Lil Uzi Vert is only the latest rapper to jump into the cryptocurrency craze, but he might have dived into the deep end of a possible crypto-mining scam known as Dripcoin.
The heavily-tattoed-and-pierced Philadelphia rapper revealed his latest money-making endeavor in an early-morning (or early-evening, considering his current status touring in Australia) Twitter rant, he posted a screenshot revealing some earnings info, but on closer look, the whole thing — like many cloud mining setups — may not be entirely legit or trustworthy.
https://twitter.com/LILUZIVERT/status/969243745836179457
Uzi first posted about Dripcoin back on February 28, writing, “Who wants a drip coin?” He’s since gone back and forth with his fans about the idea on Twitter, with at least one fan claiming “drip coin > bitcoin.” Dripcoin is advertised on its own Twitter as a way to “help up-and-coming artists and producers get their checks.”
https://twitter.com/LILUZIVERT/status/968891656110878720
However, on closer inspection, it appears that the domain advertised by the “cryptocurrency”‘s social media pages is currently unoccupied, and a Google search reveals that Dripcoin is not a currency, but rather a cloud mining service. There are currently two different urls listed (the one from the posts and dripcoin.cc), and neither goes to anything
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfyZsNfDRT6/
According to Tech Radar, cloud mining is “the process of buying CPU power from dedicated data centers who use their own equipment to mine cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) on your behalf.” The same article also warns of scams. Without a site to provide some proof of legitimacy, Dripcoin comes off looking more and more like one of those than a legitimate currency.
Because Bitcoin and blockchain are so poorly understood but seem so lucrative, it’s extremely easy to swindle tech and investment novices, which is probably why there are so many scam services out there. It’s possible Dripcoin is just a startup going through a bumpy launch, but there are plenty of red flags to find for anyone who wants to look for them. Whether or not Dripcoin is legit, it’s always best to do plenty of research before putting your money into a new service.
