The fitness-based cryptocurrency Fitrova secured the spot of top gainer this week thanks to a 944 percent gain. These gains now appear to have been fueled by a massive pump and dump scheme. Pump and dumps are an investment strategy in which investors create a false hype around an asset in order to sell their holdings at a higher rate.

Proof of the Fitrova pump and dump emerged this morning as the crypto lost 89.53 percent of those gains in the last 24 hours. Ironically, the Fitrova homepage lists the project as suspended from further development.

Despite this suspension, Fitrova became the crypto of choice for this week’s pump-and-dump community. Let’s take a moment to examine the bumpy ride this crypto project has undergone since its inception earlier this year, including the firm’s empty promises and repeated pump-and-dumps.

Fitrova Announcement Via Homepage

The current state of the fitness industry is fragmented.   There are no universal means by which the fitness industry conducts business. This lack of cooperation hurts all parties involved. Gyms lose out because their trainers must spend time reassessing new member’s capabilities. This inability also means that new gym members lose out because they require reassessment whenever they switch gyms or personal trainers. The Fitrova platform took aim at these inefficiencies in the fitness industry.

The concept behind Fitrova is simple; provide a universally accepted means of tracking clients via a blockchain-based protocol.  There is no communication between the thousands of gyms and trainers across the globe. This lack of communication leaves clients suffering in the long run as they are forced to start over anytime they relocate or change their trainer. This lack of industry standards makes it difficult for everyone in the industry as both time and resources get lost in the current process.

Fitrova hoped to capitalize on this confusion by providing the industry with a universal means in which to track the most important details of their clients. The company’s whitepaper claims that the system is “revolutionizing the health & fitness industry.” The health and fitness industry is an 80 billion dollar a year industry. Interestingly, North America accounts for 90 percent of these fitness dollars. Notably, the United States accounts for 25.8 billion dollars in fitness funds annually.

The Fitrova platform promised to create an international Health & Fitness tracking platform that utilized blockchain technology to monitor essential industry aspects. This system included a combination of back office and personal account data such as billing and membership details. Additionally, members expected the ability to track their client’s personal fitness goals including their client’s user flow, workout program, and gym attendance. Below are some of the critical aspects of the platform.

Fitrova users wouldn’t have to worry about a data breach. The Fitrova platform was to store all users’ info on the Ethereum blockchain. Gym membership data consists of extremely sensitive information such as user’s full name, home address, and billing information. In recent months, there have been significant attacks on fitness-related programs.

In March of this year hackers made off with user data from 150 million MyFitnessPal app users. This app is a division of Under Armor and worked in tandem with a wearable personal data tracking device. Now hackers have sensitive details on the entire platform’s users, including their travel routes and workout routines. The firm claims that there was no loss of banking information, but this latest incident highlights the concerns of the fitness community in regards to data theft.

The Fitrova platform would utilize the Ethereum blockchain to integrate data within the platform. Currently, membership details are manually entered into a private system. This blockchain integration would allow for more secure record keeping and a higher level of protection against fraudulent activities. The new system would utilize a distributed ledger to prevent inconsistencies throughout the industry.

One of the unique features of the platform was the ability to monitor users’ programs with extreme accuracy through the integration of wearable fitness devices. Whenever you were to work out at a participating Fitrova gym, all of your fitness data, including your workout, time, and date gets recorded to the blockchain. Trainers across the globe gain access to this information to help dial in your workout program with more accuracy.

There were some inherent issues within Fitrova which ultimately led to the suspension of this program. Primarily, the whitepaper fails to list the team members. Experienced crypto investors know that this section is critically important in determining if the platform has the wear-with-all to complete their promised goals. In the case of Fitrova, it appears not.

Fitrova Team via Cryptoslate

Fitrova shows registration in both Australia and the USA. The firm lists eight employees currently on staff. The firm held a successful ICO from Mar 1, 2018, until March 26, 2018. Directly following the ICO the FRV token saw substantial growth, and in May, the FRV token hit an all-time high of $.019. It appears that this increase was another pump-and-dump. By the following month, the crypto had dropped in value down to just above $0.00005.

Fitrova via CoinMarketCap

The FRV token has seen little growth since then, except for this last week when, out of nowhere, and for no particular reason, FRV token experienced a 900 percent growth in just three days. It appears that the Fitrova team is more interested in pump and dump schemes rather than delivering on their promise. Luckily for crypto investor, there has been some severe backlash to the latest pump and dump that occurred this week with multiple crypto outlets outing the scam in detail.

Fitrova now appears to be falling to the waste side with their pump and dump strategy. Rememebr to avoid the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Check back next week to see if the biggest gainer is a smart investment or just another crypto scamster.

The post Fitrova Up 944% this Week – Spotting the Pump and Dump appeared first on CoinCentral.

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