In recent weeks it came to our attention that despite various forms of oversight, the Vibes competition was compromised both from within and externally.
This information is being presented for your consideration.
Internal Scheme
The internal and most significant issue was discovered by a Hive member who became aware of what was first thought to be a vote trading type of a situation. After investigating it further, it turned out to be a sophisticated kickback scheme that involved multiple Hive members.
Everyone familiar with Vibes knows that @verbal-d was the main curator and judge in the competition. His job was to curate good submissions and be part of the nomination process. For this job he received a small payment which came from posting rewards (Value Plan-related projects may not pay team members and rely on volunteers). There is no excuse for what he did.
Before we move further, let us be clear that this matter is under ongoing investigation. The penalty for fraud is the addition to the Hive Watchers/Spaminator blacklist.
The way the kickback scheme worked is like this:
- Multiple Vibes participants were approached and offered a high vote on their posts
- In exchange, they were to provide @verbal-d with a portion of their rewards
- The discussions were held off-chain
- At least one person was asked to be part of this plan and help
- To hide the on-chain trail, other people's accounts were used to launder the funds
- The posts were voted and funds were sent to @verbal-d
- Participants who failed to send funds were reminded
At this time, it is unknown how the Vibes participants who were approached were selected. We spoke to multiple participants. Some were approached, some weren't. The scheme began to unravel when a couple of people who participated in it broke their silence.
To clarify, not all Vibes winners were a part of the scheme - some were approached and rejected partaking. A community poll system was implemented that affected the final results as well as @lordbutterfly being involved in choosing the winners which offset Verbal-d effect on final outcome fully.
As a result, at this time and at this point of the investigation:
- @verbal-d has a permanent blacklisting for fraud (no appeal) for creating, organizing and carrying out this scheme
- @jessicaossom has a regular blacklisting for fraud (appeal possible, current duration not determined) for laundering the kickback funds
The investigation is still ongoing due to the known and potential number of people involved both directly or indirectly.
Vibes competitors who willingly participated in this scheme are banned from being part of any Value Plan budget-funded events/Hive promotional events now and in the future in the role of team members.
This being said, we do thank the individuals who came forward, who will not be named here for their personal safety. We also thank a Hive member who chose to be anonymous who did the bulk of the existing investigation into this matter.
Due to the safety concerns for the people who came forward and those who provided information in follow-up, we will not be publishing screenshots of their interactions with @verbal-d and anyone else.
External Scheme
During our preceding investigation it became apparent that a business was created by @suanetmusic and several others out of Cuba in order to onboard musicians as Vibes participants. The business is called the SBS Art Web3 Academy with an Instagram of https://www.instagram.com/academia_artistas_web3/ and https://artweb3.systeme.io/empieza-hoy
These musicians were not Hive members and did not know about Hive prior to this. The musicians were attracted by a representation of Vibes and Hive as an opportunity gatekept by the academy to make money.
The way the business scheme works is like this:
- People are attracted by a website and Instagram that shows money being waved and sure gains
- They are placed in a WhatsApp group
- They are coached through creating their accounts and making a Vibes post
- They pay a portion of their earnings to the academy on a regular basis
- New victims keep paying the academy without realizing they are being mislead
- New victims don't realize that the academy holds no control over them
At this time, the investigation has not yet revealed to what extent this second scheme was connected to the first scheme.
It should be clear that absolutely no Hive members of Cuban origins were involved in any part of this investigation, including in reporting. No Hive member currently residing in Cuba or originally from Cuba had any part in reporting this.
Please see:
As a result of this investigation so far:
- @suanetmusic has a permanent blacklisting for fraud (no appeal) for creating this scheme
- Further blacklistings are expected as the investigation progresses
We will get in touch with all the victims of this scheme and correct their understanding of the Hive blockchain and ecosystem.
Competition
The Vibes competition has been terminated by @lordbutterfly with no plan to reinstate it. There is no simple way to determine fully all the people that were involved and this choice seems like the only correct one.
The damage incurred is estimated from few hundred to few low thousand HBD that was funneled by the musicians participating in the fraud back to Verbal-d.
Vibes has been a pillar of the Hive music community, onboarding over 1,500 users, peaking at 500 weekly participants, hundreds of active users, and building a thriving creative hub. But over time, corruption and misuse by a few have tainted what was meant to be pure and community-driven.
Out of respect for the vision and the people who made it special, Vibes is shutting down, not in defeat, but in integrity. The music will live on elsewhere on Hive.
