We recently found Zeniq being promoted on several online forums, so our Intel team decided to look at it. On their website zeniq.com, Zeniq claims to be a “Blockchain ecosystem for finance and investments.” In essence, the Zeniq platform will supposedly allow you to exchange cryptocurrencies and to invest in different projects. In their FAQ section, they say: Everyone who has purchased the ZENIQ “HUB 01” will get the minting option to produce ZENIQ Coins. The earlier you buy your ZENIQ “HUB 01”, the earlier you start minting and therefore you get more ZENIQ Coins. The minting option does not apply to the ZENIQ HUB “02”.
To invest in this project the investor must buy the Zeniq Hub to mint Zeniq coins. So, when the coin appreciates in value the investor can then sell it or exchange it for another cryptocurrency and make money.
Appriasal of Zeniq
We begin the appraisal of Zeniq with the most critical factor, the Zeniq Coin. The Zeniq websites clearly states that the Zeniq Coin runs on the Zeniq Blockchain.
But all we found listed on their website is an address to an ERC 20 token in the Ethereum blockchain, and not the Zeniq Blockchain. So where is the Zeniq blockchain? The explanation given by Zeniq is this: The ZENIQ coin is on its own blockchain, but since it is not (yet) listed on other exchanges, we have wrapped the ZENIQ coin and made it an ERC20 token (https://etherscan.io/token/0x5b52bfb8062ce664d74bbcd4cd6dc7df53fd7233) so it can be traded on Uniswap (https://info.uniswap.org/#/tokens/0x5b52bfb8062ce664d74bbcd4cd6dc7df53fd7233), for example. As soon as the ZENIQ exchange is ready, the ZENIQ coin can be traded on it. If ZENIQ is listed directly on an external exchange, it can be traded earlier.
Since Zeniq claims that ” The ZENIQ coin is on its own blockchain,” we simply ask where is this blockchain? Where is the code? Bitcoin and Ethereum all have their code base publicly published where anyone can read it and check that it is what its founders claim it to be. Simply saying that Zeniq has its own blockchain is not enough, for all we know the Zeniq blockchain might be a pie in the sky.
Also, we noticed there is no whitepaper on the Zeniq website. A whitepaper is a document that lays out the background, goals, strategy, concerns, and timeline for implementation for the project. It should have accompanying resources such as financial models, legal concerns, SWOT analysis, and a roadmap for implementation. All we have on the Zeniq website is a list of milestones. This is a huge red flag.
The next thing we looked at was the company location and its license status. Zeniq claims in its website to be a “Limited Liability Company in DIFC Freezone.” This is true but looking at the details of the company on the DIFC website we found two red flags. The date of incorporation is listed as 24th May 2021 and the type of license is listed as Non Regulated.
A non-regulated license simply means that the business is not regulated. Such licenses are given to firms providing non-financial goods and services, for example, consultancy services. Looking at the company overview we see consultancy services is listed.
Notice that its stated business activities have nothing to do with providing financial services, which is in line with the type of license given, but this is in variance with what Zeniq claims on its website.
The next red flag is the date of incorporation. The timeline on Zeniq website shows the Official Sale of the ZENIQ Hub as far back as August 2020.
Since the incorporation date is 24th May 2021, it means Zeniq was running an unlicensed and unregistered scheme for close to 9 months while making its customers and the public think otherwise.
A last point of concern is its CEO, Erwin Dokter. A search on the internet showed him as the CEO of another crypto project called JUWELIS Digital Systems AG.
A perusal of a past version of the website shows it has the same crypto services and offerings as Zeniq. For instance, below is a comparison of the fifth question of the FAQ from Juwelis Digital to that of Zeniq. Notice that both are identical.
Currently, the Juwelis Digital website is showing a coming soon banner, the above screenshots were from an earlier version of the website from the Internet archive’s way back machine.
From the foregoing, we can infer that Juwelis Digital was the first scheme propagated by Erwin Dokter, after it flopped, he quickly rebranded it to Zeniq. The is indeed a huge red flag for who is to say Zeniq will not become inactive tomorrow and when the dust settles gets rebranded as something else?
Putting it all together, we have a project with no whitepaper and blockchain, it started operation before it was incorporated, its license says it is unregulated and it is a copy of a past failed crypto project. Due to the afore mentioned reasons, we recommend that you do not put your money into Zeniq.