



It is still early days for Bitcoin in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, it is still something unheard of in much of the continent and the message has been slow in spreading. However, in the last few months the tempo seems to have gone up many notches and all that is thanks to an enthusiastic group of people whose actions the rest of the Bitcoin community should be wary about.

Of course, being a decentralized community, there is no central authority to either guide or put down the rules of the evangelization. Everyone is welcome to make Bitcoin known and used through the best means they know how. That seems to be a problem. Indeed a major one right now in Africa.

This is especially given that Bitcoin is still fighting negative publicity in the West emanating from its use in the deep web (read Silk Road).

In the recent months, an organization known by the name MMM Global has been aggressively marketing itself on the continent. It has already recruited hundreds of thousands of South Africans into its ranks.

Contributor on LetsTalkBitcoin, “…..certain factors lead me to believe that MMM is poised to become a major scandal for Bitcoin. First, it is exploding in popularity, especially among people who have little previous exposure to Bitcoin.”

It is shifting its attention to the neighboring Southern African countries as well as East Africa and West Africa. In order to function in the MMM Global community, new recruits are asked to acquire Bitcoin wallets and buy Bitcoins.

Talk of knowing Bitcoin in the wrong circumstances!

For the majority of these new members, it is the first time they ever hear of Bitcoin. As a matter of fact, MMM Global organizes seminars in towns and villages where, among other things in the orientation course, recruits are taught how to use Bitcoin.

On the face of it, this seems to be a welcome campaign-a noble course, but that is until you scratch off the surface MMM Global. On its website, it describes itself as an organization that provides ordinary people with a platform on which to help one another.

On the MMM Global, online platform members provide and receive financial help. However, how it works is not that simple, though. Basically, for every financial help you give, you receive the amount back with an interest that ranges between 30% and 100%.

As a member, you also stand to earn bonuses for introducing new members. As a matter of fact, for each person you introduce, you get 10% of every help they give or receive. You also become the leader of the people you introduce as well as those they introduce.

In other words, MMM Global is a pyramid scheme.

Apparently MMM Global has branches in 100 countries, with a total of over 134 million members. The bulk of its community is found in Russia, the Philippines and South Africa. The organization claims to have handled about 14 billion dollars so far.

It is another Ponzi scheme.

The bad news about MMM Global begins with the history of its founder. Mr. Sergei Mavrodi founded the first version of MMM Global in 1987. It closed shop in 1997. In 2007, a Russian court found him guilty of defrauding 10,000 investors $4.3 million and was handed a four and half year prison time.

Of course, a pyramid scheme will not concern the Bitcoin community more than it does the general public. However, when you consider that the pyramid scheme is introducing Bitcoin to its new members for the first time alongside its product, then there is reason worry. The members may never differentiate Bitcoin and the scheme.

Bobby Lee, CEO BTCC on MMM, “We have posted warnings on our site and on our social media to warn users to be careful, but they have been coming to our exchange and buying out like crazy.”

It, therefore, means that in the case of the scheme collapses, the members tricked of their money will remain with the impression that Bitcoin is the currency for scammers. It is not easy to convince them later that Bitcoin has a good side.

While this is not an indictment on MMM Global, it does not auger well that it is through someone with the history of Mr. Sergei Mavrodi that people should hear about Bitcoin for the very first time.