FINTECH NOVEMBER 27, 2018 / 7:22 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Special Report: Little known to many investors, cryptocurrency reviews are for sale
Anna Irrera, Elizabeth Dilts
18 MIN READ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When cryptocurrency issuers want positive coverage for their virtual coins, they buy it.
Self-proclaimed social media personalities charge thousands of dollars for video reviews. Research houses accept payments in the cryptocurrencies they are analyzing. Rating experts will grade anything positively, for a price.
All this is common, according to more than two dozen people in the cryptocurrency market and documents reviewed by Reuters.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian start-up Hacken was looking to promote its new coin after raising $3 million online in late 2017. Chief Executive Dmytro Budorin and his team identified a list of almost 200 cryptocurrency social media personalities they thought could help them, he said.
Hacken paid $7,500 for Christopher Greene, host of Alternative Media Television - a YouTube channel with more than 500,000 subscribers - to review its coin in a video, Budorin told Reuters. In the 25-minute video, published on June 22, Greene raved about Hackens coin and business, describing it as a huge market opportunity with potential 1,000x returns.
Nowhere in the video - which has more than 92,000 views - is Hackens payment to Greene mentioned. ...
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