rhino poaching for their horns, which are coveted on the black market for their perceived medical and virile properties.
This angle may entice idealistic, socially conscious or animal activists into investing in the project.
Now, some of you may be thinking this is a ridiculous product right off the bat but there are actually groups working on the development of synthetic rhino horns in order to saturate the market and reduce the demand of the real thing.
Once again, this project provides no information about the development team behind the product. This is the first red flag but not the last.
As of writing this (Oct. 4th , 2017) the official website is no longer operational and if you try to visit the site now you get the message: Website Expired.
This coincides quite neatly with the end of the ICO sale on September 30th, 2017. If there was never a plan to develop the product then it’s hardly surprising that the website has also ceased to exist.
[My apologies, as I intended to post this Scam alert last week but was unable to post until now.]
No Team / No website / No Product.
It might seem pointless to continue reading but I think it’s worth noting other aspects of Synthorn and learn what we can from the scheme.
The creators of Synthorn did provide a whitepaper outlining the use case for their synthetic rhino horn and aphrodisiac.
From the Whitepaper:
The purpose is to create a horn that can be released on the market that is not only an alternative to real rhino horns but the synthetic prototype would be infused with Viagra.
This raises some concerning questions:
What could go wrong if one were to consume a Rhino horn sized dosage of Viagra?
If consumers of Rhino horn purchased a Synthorn instead of the real McCoy it would seem logical that they would be under the impression that it was natural and from the wild.
It would also be logical to assume that the consumers of rhino horn would attempt to prepare the horn in the same way.
Synthorn will be cost lower than its natural counterpart and also it will be genetically indistinguishable from one another.
Curiously, Synthcoin whitepaper states that there are very few producers of Synthetic rhino horn but they plan on purchasing their synthetic horns from a company called Pembient. Oddly, Pembient is also launching an ICO for their coin (Pembicoin) which would be used to purchase the synthetic horn.
It’s thought that:
1 Pembicoin = 1 gram of bio-fabricated Rhino Horn
If you take a closer look at Pembient and their ICO for Pembicoin, you come to the realization that Synthorn is actually a rip-off of their work.
Pembient’s ICO was also running at almost the exact same time as Synthorn's ICO.
Interestingly, Pembient also does not identify members of their development team on their website either and also provides no Whitepaper.
Both Synthorn and Pembicoin offer an ETH address for donations to support their projects and each are built on top of the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC20 coin.
Note: Synthorn states at the bottom of the page that one should consider any amount sent to the company as a "donation".
I was unable to find Pembicoin on ICOtracker.net and finding any information about their current ICO also comes up dry.
However, what Pembient does have are links to numerous articles discussing the potential of synthetic horns to help eliminate animal poaching around the world. Not only that, but the 3D-printing bio-fabricated rhino horn producing company is, in fact, Pembient.
Matthew Markus, co-founder and CEO of Pembient, a biotech company that’s working to fabricate rhino horns, elephant ivory, and other animal parts with the goal of replacing the illegal wildlife trade with reproductions, believes we must solve the problem of poaching.
In this case, Pembient does have a CEO, Mathew Markus, with Twitter and Facebook accounts that are active.
Pembient, a startup from Seattle, is trying to reverse this trend using 3D printed biotechnology to fabricate genetically genuine rhino horn at prices below the levels that induce poaching.
The demand for rhino horn is extraordinarily high, especially in China, where it is a valuable component in Chinese medicine. "Our goal is to replace the illegal wildlife trade, a $20 billion black market, the fourth largest after drug, arms, and human trafficking, with sustainable commerce," the company states on its website.
As far as I can tell, Pembient is not focused on the aphrodisiac qualities of Rhino horns and they're attempting to develop a bio-fabricated horn made up of keratin that buyers of animal horns often use for producing carvings. The driving force behind Pembient appears to be to save animals form extinction, including rhinos. The company envisions that by flooding the market with a manufactured replica that's indistinguishable from the real thing then the price of horns will drop and poaching will no longer be a lucrative endeavor.
Many are skeptical of this assessment and critics wonder why does the product need to look like the real thing?
Wouldn't the materials suffice?
And if the product is identical to the real thing, how will that deter the real product from continuing to be acquired?
Synthorn appears to have been a scam ripping-off the synthetic rhino horn concept from another start up company called Pembient. Seeing as though Synthorn’s website has disappeared so too has the company and any funds they may have raised in their month long ICO.
There's no doubt that Pembient is a real company made up of real individuals, but this also doesn't mean that Pemient's project is actually a good idea. There are numerous critics who believe that Pembient's solution to the poaching problem may, in fact, make matters worse by legitimizing the trade.
After discovering that Pembient appears to be a legitimate biotech start-up with a mission to save animals from extinction by using the advanced biotech 3D-printing and blockchain technology to solve a difficult issue, I must say that I find the possibility quite intriguing. Of course, I'm not talking about investing in the project but I'm curious to see whether the introduction of a synthetic product into the black market will have the desired effect.
Have a look for yourselves at their website:
Also see David Gerard's critical take on Pembient as well as Synthorn.
Pembicoin’s ICO is still running for another 2 weeks.
Let me know your thoughts on this. I'm looking forward to reading your comments.
Thanks for reading, always appreciated.
