As first pointed out by Keith Mukai and further explained in my prior article Moolyacoin is unusual. In particular, Moolyacoin is an ERC20 Ethereum-based token that is being run more like a traditional “business” than a “utopian” open-source public blockchain project says the Founder. Specifically, Moolyacoin has two pieces of Solidity code that make sense as a centralized company but push against the decentralized cryptocurrency culture.

10 Lines of Code

Using about 10 lines of Solidity code, the developers who wrote Moolyacoin’s code gave the entity in charge of the Moolyacoin token creation contract the power to both create more Moolyacoins anytime and transfer any amount of Moolyacoins sitting in any wallet in the world. 

The Coin Retrieval Function Called “burnReturn”

Theoretically, this retrieval function gives the administrator of the token creation contract the ability to retrieve tokens from buyers and then sell them to new people. That is a potential danger. To be clear, Bitcoin, Ethereum and likely more than 95% of coins do not have this feature. But it also gives the administrator of the token creation contact the ability to retrieve tokens from buyers who have lost access to their coins due to their own mistakes such as a lost cryptocurrency wallet or a forgotten password. This is what the Founder of Moolyacoin says justifies the retrieval function they built into their token.

The Token Generation Function Called “mintable”

Theoretically, this token generation function gives the administrator of the token creation contract the ability to create a virtually unlimited number of additional Moolyacoins anytime. There is nothing in the code to limit the number of new tokens that can be issued and there is nothing in the code to limit the timing of a new token generation event. Again, to be clear, this is not the way that Bitcoin, Litecoin, MilitaryToken, or Ethereum works. This raises the concern of inflation and market flooding and the concern of a possible twist on a pump and dump where in this case, the proportions of ICO tokens reserved for the team might not reflect the number of coins they will one day possess. But this code also gives the administrator of the token creation contact the ability replace any tokens that are accidentally burned and add in tokens to the 1,000,000,000 supply should that supply prove to one day be too constrictive.

The Founder’s Reply

The following consists of several direct quotes sent to my Telegram account from Moolyacoin’s Founder. These comments were sent with a request that they be published unedited. Although this is not every comment he made, honoring his request here is what Mr. Rakesh Naik, Executive Chairman and Founder of Moolyacoin had to say about these topics. 

First, the Founder is interested in running a profitable business “We operate for profit and are not any charity organization or self-styled experts and proclaimed proponents of any theories and concepts that may not serve our business purpose.” As with traditional publically traded Fortune 500 companies where the shareholders come first, Mr. Naik says that “I run my business for my stakeholders and backers and not to propel theories and concepts that are utopian in nature.”

As a reminder, these are unedited comments. Second, Mr. Naik further believes that the code they constructed makes his project safer, not more dangerous, “We live in a society that is full of scamsters, cheats and phoney operators, we have to be practical and level-headed to enforce measures and checkpoints to safeguard our interests and our stakeholders’ interests.” In other words, Mr. Naik appears to justify their token’s control as safeguards. 

Third, Mr. Naik believes he has been transparent and explained several times that many people involved in the project have been made aware of all of the centralized controls built into their token saying, “We standby every bit of that we have put in our code design and it has been done after thorough deliberation, discussion and after full backing our stakeholders.” And again, “The backers and investors (all 100% of them) who have supported us are aware, agreed and continue to back us in why we designed our contract with these features.” 100% is a bold claim, and again, “We have a special purpose to service our ‘community’ and each member of that community who has supported, backed or invested in us is made aware of all our thought process.”

In spite of all of these assurances of transparency, at the time of this article, the English version of Moolyacoin’s website appears to lack any statements that Moolyacoin’s token was built with the ability to recall coins home from any wallet, anywhere, anytime without access to private keys, passwords, and without notice to the wallet holder. While this recall ability might be seen as an advantage by some, it does not appear to be being used as a selling point today because it is not clearly mentioned on their website, or in their white paper, or in their Terms and Conditions while in the midst of an ICO. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of tokens have already been recalled using the features described in this article, much to the confusion of token holders. 

At a time when ICOs have struggled, the Mooylacoin ICO appears to have raised several million dollars and seeks to raise much more. Every ICO is a bit of an experiment and Mooylacoin is certainly trying something new. It is up to the world to decide if they want to participate.

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