⚡️🗣️ STORY - They wanted to build an entire city on Bitcoin. A utopian, libertarian city that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the Nevada desert.
Except that in reality...
It was a fake city and a real scam.
Here is the true and completely crazy story of Bitcointopia.
➥ The genesis of a dream.
In 2018, Morgan Rockcoons (aka Morgan Rockwell), a Californian entrepreneur obsessed with Bitcoin, had a completely crazy idea.
He wanted to create an independent city-state, based entirely on Bitcoin, in the Nevada desert.
Bitcointopia was born that day in his mind.
Morgan presents himself as a visionary, who wants to build as the pioneers of the Wild West did before him.
➥ His plan?
- Buy 500 acres of land near Elko.
- Sell plots to Bitcoiners at 0.5 BTC per acre.
- Build a decentralized community "outside the system."
- Use Bitcoin for everything: schools, banks, businesses, energy.
"Become a citizen of Bitcointopia. Buy your acre of land for 0.5 BTC. Let's build a city together where blockchain reigns supreme."
On his website, Rockcoons promised futuristic infrastructure:
- 3D-printed houses powered by solar energy.
- Drones to monitor the streets.
- Tesla Powerwall microgrids.
- A digital parliament called BitCongress.
- Autonomous buses.
- A 100% Bitcoin economy, without banks, without a state, without taxes.
Dozens of investors took the bait.
Morgan promised to do everything by the book with real legal documents.
It was the ultimate dream for any Bitcoin maximalist.
➥ The promise of land.
Rockcoons was selling plots of land in Nevada.
Each buyer became a "citizen" and co-founder.
Except there was a problem... Morgan didn't own the land he was selling.
But that's not all. He even started reselling the same plots of land several times...
Most of the land in Nevada belongs to the federal government, and Morgan had actually only managed to acquire 10 acres, even though he claimed to own thousands.
The first doubts arose when some investors demanded their official deeds of ownership.
When they were provided, the documents were vague.
Morgan stalled for time and came up with plans and sketches... but nothing really concrete.
That's when the local press began to investigate.
The Nevada Independent revealed that the vast majority of the land promoted by Rockcoons belonged to the Bureau of Land Management, the US federal agency that manages public land.
This revelation comes as a shock to many investors, who begin to realize that they have been deceived.
They demand refunds, but Morgan Rockcoons disappears.
The losses amount to more than $45,000 for several complainants, sums that alert the authorities.
➥ The trial.
In court, prosecutors portrayed Rockcoons as a manipulator, an entrepreneur who took advantage of the Bitcoin hype to trap gullible investors.
In March 2019, Morgan Rockcoons pleaded guilty to two charges:
- wire fraud.
- illegal operation of a money transmission service.
He was ultimately sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
After the trial, investors realized they would likely never see their money again; the Bitcointopia ideal was nothing more than a mirage.
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