The Hydra Principle: Safir/ZENIQ, Xera, XPRO – and Now CONNECT

How a long-known network continues to hunt for new members under ever-new labels: it is a digital shadow play spanning continents. While financial regulators around the world are still sorting through the wreckage of the past, one of the most persistent crypto-MLM networks of recent years has already shed its skin once again. Our investigation shows that the figures behind Safir, Zeniq and Xera Pro are now staging the next act with CONNECT and RECOVERY – still relying on the very same scheme.

Phase 1: Fleeing Forward – From Safir/ZENIQ & The Blockchain Era (formerly WeWeGlobal) to Xera

For years, the constructs surrounding Safir/ZENIQ and WeWeGlobal/The Blockchain Era lured investors with promises of a technological revolution: proprietary hubs, an in-house blockchain, and the tokenisation of real-world assets or real estate. Yet while the promised returns failed to materialise for many and warnings from regulators grew louder, the masterminds executed a classic “exit by rebranding.”

As suspicions of fraudulent activity surrounding Safir/ZENIQ and WeWeGlobal/The Blockchain Era became increasingly public, the initiators regrouped under Xera Pro. New logos, new websites, a new marketing narrative – but, as our network analysis shows, largely the same actors operating behind the scenes.

Some trails fade along the way, others split off into different (or familiar) MLM tracks. While initiators such as Erwin Dokter (Safir/ZENIQ) disappeared relatively early, and figures like Werner Kaiser or Goran Hemstrom eventually moved on, familiar “survivors” such as José Gordo can still be found in leading positions today. The strategy is straightforward: once a brand is burned by negative reports from victims and official warnings, a new stage set is erected to keep the existing community engaged and to attract fresh capital.

Phase 2: The “Ecosystem” Bluff

The network’s organisational chart reads like a greatest-hits compilation of modern crypto buzzwords. From Desert Pearl (real estate) and Tupan (environmental protection) to trading academies such as Shiiro and DLP, and offshore banking solutions like bxpay, victims are led to believe they are part of a vast, synergistic ecosystem.

In reality, this complexity serves a single purpose: obfuscation. The constant introduction of new tokens and platforms simulates a circular economy. Investors are encouraged not to cash out their “returns” but instead to reinvest them into the next “big thing” within the network. Liquidity thus remains trapped inside the system and is primarily used to pay high MLM commissions to top leaders.

Phase 3: CONNECT and the Perfidious “Recovery” Trap

The most recent – and morally most troubling – manoeuvre is the launch of CONNECT. Here we observe a pattern well known to investigators as a “recovery scam.”

Under the guise of “recovery” or “migration,” investors harmed by earlier systems (e.g. Safir/ZENIQ) are approached once again. The message is clear: “This time, everything will be done properly. Join Connect, use our visionary tools, and you will not only recover your past losses but multiply them.”

This is a calculated attempt to exploit the sunk cost fallacy – the psychological phenomenon that causes people to throw good money after bad in the hope of justifying previous losses.

Our Conclusion: A House of Cards in the Wind

The network surrounding Safir/ZENIQ, Xera, CONNECT, and countless partner tokens displays all the hallmarks of a highly professional, international pyramid scheme:

• No external value creation: Profits are generated almost exclusively from the deposits of new members.
• Recruitment over substance: The product is secondary; the expansion of the “downline” is what matters.
• Constant metamorphosis: Rebrandings serve as a shield against regulators and critical media coverage.

Our warning therefore remains unchanged: anyone investing in this web is not financing the technology of the future – they are funding the luxury lifestyles of a small elite at the top of an MLM pyramid.

Note:

This article is a journalistic analysis. It is based on publicly available sources. It is not a legal assessment or financial advice. All assessments have been researched to the best of our knowledge and are marked as opinions within the meaning of Art. 10 ECHR / Art. 5 GG. Counterstatements will be taken into account in accordance with § 56 RStV.

Sources:

• CONNECT: connect.ac
• Own Verification (Editorial Team): data, domain/company check