DavBebel

[Maksym Sakharov @maksymsakharov]

The crypto market has lost $2 trillion since last October. Over the same stretch, the combined number of USDT and USDC holders grew more than 14%, to 240 million.

I wrote about that gap this week. I think we still talk about adoption like it moves with the price of Bitcoin, a habit left over from when crypto was mostly a speculative asset.

The user base for the two biggest stablecoins kept growing straight through a $2 trillion drawdown, even as prices fell and geopolitical shocks hit the market.

As a founder, I've learned a market can misprice an asset for years. It's much harder to be wrong about 240 million people who kept using something.

https://t.co/Xcjfbvg6cu

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

This was presented as big Forbes recognition.
Forbes Finance Council is invitation-only and fee-based. You apply, get approved, then pay for membership. It’s not independent editorial coverage by Forbes.
Useful context when looking at how these schemes build legitimacy.

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

In December 2025 Aurum posted that Forbes had “officially published info” about the company and that CEO Bryan Benson was now a member of the “invitation-only” Forbes Finance Council. The graphic they used said “AURUM RECOGNIZED BY FORBES FINANCE COUNCIL.”
Forbes Finance Council is a paid membership program. You pay to join, get a profile, and can publish under the Forbes Councils banner. It is not independent editorial recognition or endorsement by Forbes.
This kind of framing is common in high-yield schemes during the recruitment phase — presenting a paid badge as validation while new money is still coming in.
#Forbes #ForbesFinanceCouncil #Aurum #HYIP

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Aurum (later rebranded as Neyro) was a high-yield crypto platform that promised high monthly returns. In late July it froze withdrawals and blamed a “cyberattack.”

Almost immediately, accounts started appearing on X, Trustpilot, and Reddit calling themselves recovery experts. They post the same polished graphics and tell victims to DM them for help getting their money back.

Most of these are just another scam layer targeting people who already lost money.

In this video I walk through:
- The Forbes Finance Council membership that was presented as recognition (it was a paid membership)
- How these schemes differ from real trading bots where you keep control of your funds
- The quiet move to dissolve the Canadian company
- And why there is no realistic recovery path except possibly through law enforcement

Don’t send more money to anyone claiming they can recover it for you.

#Aurum #Neyro #RecoveryScam #CryptoScam #HYIP

---

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

In December 2025 Aurum heavily promoted that CEO Bryan Benson had joined the “invitation-only” Forbes Finance Council. The graphic said “AURUM RECOGNIZED BY FORBES FINANCE COUNCIL.”
The specific profile they linked to (the one listing him as CEO of Aurum Foundation) now returns a 404.
There is still a residual Forbes page that lists Bryan Benson as a “Former Forbes Councils Member,” but it does not mention Aurum at all. It currently ties him to a completely different project.
Forbes Finance Council is a paid membership. The profile that was used as a legitimacy signal while they were still recruiting is gone — and the remaining page no longer associates him with Aurum.
#BryanBenson #Aurum #Forbes #HYIP #Neyro

[Marcus Voss @MarcusVossCPS]

🚨Aurum Foundation is done

On the Aug 14 Zoom, Bryan and the crew basically admitted it: the project is dead. Not a “hack.” Full exit scam.

Last 48 hours:
- Still running the recovery theater (roadmap calls, “audit soon”, Bali in October)
- Canadian shell company quietly filing for dissolution the same day
- Ahmed Zen completely ghosted
- Zero real TXIDs, zero multi-sig proof, funds already mixed
~$80M+ in bags. Fake bots. Malicious contracts. Classic CEX siphon + mixer

Game over

Similar statements and confessions from Bitradex loading...

#Aurum #AurumFoundation #Neyro #ExitScam #BitradeX

[Deone @Deone_Global]

https://t.co/7a6SfbmBvi

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

New Aurum/Neyro “recovery” call just dropped.
Still no date for the audit to finish. Withdrawals only start after that mysterious audit is done. Temporary rank-based limits ($50–$500/day). Quantum Alpha cut to 2–3%. Orbit One still promising 15–20%. Bali event in October sold as the big celebration.
Same pattern: freeze → “hack” → endless audit → limited payouts → new bot + event to keep the network hopeful.
No total losses disclosed. No independent forensic proof. No verifiable full-repayment plan.
Recovery theater continues.
#Aurum #Neyro #OrbitOne #CryptoScam #ExitScam

https://t.co/wKupF9zD81

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Two weeks later: withdrawals frozen, “sophisticated cyberattack,” domain issues, recovery calls, and people still waiting for their money.
This is why you test what’s real before the hype peaks.
#Aurum #Neyro #CryptoScam #ExitScam

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

🚨 New official warning just dropped.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has added Aurum Foundation Limited to its warning list (11 Aug 2026).
They are not authorised to offer financial services in the UK. Anyone dealing with them has no FSCS or Ombudsman protection.
Another major regulator joining the list (Russia, Nigeria, Australia, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Finland, Poland, etc.).
Meanwhile the recovery calls and “we’ll be back stronger” videos keep coming.
Full warning: https://t.co/IMC1VeNAIK
#Aurum #Neyro #CryptoScam #FCA #ExitScam

[RadSD987 @Sd987Rad]

@Neyro_network @andrewisaacs_io 🤔
https://t.co/ePVk4Egntq

[DavBebel @DavBebel]

@BastionMediaFR La french touch ...

[Marcus Voss @MarcusVossCPS]

🚨BitMart = FTX 2.0 ?

Looks like the exchange is in some deep shit with actual money. After they dropped the “we’re shutting down” announcement, the classic crypto circus kicked off: good luck withdrawing your funds.
Here’s the current picture:
- One trader is sitting on $10.1M that just… won’t move
- Market maker OpenGradient can’t pull their capital either, and the co-founder is already calling BitMart insolvent out loud
- Other projects are reporting tens of thousands locked and some have already gone to the cops
- According to Arkham, BitMart’s wallets went from $100M+ down to $36.4M in just a few weeks
- CoinMarketCap is showing a juicy $4.6M in reserves… and a big chunk of that is their own BMX token. Nice.
CEO Sheldon Xia is out here saying relax, nobody stole anything, they’re just “consolidating assets” for an orderly wind-down. Promises of courts, independent auditors, the whole clean-up package.Sure. Maybe. But we’ve all seen this movie before. The “everything is under control” phase usually doesn’t age well in crypto.
Too early to officially crown it FTX 2.0, but if your bags are still sitting on BitMart right now… this is not the moment you want to be stress-testing their solvency with your own money.

#BitMart #FTX2

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Hacken just publicly gutted the “we got hacked” story.

They audited the Neyro contracts. Result:
• No on-chain exploit
• One contract was never even used
• The other only let the OPERATOR move USDT into a liquidity pool

No swaps. No AI trading. Just privileged control over the money.

Neyro never even contacted them about the “incident.”

So either the hack happened somewhere else… or the people with the operator keys moved the funds themselves.

“Sophisticated cyberattack” is looking more like a cover story every day.

https://t.co/kVbtGZ84sE

#Aurum #Neyro #CryptoScam #Hacken

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Hacken never published a Top 5 ranking.
That came from a third-party article listing projects that had completed a Hacken audit. Aurum spun it as official recognition.
They did get a real (limited-scope) Hacken audit.
The “ongoing CertiK audit” was never publicly completed.
Three weeks later the platform froze, claimed a hack, and people still can’t get their money.
#Aurum #Neyro #CryptoScam #ExitScam

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

CryptoWendyO platformed Aurum’s CEO in December 2025, pushed the 10-15% monthly returns narrative, hyped the “already 5-6 millionaires before launch” claim, and posted a partner link to the scheme.
After it collapsed and people lost money, she deleted the video.
Here’s the interview she doesn’t want you to see anymore: https://t.co/H1fmChDki4
Influencers who promote high-yield crypto schemes and then scrub the evidence when it blows up are part of the problem.
#AurumScam #CryptoScam #CryptoWendyO #Accountability #Ponzi

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Forbes Finance Council is a paid membership, not an editorial recognition.

Eight months later the platform froze withdrawals, claimed a “sophisticated hack,” and is now pushing a rebranded bot while people still can’t access their funds.

[Deone @Deone_Global]

Wealth has always been a measure of success.
But true success has never been measured by wealth alone.

The life you are building deserves to be lived fully, with the health to enjoy it, the energy to feel it, and the time to make the most of every moment.

Deone is built around a simple belief:

Wealth and wellbeing should elevate one another.

That your wellbeing and your wealth are partners. Better health gives you the energy to build more. Greater wealth unlocks the freedom to invest more deeply in how you live, feel, and experience the world.

Each one lifts the other, in a cycle that keeps moving forward.

This is why wellness runs through every Deone membership.

Better ways:

• To travel.
• To recharge.
• To care for yoursel.
• To experience more of the world.

Success should mean growing wealthier and healthier.

At Deone, you build both.💎

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

Another Aurum “recovery” call. Same playbook, new product name.

What they announced:
• Temporary daily withdrawal limits by partner rank (Nexus to Pantheon). Framed as temporary while audits continue.
• Technical + security audits still “underway.” Bryan admitted the issues are “deeper than anticipated” and they are not ready to release any findings on the scope of the so-called hack. Details pushed to a future call.
• New official domain remains https://t.co/GbsGL11T93.
• New AI trading bot is now called **Orbit One**. Target returns still quoted at 15–20% per month. Will trade through a single decentralized liquidity pool (sold as the transparency feature). Existing partner compensation structure stays intact.

This is the classic next step in these schemes:
1. Freeze / limit withdrawals
2. Blame a hack / security incident
3. Run recovery calls asking for patience
4. Launch a new bot under a new domain with the same high-return promise
5. Keep the affiliate structure alive so people stay hopeful instead of walking away

Calling the new bot “Orbit One” and putting it on a redesigned Web3 infrastructure does not change the underlying model. It is the same high-yield structure that already failed basic on-chain scrutiny, already drew multiple regulator warnings across countries, and already went through the freeze → “hack” → recovery narrative.

No total loss figure.
No named independent auditors with public reports.
No verifiable repayment schedule for principal.
Just limited withdrawals, vague audit language, and a new product with the same 15–20% sales pitch.

This is not recovery. It is a shell game designed to buy time and keep the network from fully collapsing.

Watch the call yourself:

https://t.co/CgutS50jkL

[DavBebel @DavBebel]

@aurum_ecosystem @bryancripto https://t.co/BGoz1G9dNm

[Sean Matteson @seanmatteson]

This investigation names the family allegedly behind a string of crypto pyramids, including Aurum Foundation.
Alexander Knyazev + mother Gulnara Knyazeva are linked to earlier schemes (MintXMarkets and others) involving tens of millions in USDT flows with circular movement and little real trading evidence. Gulnara was previously promoted by Aurum as a network development leader.
Aurum already had multiple regulator warnings and the classic freeze → “hack” → new product recovery script. This adds the longer track record behind the operators.
https://t.co/1AtYAFkjDB