In its advertising, Peacecoin — a for-profit company — uses photos from Scientology’s non-profit front group called United in Peace Foundation. The photo above shows Scientology Freedom of Medal winners Tony Muhammad and Alfreddie Johnson at a United in Peace event several years ago. What is the relationship between the for-profit and the non-profit? 

As we previously covered, Nation of Islam senior minister and Scientologist Tony Muhammad a/k/a Abdul Malik Sayyid Muhammad and his partners launched two for-profit businesses called Peacecoin and Peacecoin Jewelry. These companies sell physical Peacecoins and jewelry made from silver, gold, and platinum.

Mr. Muhammad also announced that he and his partners had launched a new cryptocurrency called Peacecoin, the trading symbol of which is PEACE. Muhammad claims that his precious metals and crypto ventures represent a new Peace Movement. But do these for-profit business enterprises truly represent a movement?

Looking at the peacecoin.io website, it can be clearly seen that Peacecoin, a for-profit business, has explicitly linked its advertising and PR to the Church of Scientology’s non-profit front group called the United in Peace Foundation:

The United in Peace Foundation has conducted “peace rides” for many years. The participants distribute copies of Scientology’s The Way to Happiness booklet and have participants sign Mr. Farrakhan’s Million Man March Pledge.

Tony Muhammad is using the non-profit United in Peace Foundation to market and promote his for-profit business.  We are always skeptical when an entrepreneur targets his or her religious affinity groups for sales and marketing purposes. We urge people to do research before they spend their money anywhere. Be wary of  group pressure to “invest in your future.”

Peacecoin’s brochure states the following:

Behind the Peacecoin is the ten-year expertise of Minister Tony Muhammad. His in-depth experience as a peace ambassador provides assurance that this grand vision of ultimately peacemaking and philanthropic payment system will become a reality.

The world is getting more and more out of sync. No wonder economies of global importance rely more on real property.

Do the same: rely on the everlasting safety of real property. And at the same time, you can use the great pay-off and investment perspectives that only a sophisticated, progressive cryptocurrency can offer you.

This is a non-sequitur: Tony Muhammad’s role as a “peace ambassador” does not give him any expertise in cryptocurrency. Further, the “grand vision of… a philanthropic payment system” is in direct contradiction to Mr. Muhammad’s for-profit business of selling precious metal Peacecoins and jewelry. Mr. Muhammad is in the sales business here and is not giving anything away on a philanthropic basis.

Peacecoin is sending mixed messages: Buy Peacecoin precious metal coins to gain the “everlasting safety of real property.” But one should also purchase Peacecoin crypto to become a part of the “grand vision of ultimately peacemaking and philanthropic payment system.”

Is Peacecoin really “a sophisticated, progressive cryptocurrency” or is it something else? We challenge Peacecoin’s claim in this article.

And what is the relationship between the for-profit Peacecoin companies and the Peacecoin cryptocurrency? We additionally examine the relationship between the two in this article.

In the white paper for Peacecoin, the claim is made that Peacecoin is a blockchain cryptocurrency linked to physical property:

The “physical property” to which Peacecoin cryptocurrency is linked are the precious metal coins and jewelry Mr. Muhammad and his partners sell. But how does this work? How can the retail purchases of precious metal coins and jewelry from a for-profit company have any possible linkage to a cryptocurrency?

If we were to purchase silver Peacecoins these coins would be our private property; they would have no linkage whatsoever to the value, or valuelessness, of Peacecoin cryptocurrency. Peacecoin seems confused about definitions at the outset and needs to word clear terms.

Backing a currency with precious metals is called “representative money.” In a representative money system,  paper bank notes represent, and can be exchanged for, an equivalent amount of precious metals stored in the vaults of a sovereign nation.

America based its paper money on gold and silver from its inception. During the Civil War fiat currency was used to finance the enormous costs of war.  14 years after the Civil War, America switched to a strict gold standard in 1879 and remained on this standard until 1970.

During most  of this period, Americans could exchange paper gold certificates for physical gold held by the US Government. However, there was an interruption in 1933 when, following the Great Depression of 1929, President Roosevelt ordered Americans to surrender all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates in exchange for paper Federal Reserve notes which were not redeemable for gold. This new law was strictly applied and many wealthy owners of large sums of gold had their gold seized when they refused to surrender it. The US Supreme Court upheld the seizure of gold by a 5-4 decision. Gold was not “everlastingly safe” in 1933 and has never been everlasting safe as it can be seized, stolen, lost, or devalued.

In 1934, the US Congress raised the price of gold — and the US Government owned all of the gold in America at this point; it being illegal for Americans to own gold coins and bullion — from $21 an ounce to $35 per ounce. This 69% increase in the value of gold allowed the US Government to inflate the money supply by 69% and funded the WPA and other programs designed to get America out of the Great Depression which lasted until 1939.

In 1971, President Nixon took America off the gold standard and allowed the price of gold to find its own market price. Americans were once allowed to own gold. Once President Nixon took America off the gold standard, the US began printing fiat currency.

US fiat currency is backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government. The same is true of all other fiat currencies: They are backed by their respective governments. Thus, when a government such as Venezuela collapses, the value of its fiat currency also collapses and hyperinflation ensues.

In very simplified terms, cryptocurrency is not representative money as is not backed by precious metals or anything else. Cryptocurrency is also not fiat money as it is does not depend upon any government backing or support. Conversely, “Stablecoins” are a class of cryptocurrencies which are tied to the value of fiat currencies such as the US dollar, exchange-traded commodities, or the value of precious metals like gold.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies, i.e. they exist as nonphysical digital forms of exchange. Cryptocurrencies are decentralized digital global currencies that do not rely upon traditional banking systems and this is part of their appeal. Because Bitcoin — and all other cryptocurrencies — can be transacted anonymously via blockchain technology, they are inherently attractive for a myriad of reasons.

Bitcoin is the cryptocurrency leader because there is a limited supply of only 21 million Bitcoins. The scarcity and large user base of Bitcoin makes it the world’s cryptocurrency of choice at this time.

As compared to Bitcoin with its finite supply of 21 million coins, Peacecoin created 1.9 billion Peacecoins. In our opinion, this virtually guarantees that Peacecoin will be valueless, particularly, as we will argue, Peacecoin is pseudo-cryptocurrency that was created as a marketing gimmick to sell overpriced precious metals and jewelry.

Think of the old  “blue chip stamps” and “green chip stamps” and you can see where we are headed with our argument. We see Peacecoin crypto as a modern-day form of trading stamps:

Trading stamps were an early form of a loyalty program. Current forms of loyalty programs are frequent flyer miles and credit card points that are redeemable for travel, gift cards, hotel rooms, and other tangible goods. Trading stamps were similar in design and construction to US postage stamps but were smaller. Trading stamps were given at stores for purchases. The stamps were then glued into books. These books could then be redeemed for physical goods such as toasters, toys, bedding, sports equipment and other items at trading stamp redemption centers.

We are possibly overstating the case here inasmuch as Peacecoin crypto does not appear to be exchangeable for anything at present.

As part of our research, we wanted to make a simple online retail purchase of one silver Peacecoin at $129 USD from the peacecoin.io website. We also wanted to purchase $100 in Peacecoin cryptocurrency. We are willing to spend the money in the name of research. Here are the posted retail prices of Peacecoin:

When we added one silver Peacecoin at $129 to our cart, a pop-up box stated, “You can purchase these coins very soon. Thanks.”

Why is there no inventory? Peacecoin cannot make any money on goods it does not have in stock and cannot ship.

Physical Peacecoins being unavailable, our next question became: How can we purchase Peacecoin cryptocurrency, the trading symbol of which is PEACE?

We sought to purchase Peacecoin cryptocurrency because we have no idea of how it is mined. If we had a few dozen Alienware Aurora R11 gaming desktops, we could go mining for Bitcoin. But how does one mine for Peacecoins? We were unable to find any data on how the Etherium-based Peacecoin is released in blocks for mining.

Peacecoin’s White Paper says it created 1.9 billion Etherium-based Peacecoins. It should be easy to purchase Peacecoin crypto coins as there appears to be no product shortage on the crypto side of the business.

A drop-down text box at peacecoin.io informed us that the Peacecoin company does not buy or sell crypto. Buyers are instead informed told they can buy or sell crypto at Invex.

“Invex” is a cryptocurrency exchange called Invexcoin, a firm located in Guadalajara, Mexico. At present, Invex is the only exchange where Peacecoin crypto can be purchased. Peacecoin is not listed on any other exchanges according to its informational materials.

We went to the Invexcoin website to purchase Peacecoin cryptocurrency. Another roadblock:  We learned the Invexcoin crypto exchange is closed to new registrations:

This “down for maintenance” screen has been up at the Invexcoin website during the eight weeks we have been researching and tracking Peacecoin.

With the peacecoin.io website and the Invexcoin exchange both effectively closed, the question remains: How does one purchase either the physical or the crypto version of Peacecoin?

What is the angle here?

Undeterred in our quest to purchase the physical and cryptocurrency versions of Peacecoin, we drilled down into the minutiae and discovered the details:

1. Peacecoin is a Multilevel Marketing company.

2. The Peacecoin MLM is lead by a man Tony Muhammad calls Peacecoin’s “global master distributor.” Muhammad says this master distributor is an MLM expert who goes by the nickname “Shark-Shark” but whose real name is Pastor Kenny Smith. The nickname “Shark-Shark” does not exactly inspire confidence when other people’s money is involved.

Tony Muhammad says in the video below that he asked Pastor Smith to devise a compensation plan for Peacecoin sellers. Pastor Smith reveals in the video that Peacecoin is a “precious metals buyers club… where membership has its privileges so you buy silver, gold, and platinum but we give you crypto… (fast forward to 14:25) 

We finally learn the secrets:

1. Peacecoin is a “precious metals buyers club” in which the precious metal coins and jewelry are sold within an MLM system. As a reward for buying physical coins, buyers are given Peacecoin cryptocurrency at no cost with baseless representations made that this crypto will have some future value. This is why we characterize Peacecoin as a pseudo-cryptocurrency: It seems to be a ploy in an MLM scheme.

1a. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other cryptocurrency in the world that is “gifted” within an MLM business structure. Rather, cryptocurrencies can be easily bought and sold on crypto exchanges. The reader can see why we have compared Peacecoin crypto to trading stamps. As presently marketed, our view is that Peacecoin crypto is nothing more than points in an MLM loyalty program.

2. Another barrier: According to the Peacecoin’s video, we first have to join the Peacecoin MLM club before we can buy physical Peacecoins.

3. The only way to get Peacecoin crypto is to first buy the physical coins. Therefore, it becomes evident that the for-profit Peacecoin company has a monopoly on its crypto which is tied to purchasing its overpriced precious metal coins and jewelry.

4. As we documented, the purchase price for a single one-ounce silver Peacecoin is $129 USD — and yet we would be “gifted” only 300 crypto Peacecoins in return. In our view, this seems miserly for five reasons — the last three of which take us into the reductio ad absurdum of Peacecoin:

4a. Paying $125 for a one-ounce silver coin is excessive. The market price for a one-ounce Standing Liberty silver coin is $41.00 shipped to your door. We can purchase three Standing Liberty silver coins for the price of one Peacecoin. Buying a Peacecoin at $125 as a “precious metals buyer” is a bad financial investment. Perhaps this is why Tony Muhammad is spinning Peacecoin as a movement devoted to charitable works.

4b. Given the 1.9 billion digital Peacecoins that were created, being “gifted” only 300 digital coins for paying triple the market price for silver is a strong disincentive. If one is buying overpriced precious metals to get crypto, then the payout on the crypto should be much larger.

4c. As of today (7/27/2021), one Binance Coin (BNB) is selling at $314.88 USD. Binance Coin is showing a market cap of $52.9 billion USD with 168,137,036 BNB in circulation. The much smarter play for $325, in our view, is to buy one BNB coin. This buys you one established crypto coin as opposed to one ounce of overpriced Peacecoin silver and 300 Peacecoin crypto coins, the present value of which are zero. In order to break even on a $129 investment in a one-ounce silver Peacecoin, the crypto coins have to go to .29 cents each. ($41 for the silver coin leaves a balance of $88. $88/300 = .29). How does Peacecoin ever reach .29 given the next set of circumstances:

4d. With the for-profit Peacecoin MLM company maintaining its monopoly on the cryptocurrency; locking the availability of its crypto to purchases of overpriced precious metals; and having Peacecoin available through only one exchange, how does Peacecoin cryptocurrency ever become viable in the marketplace? Where does the demand for an MLM-controlled cryptocurrency come from?

4e. If Peacecoin gives only 300 crypto coins per physical coin sold, then 6,333,333 million overpriced physical coins have to be sold to exhaust the 1.9 billion stockpile of crypto coins. The market size of people willing to buy overpriced precious metals in the hopes of making a killing on an MLM-controlled monopolistic cryptocurrency is small. The market size of people willing to buy overpriced precious metals and then work 90 hours a week to build a downline is even smaller.

5. In order to become a member of the Peacecoin MLM movement, one must register at the peacecoin.io website. When we went to register, we had to enter the name of the person that referred us to Peacecoin:

Just what exactly is going on here? We have perfectly good money to spend and yet we cannot register at the Peacecoin website and spend our money as no one referred us.  This seems strange because MLM’s are very quick to sell anyone their basic starter kit. Nevertheless, it appears no new members are allowed into the Peacecoin “precious metal collectors” club without being referred.

We did some more digging and found a lengthy application that must be filled out to become join Peacecoin. This is when Peacecoin began to seem Scientology-like. We wondered if a sec check on an e-meter would be required to get into this precious metals buyers club.

Another question: Has Peacecoin and its existing MLM membership locked the doors to new members in order to build existing MLM downlines? Must we become a member of someone’s downline in order to acquire both physical and crypto Peacecoin? This may possibly be the case.

In the Peacecoin video, Rev. Shark-Shark states that selling Peacecoin is predicated on building a classic MLM downline:

At 16:05 in the video, Rev. Kenny says that with just 10 people on your team — including Bob, Tim, and Mary and the people they recruit — you can make $500 a month in residual income:

But what is the catch? Rev. Kenny tells us: You and your downline have to sign up for the monthly “Smart Pay Auto Ship” program and stay active with the program, i.e. keep buying monthly.

Here is the Big Reveal: You and your team of Bob, Tim, and Mary — and their teams — must buy physical Peacecoins each month on an auto-ship basis in order for you to get paid $500. The amount of Peacecoins you and your downline must purchase each month is not specified. We also note that the price of a one-ounce silver Peacecoin drops to $99 USD per coin when purchased in bulk on the auto ship program: Membership has its rewards in that you’re now only paying double the market price for silver.

Rev. Kenny tells his viewers that when they get 75,000 people in their monthly “Smart Pay Auto Ship” downline they will make $1 million per month. At this exalted level, one has attained the vaunted “Peace Ambassador” level. Here is the Peacecoin MLM compensation plan:

Doing the math, if 75,000 people paid $99 each month for a one-ounce silver coin, this would result in a gross income of $7,425,000 for Peacecoin. Once we pay the Peace Ambassador their $1 million commission, the monthly gross revenue is still a strong $6,425,000. Assume 50% cost of goods and overhead, and Peacecoin nets $3,212,500 per month. With four partners, and here we assume an equal split, each partner earns $803,125 per month or $9.6 million per year.

A Peacecoin member posted this on Twitter. This user states that he expects Peacecoin to open at .19 cents. How did he form this opinion?

PeaceCoin starting at .19 cents banking on going up higher pic.twitter.com/FPJfdigVcG

— Roger Williams (@RogerWi78292145) February 4, 2021

The for-profit Peacecoin company claims it has plans to build 17 vocational training centers across America. If so, then some large part of its profits would be required to fund the purchase, construction, and the operational costs of these centers and their staffs.

Peacecoin states, in a rather unclear manner, that its cryptocurrency is tied to “developing real property.” Does this mean that profits from Peacecoin will be used to purchase the land and construct the buildings for its proposed vocational centers? If so, Peacecoin needs to clarify that it is also plans to become a real estate developer.

If this is indeed the case, we must also ask who will own the real estate: Will the private owners of Peacecoin personally own the land and buildings of these training centers? If so, why overpay for Peacecoin to give beneficial ownership of the training centers to private individuals? In any case, the means by which Peacecoin proposes to finance the construction and operation of the training centers is not made clear in its marketing and informational materials.

It would seem to make much more sense for Mr. Muhammad and his colleagues to simply create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and raise money directly to build the 17 vocational training centers. A 501(c)(3) has the added advantage of being able to apply for government and private sector funding. Further, all donations made to building these vocational training centers would be fully tax-deductible.

As it stands now, Peacecoin has to pay overhead on its business and taxes on its income. The question becomes this: If a group truly wants to build 17 vocational training centers across America, then why does a for-profit MLM selling overpriced precious metals need to be interposed as a money-draining middleman into an otherwise praiseworthy cause?

In the video, Rev. Kenny says of Peacecoin cryptocurrency, “… wait til it gets on the exchanges shortly and then you can see where you can go and purchase it at whatever price it goes up to. Five dollars, three dollars, ten dollars… whatever it goes to.”

Rev. Kenny also has no basis whatsoever to make a claim that Peacecoin will rise in value.

In order to be a true cryptocurrency, Peacecoin’s present owners would have to decouple Peacecoin crypto altogether from participation in their for-profit MLM. Peacecoin would have to be placed on exchanges and be capable of being digitally mined. However, Peacecoin states in its advertising that Peacecoin crypto can only be obtained in two ways:

The Bottom Line:  As we have shown, peacecoin.io states on its own website that it does not buy or sell cryptocurrency. Moreover, peacecoin.io has no physical coins available for sale. Adding to this is the fact that Invex is down for maintenance and so no one can purchase Peacecoin crypto there.

These factors force and create a Peacecoin MLM funnel in which the only place to get Peacecoin crypto is to become part of a someone’s Peacecoin downline.

Peacecoin promotes itself as a “precious metals buyers club.” However, in Peacecoin’s terms and conditions (scroll down to read the PDF), the company pivots and characterizes physical Peacecoin as jewelry:

Since a 3rd Party Seller or Affiliate is not a registered financial agent, it is prohibited to represent PEACECOIN jewelry as a Minted Coin or a Government Back Silver Coins. PEACECOINS made from Solid Silver, Solid Gold, and Solid Platinum are Jewelry items only not financial instruments. They are simply for retail purpose only and represent a Movement of PEACE behind it for all humankind.

Tony Muhammad has to admit in the fine print that physical Peacecoins are not financial instruments; they are simply retail jewelry sold by an MLM. Given this admission, the crypto does seem to be nothing more than blue chip stamps.

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS

What we are calling the “Peacecoin Origin Transaction” is shown below. According to etherscan.io, 1.9 billion digital Peacecoins were created on December 24, 2020 for a stated transaction fee of $586.56:

We called Peacecoin’s published phone number of (424) 732-2326. A recorded message told us to call another number with a Santa Clara, California area code.

We welcome any response from Peacecoin.

As a final note of clarification, Peacecoin (PEACE) is not to be confused with PeaceCoin whose trading symbol is PEC.

Peacecoin’s Marketing Brochure:

Peacecoin’s Terms and Conditions as of March 2021. The language of this document suggests to us a certain amount of tension in the organization.