BoldGains International Review: Pyramid Ponzi hybrid


BoldGains International provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

BoldGains International provides a corporate address in Dubai on its website.

Owing to it being the MLM scam capital of the world, Dubai is a favorite jurisdiction of scammers.

Hidden in BoldGains International’s website source-code is a phone number with a UAE country code:

In addition to Dubai, BoldGains has ties to to Nigeria.

Most of the online marketing for BoldGains International is focused on Nigeria. Alexa also ranks Nigeria as the top source of traffic to BoldGains International’s website (91%).

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.

BoldGains International’s Products

BoldGains International has no retailable products or services.

There is a “products” section on BoldGains International’s website. The only product described is “folic acid drops with mango & goji berries”.

No pricing is provided.

BoldGains International’s online storefront is empty:

As I understand it physical products are bundled with BoldGains International affiliate membership.

These appear to be nutritional supplements and personal care products of unknown origin.

BoldGains International Compensation Plan

BoldGains affiliates sign up and pay a membership fee:

  • Discovery – $30
  • Silver – $60
  • Gold – $120
  • Sapphire – $600
  • Emerald – $1200
  • Diamond – $2400

Commissions are paid when they recruit others who do the same.

BoldGains International Affiliate Ranks

There are eleven affiliate ranks within BoldGains International’s compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  • Affiliate – sign up as a BoldGains International affiliate and pay a package fee
  • Bold Leader – earn $5000 in accumulated commissions
  • Distinguished Leader – earn $10,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Director – earn $20,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Executive Director – earn $50,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Bold Diamond – earn $100,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Executive Bold Diamond – earn $200,000 in accumulated commissions
  • BoldGains Ambassador – earn $500,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Bold Global Elite – earn $800,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Bold President – earn $1,000,000 in accumulated commissions
  • Legendary Global Bold Elite – earn $2,000,000 in accumulated commissions

Daily Returns

BoldGains affiliates receive a $1 a day ROI.

The daily ROI is paid until the affiliate has received 100% of their membership fee paid in.

Note that the daily return balance can only be used to purchase a new BoldGains International affiliate package position.

Direct Recruitment Commissions

BoldGains International affiliates earn commissions on recruitment of new affiliates.

Recruitment commission rates are determined by how much the recruited and recruiting affiliate spent on membership.

  • Discovery tier affiliates earn $5.75 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $6.5 on recruitment of a Silver, $8 on recruitment of a Gold, $20 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $30 on recruitment of an Emerald and $40 on recruitment of a Diamond
  • Silver tier affiliates earn $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $15 on recruitment of a Silver, $17 on recruitment of a Gold, $42.50 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $55 on recruitment of an Emerald and $100 on recruitment of a Diamond
  • Gold tier affiliates earn $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $15 on recruitment of a Silver, $35 on recruitment of a Gold, $80 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $100 on recruitment of an Emerald and $180 on recruitment of a Diamond
  • Sapphire tier affiliates earn $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $15 on recruitment of a Silver, $35 on recruitment of a Gold, $175 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $200 on recruitment of an Emerald and $300 on recruitment of a Diamond
  • Emerald tier affiliates earn $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $15 on recruitment of a Silver, $35 on recruitment of a Gold, $175 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $400 on recruitment of an Emerald and $500 on recruitment of a Diamond
  • Diamond tier affiliates earn $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate, $15 on recruitment of a Silver, $35 on recruitment of a Gold, $175 on recruitment of a Sapphire, $400 on recruitment of an Emerald and $800 on recruitment of a Diamond

Recruitment commissions are also paid when lesser ranked affiliates upgrade to higher cost tiers.

Coded Recruitment Bonuses

Diamond tier recruitment rates are the maximum paid whenever a new BoldGains affiliate is recruited.

  • $7 on recruitment of a Discovery affiliate
  • $15 on recruitment of a Silver affiliate
  • $35 on recruitment of a Gold affiliate
  • $175 on recruitment of a Sapphire affiliate
  • $800 on recruitment of a Diamond affiliate

When an affiliate ranked lower than Diamond recruits a new affiliate, they receive their corresponding recruitment commission (as per “Direct Recruitment Commissions” above).

What’s left, based on the Diamond recruitment rates above, is paid upline to higher ranked affiliates.

E.g. A Discovery tier affiliate recruits a Sapphire affiliate.

The Discovery affiliate is paid their $20 Sapphire recruitment commission. The full Sapphire recruitment commission (at the Diamond tier) is $175.

$175 minus $20 paid out leaves $155 still to pay out.

The system searches upline from the Discovery affiliate for a Silver or higher ranked affiliate to pay the remaining $155 out to.

If a Silver affiliate was found upline first, they’d receive their Sapphire recruitment commission rate, minus the amount already paid out to the Discovery affiliate.

This is $42.50 minus $20, so $22.50.

Of the $155 to pay out, $42.50 has now been paid out, leaving $112.50 to pay out.

The system searches further upline for a Gold or higher ranked affiliate to pay the remaining $112.50 to.

If at any time a Diamond ranked affiliate is found, they automatically receive the outstanding Coded Bonus and the system stops searching.

Also by virtue of Diamond tier affiliates always receiving the maximum payable commission amount, nothing is passed up as a Coded Bonus when they recruit a new affiliate.

Residual Commissions

BoldGains International pays residual commissions via a binary compensation structure.

A binary compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a binary team, split into two sides (left and right):

The first level of the binary team houses two positions. The second level of the binary team is generated by splitting these first two positions into another two positions each (4 positions).

Subsequent levels of the binary team are generated as required, with each new level housing twice as many positions as the previous level.

Positions in the binary team are filled via direct and indirect recruitment of affiliates. Note there is no limit to how deep a binary team can grow.

Each BoldGains International affiliate package generates business volume (BV) across the binary team:

  • recruitment of a Discovery affiliate = 25 BV
  • recruitment of a Silver affiliate = 50 BV
  • recruitment of a Gold affiliate = 100 BV
  • recruitment of a Sapphire affiliate = 500 BV
  • recruitment of an Emerald affiliate = 1000 BV
  • recruitment of a Diamond affiliate = 2000 BV

At the end of each day BoldGains International tallies up new BV across both sides of the binary team.

Residual commissions are paid as 18.8% of generated BV, matched based on filled positions.

One recruited affiliate on one side of the binary team matched with a recruited affiliate on the other side of the binary team is referred to as a “pair”.

  • Discovery tier affiliates earn $4.70 per pair, capped at 20 pairs a day
  • Silver tier affiliates earn up to $9.40 per paid, capped at 48 pairs a day
  • Gold tier affiliates earn up to $18.80 per pair, capped at 142 pairs a day
  • Sapphire tier affiliates earn up to $94 per pair
  • Emerald tier affiliates earn up to $188 per pair
  • Diamond tier affiliates earn up to $376 per pair

Note that an affiliate’s package tier determined the maximum they earn per pair.

E.g. Gold tier affiliates earn $4.70 per Discovery pair found in their binary team, $9.40 per Silver pair and $18.80 per Gold and higher tier pair.

Also note that affiliates recruited into the binary team can only be matched to form a pair once.

Rank Achievement Bonus

BoldGains International rewards affiliates who qualify at Bold Leader and higher with the following Rank Achievement Bonuses:

  • qualify at Bold Leader and receive $200
  • qualify at Distinguished Leader and receive $500
  • qualify at Director and receive $1000
  • qualify at Executive Director and receive an “international trip”
  • qualify at Bold Diamond and receive a “fully paid international holyday” [sic]
  • qualify at Executive Bold Diamond and receive a “car”
  • qualify at BoldGains Ambassador and receive an “executive car”
  • qualify at Bold President and receive an apartment
  • qualify at Legendary Global Bold Elite and receive a villa

Yearly Bonus

BoldGains International’s compensation documentation references a “Yearly Bonus”.

At the time of publication specifics of the Yearly Bonus are not provided.

Joining BoldGains International

BoldGains International affiliate membership is tied to the purchase of a package:

  • Discovery – $30
  • Silver – $60
  • Gold – $120
  • Sapphire – $600
  • Emerald – $1200
  • Diamond – $2400

The primary difference between the packages is income potential.

BoldGains International Conclusion

BoldGains International functions as both a pyramid and Ponzi scheme.

The pyramid scheme exists by way of 100% of commissions BoldGains International pays out being tied to recruitment.

The 1% a day ROI constitutes a Ponzi scheme. Typically we see MLM Ponzi schemes run primary to a pyramid scheme. In BoldGains International however it’s the other way around.

The Ponzi scheme feeds back into the pyramid scheme. This is because returns paid out are virtual and used to fund new monopoly money pyramid scheme positions.

Such to the extent BoldGains has products, they exist only to further pyramid recruitment.

Bundling products with BoldGains International affiliate membership doesn’t change the fact it’s a pyramid scheme. You’re paying a fee to earn commissions on recruitment of new participants’ membership fees.

This is known as a “product-based pyramid scheme”. Wherein products exist, but only to lend pseudo legitimacy to what is otherwise a fraudulent business model.

Pay to play, i.e. higher priced BoldGains International providing higher commission rates, is also another sign of pyramid fraud.

As with all MLM pyramid schemes, once affiliate recruitment dries up so too will commissions.

This is inevitable and due to the math behind pyramid schemes.

Authorities in Dubai couldn’t care less about Africans getting scammed. Nor is Nigeria known for punctual regulation of scams.

You’re on your own if you sign up to lose money in BoldGains International.