AiYellow, a company founded in 2005 as a business directory, began selling its Yellow Trading Coin (YTC) for 2 cents per token to its affiliates. The firm plans a public listing for YTC at 15 cents by March 2020, a target without stated justification.
The core AiYellow operation centered on a business directory, which has seen little use since its inception. Revenue historically came from affiliate fees for merchant licenses. These licenses were often given away to merchants, rather than sold, due to lack of demand. Commissions derived largely from affiliate recruitment, initial signup fees, and mandatory monthly spending. This structure meant affiliates frequently purchased merchant codes themselves, fueling the compensation plan directly.
After years of limited growth, AiYellow announced an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for Yellow Trading Coin. YTC functions as an ERC-20 token, a standard for creating new tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. AiYellow's own marketing materials explicitly frame YTC as a "crypto cash grab," stating the token "is riding on the massive wave of Momentum created by the Blockchain revolution." Promoters compared YTC to Bitcoin, promising substantial wealth.
The YTC ICO spanned one year, offering tokens at 2 cents each to existing AiYellow affiliates. The company projected a public listing price of 15 cents by March 2020. Affiliates who invested face a 75-day lock-up period before they can sell their tokens. AiYellow claims this restriction deters speculation as the token's internal value increases, a value the company itself determines.
This model suggests a familiar pattern. Once AiYellow has maximized affiliate investments, likely around March 2020, YTC will list on a less-regulated cryptocurrency exchange. An initial price surge, or "pump," would allow AiYellow management to sell off a significant portion of their own YTC holdings, generated at minimal cost. Affiliates would then receive encouragement to invest further, often with promises of exponential growth. The subsequent "dump" would see YTC's value crash, leaving investors with worthless digital assets.
The underlying business directory provides no legitimate support for YTC's value. AiYellow's directory was already considered obsolete in 2012 when first reviewed, long before the cryptocurrency venture. Modern internet users rely on search engines for finding businesses, not dedicated, single-source directories.
AiYellow's co-founders, Martin Naka and Rick Cabo, were identified in 2012 as leading the company. Naka is based in Thailand, and Cabo in Los Angeles, according to AiYellow's website. The Yellow Trading Coin whitepaper names Frank Varon as its CEO. While Varon may or may not reside in Saint Maarten, AiYellow itself has no demonstrable operational presence there. Web traffic analysis from Alexa indicates AiYellow's primary audience resides in Colombia (29%), Greece (18%), Thailand (10%), Venezuela (8%), and Brazil (8%).
AiYellow markets YTC as a passive investment opportunity. The company has provided no evidence of registering these securities with any regulatory body in any jurisdiction. This lack of registration, combined with the recruitment-driven revenue model, suggests AiYellow and its promoters are engaged in both pyramid scheme fraud and securities fraud.
Without intervention from financial regulators before the planned March 2020 public listing, many AiYellow YTC investors risk substantial financial losses in what resembles a cryptocurrency exit scam.