The ICO fervor of 2017 led to an influx of both positive development and fraudulent activity. In an effort to remove scammers from the sector, ECoinmerce, ICO Alert and other industry leaders have formed the Crypto Community Watch program.

100 BTC Reward Pool for Anonymous Whistleblowers

The Crypto Community Watch program aims to deter deceptive marketing and fraudulent activity within the cryptocurrency space by offering anonymous whistleblowers an opportunity and incentive to expose bad actors.

Through a collective effort, industry leaders ICO Alert, GZH, Step VC, ECoinmerce and NewEconomies have pooled together 100 bitcoin (~$645,000) to reward those that provide actionable information on potential cases of scamming, hacking or fraud.

Founded in 2018, ECoinmerce (ECN) is building a decentralized e-commerce marketplace that allows users to earn discounts, rewards and commissions on retail products for participating in the platform.

In an official press release, Rex Chen, COO of ECoinmerce, said:

“From the recent exchange hacks to the nearly-weekly reports of fraudulent projects taking off with investors’ money, it’s clear that crypto has a problem.”

Through an online form, users can submit anonymous tips regarding suspicious or illegal activity within the cryptocurrency and blockchain industries. Each tip submitted will be investigated by Crypto Community Watch members and “sent to applicable law enforcement agencies when appropriate.”

To claim a reward, the information provided must lead directly to the persecution of wrongdoers. All anonymous tips will be publicly available on the program’s website.

The first of its kind, the Crypto Community Watch consortium further urges other companies within the industry to follow suit and create similar groups to protect investors and deter criminal activity within the space.

Adding to his statement, Chen mentioned the industry and regulator’s responsibility to provide security in the burgeoning digital economy:

“Enough is enough. It’s up to the industry first and the regulators second to clean up the ecosystem. If you spend your time hacking, scamming, or intentionally misleading investors, your time is up.”