{"investigation":{"slug":"bitcoin-mission","entity_name":"Bitcoin Mission","trust_score":0,"severity_base":null,"score_modifier":-35,"confidence":0.15,"status":"under_investigation","content_type":"investigation","summary":"Bitcoin Mission is an entity that has been flagged by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, though the specific nature, founding, and full scope of the entity could not be independently verified through publicly available Tier 1 or Tier 2 sources at the time of this investigation. Multiple unrelated legitimate entities share the name 'Bitcoin Mission' (including a Christian-focused Bitcoin podcast and a GitHub organization), making disambiguation difficult. The trust score of 25 reflects the ZachXBT flag combined with the absence of verifiable public transparency about the entity.","sections":[{"content":"Extensive searches across regulatory databases (SEC EDGAR, CFTC RED List), major crypto news outlets (CoinDesk, The Block, Decrypt), law enforcement press releases (DOJ, FBI IC3), and the California DFPI Crypto Scam Tracker returned no records for a crypto entity specifically named 'Bitcoin Mission.' The name 'Bitcoin Mission' is shared by at least two unrelated, apparently legitimate entities: a Christian-themed Bitcoin education podcast hosted by Patrick C. Melder, MD (available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify since 2021), and a GitHub organization (mission-bitcoin) focused on Bitcoin development tooling. Neither of these entities has been associated with fraud or regulatory action in any identified source. The entity flagged by ZachXBT may operate under a different domain, sub-brand, or informal name that was not surfaced by web search at the time of this investigation. Due to the inability to positively identify the specific entity, all risk characterizations in this report carry low confidence.","heading":"Entity Overview and Identification","sources":[{"url":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-bitcoin/id1579377817","name":"podcasts.apple.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://github.com/mission-bitcoin","name":"github.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/crypto/crypto-scam-tracker/","name":"dfpi.ca.gov","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"According to internal AVOID.NET intake context, ZachXBT — a pseudonymous blockchain investigator with a documented track record of exposing crypto fraud — flagged the entity 'Bitcoin Mission.' ZachXBT publishes investigations via his Telegram channel (@investigations) and on Mirror (zachxbt.mirror.xyz). A review of his publicly accessible Telegram posts and Mirror publications did not surface a post specifically naming 'Bitcoin Mission' at the time of this investigation. ZachXBT flags typically accompany on-chain evidence such as wallet address clustering, exchange deposit tracing, or social engineering patterns. Without the underlying ZachXBT post or on-chain evidence being available to this investigation, the flag cannot be independently corroborated but is treated as a risk signal given ZachXBT's demonstrated reliability in identifying fraudulent entities. The absence of a publicly findable post may indicate the flag was issued via a private channel, a since-deleted post, or relates to an entity that uses 'Bitcoin Mission' as an informal descriptor rather than a formal brand name.","heading":"ZachXBT Flag","sources":[{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","name":"en.wikipedia.org","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://99bitcoins.com/people/who-is-zachxbt/","name":"99bitcoins.com","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"No regulatory enforcement action, investor alert, or consumer warning issued by the SEC, CFTC, FBI, DOJ, FinCEN, FTC, or any state-level financial regulator was found referencing an entity named 'Bitcoin Mission.' The DFPI California Crypto Scam Tracker, which logs consumer complaints and warning notices about fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms, returned no results for this name. The CFTC RED List of unregistered entities also does not list this name. This absence of regulatory record does not confirm legitimacy; many fraudulent entities operate below the threshold of formal regulatory action or are dismantled before enforcement proceedings begin.","heading":"Absence of Regulatory Record","sources":[{"url":"https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/crypto/crypto-scam-tracker/","name":"dfpi.ca.gov","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/watch_out_for_digital_fraud.html","name":"cftc.gov","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency","name":"ic3.gov","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"},{"content":"This investigation was limited to publicly indexed web sources available as of May 2026. Key limitations include: (1) ZachXBT's Telegram channel shows only a limited recent post window in its public preview; historical posts or posts in subscriber-only context may reference this entity without being captured here. (2) If 'Bitcoin Mission' operates primarily via Telegram groups, WhatsApp, or closed social media communities, its footprint would be largely invisible to web search. (3) The entity may have operated under a domain (e.g., bitcoinmission.io, bitcoinmission.org, bitcoin-mission.com) that has since been taken down; no live domain matching the name resolved at the time of this investigation. (4) On-chain analysis of wallet addresses associated with this entity was not conducted as part of this investigation. Investigators seeking to close these gaps should review the original ZachXBT flag directly, check ChainAbuse for wallet reports, and search closed Telegram communities associated with Bitcoin investment groups.","heading":"Research Limitations and Gaps","sources":[{"url":"https://www.chainabuse.com","name":"chainabuse.com","type":"other","credibility":3},{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","credibility":3}],"severity":"medium"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2026-05-27","event":"AVOID.NET investigation initiated following ZachXBT flag. No corroborating public sources identified at time of investigation.","source":""}],"sources_used":[{"url":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-bitcoin/id1579377817","name":"podcasts.apple.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251116043519/https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-bitcoin/id1579377817","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-11-16T04:35:19+00:00"},{"url":"https://github.com/mission-bitcoin","name":"github.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20251206193752/https://github.com/mission-bitcoin","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2025-12-06T19:37:52+00:00"},{"url":"https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/crypto/crypto-scam-tracker/","name":"dfpi.ca.gov","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260824062251/https://dfpi.ca.gov/consumers/crypto/crypto-scam-tracker/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-08-24T06:22:51+00:00"},{"url":"https://t.me/s/investigations","name":"t.me","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","name":"en.wikipedia.org","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260711020137/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZachXBT","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-11T02:01:37+00:00"},{"url":"https://99bitcoins.com/people/who-is-zachxbt/","name":"99bitcoins.com","type":"other","archive_url":null,"credibility":3,"archive_error":"error:no-request","archive_status":"unarchivable","archive_timestamp":null},{"url":"https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/watch_out_for_digital_fraud.html","name":"cftc.gov","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260722123842/https://www.cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/AdvisoriesAndArticles/watch_out_for_digital_fraud.html","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-22T12:38:42+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency","name":"ic3.gov","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260730182928/https://www.ic3.gov/CrimeInfo/Cryptocurrency","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-30T18:29:28+00:00"},{"url":"https://www.chainabuse.com","name":"chainabuse.com","type":"other","archive_url":"http://web.archive.org/web/20260715124223/https://chainabuse.com/","credibility":3,"archive_timestamp":"2026-07-15T12:42:23+00:00"}],"source_tags":["defillama"],"addresses":[],"reviewed":false,"reviewed_by":null,"model_used":"claude-sonnet-4-6","created_at":"2026-05-04T02:54:24.120752+00:00","updated_at":"2026-08-29T05:27:54.345839+00:00"}}