At the beginning of May 2023 I wrote about an app called Bitcoin Miner. It was a failure and a waste of time. But I kept looking for an easy and effective cell phone or cloud mining app. I wanted to add a passive app to keep churning in the background as I go about my day. I settled on one called Alfa Pro by Hedge Mining Inc. Which can be found in the Google app store.
I did not know anything about Hedge Mining or Alfa Pro prior to downloading the app. According to Androidrank.org, Alfa Pro is Hedge's only app. Over 100,000 downloads is a good sign but the front loaded 5 star review gave me pause. 18,000+ reviews is a good sample size.
I could not find any social media accounts associated to Alfa Pro, another eye brow raiser.
The biggest complaints about Alfa Pro were that the app poses as free until it is time to withdraw and then it hits you with some hefty fees. The fees come in the form of being forced to purchase a premium account. I agree this should be disclosed when the app is opened for the first time. Most users will only figure this out when the try to make a withdrawal. They do bury this requirement in the terms and conditions, but I would not call that forthcoming or trust building. Also it is unclear what currency they are denominating their plan prices in. The Standard Plan is listed at $30 on the menu page, but Google Play wants to charge me $81.35 CAD. Perhaps the $30 is USD pre tax + pre fees. Those charges in concert with the exchange rate may be how we get a 40% lift in price? These two factors are sketchy but not necessarily a poison pill.
To their credit I did contact support about their pricing and they got back to me almost immediately. Lack of support was one of the complaints that popped up often in the Google Play reviews. So either the reviews were exaggerated or Alfa Pro fixed their support problem.
A Google 1 Star review complained that the transactions on the app could not be found on the blockchain. I thought this was a peculiar complaint. If I was trying to scam people I wouldn't give away the evidence to uncover my ruse. Alfa Pro lists their transactions on the main page of the app and I was able to verify them on the Blockchain without much effort.
Here are some transactions that I have verified myself. You can double check. I used Blockchain.com
Here is the wallet ID that you can copy paste for verification:
1LhbySTJBJXzgCboFovpzWFwueP2JtRTkM
A second transaction that I verified to wallet: bc1qknjvyhrrh3uknrgk8g040gld9dnyg3zydd4gun
There is BTC coming out of the app's wallet. No doubt a good sign. Are these transactions from a user withdrawal or could it be the devs moving BTC daily to show activity? - at this point either is possible.
At the time of writing I have mined 0.00453 BTC. This is a lot of Bitcoin in a very short period of time. I have amassed nearly half a percent of BTC in less than a month, with no ads on the app. It seems too good to be true. That is why I am so cautious. I would guess that the minimum withdrawal for Alfa is set at 0.004 BTC because that is approximately how much you have to pay to make a withdrawal.
Yes my pseudonym is Lou Alcindor, I'll spam tips to anyone who gets the reference in the comments.
The user interface is clean. I like that it shows you an approximate spot rate for BTC. This number does change with the market, so its tracking somehow. or a developer is updating it every so often. That indicated effort has been put into the app.
The crypto referral system is now ubiquitous. I had hoped the industry had moved on from invitation codes and canned invite messages with typos. But here we are:
Hello, i am using AlfaBit Miner app for Earning. Download it from here
http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alfapro_cloud.cloud_miner and earn $10 with invitation code
WsoAt2
I hate these types of referral codes. They are only made for the referred to apply and forget to enter in the second referral code.
As I mention, the minimum withdrawal amount is 0.004 BTC. Which I thought would take 6 months or more to reach, not 3 weeks. At this point I would normally try to get my BTC off an app as quickly as possible, but because of the high fees to withdraw Bitcoin from Alfa Pro I have decided to wait until I have build a large enough position to justify a purchase. I will purchase the standard plan once I reach 0.05 BTC on the app, just over 10 X from here. This would add more that 50% to my Bitcoin position and I feel like pulling the equivalent of $1,850 CAD off an app is worth paying $200 CAD. That's a trade I can stomach.
I cannot give this app a fair review yet. What I can say is they are above board with everything in a sketchy boyfriend kind of way. Sure you were hanging out in a hot tub with a several good looking women but you didn't cheat. Yes the situation doesn't inspire much confidence but there is no wrong doing.... That I know of.
This will not be a ground breaking statement but if I can get BTC off the app then this is a good app. The mining rate seems to be high. The user experience is good. Most of the complaints in the reviews I have read seem unfounded or from people that didn't read the T&Cs. At this point the two most likely realities for this app is that it is legitimate or its a Ponzi scheme.
If I had to bet I think its a Ponzi scheme. The withdrawal fee seems like its using new investor funds to pay off the old investors. If that is the case then I hope I can pull my BTC out before the music stops and I am standing without a chair.
Stay tuned for part 2 where I attempt to make a withdrawal.
Referral links if you want to start earning with me:
Invitation
https://invitation.codes/@1BTCProject
KuCoin
https://www.kucoin.com/ucenter/signup?rcode=rM3Y31U
Binance
https://www.binance.com/en/activity/referral-entry/CPA?fromActivityPage=true&ref=CPA_00IM6PD2BT
COINapp
Cointiply
Publish0x
https://www.publish0x.com/?a=xkaz6G87aJ
SWEAT Coin
Pi Mining App:
minepi.com/MrBorington
Coinbase
https://coinbase.com/join/hutchi_am?src=referral-link
Netcoins
https://netcoins.app/r?ac=M8P892
Shake Pay
Keep building!
As always you can join the conversation on Twitter @1BTCproject
And keep track of my crypto journal on my other blog - http://635ed752b3bfb.site123.me/
