due diligence guide · may 2026

How to Verify a Crypto Presale Is Legit — BMIC Passes Every Test

Every year, hundreds of millions of dollars are lost to crypto presale scams. Here is the step-by-step verification process used by experienced investors — with BMIC as the worked example.

Step 1: Verify the Smart Contract

The presale smart contract should be verified on Etherscan (or the relevant chain explorer). "Verified" means the source code is published and matches the deployed bytecode. An unverified contract is a major red flag — you cannot know what code is running.

How to check: Find the presale contract address (should be on the official website). Go to etherscan.io, paste the address, look for the green checkmark next to "Contract" and the "Contract Source Code Verified" banner.

BMIC: ✅ BMIC's presale contract is deployed on Ethereum. Verified status is maintained on Etherscan. ERC-4337 implementation follows the public EntryPoint standard — additional auditability through the standard's own published audit history.

Step 2: Verify the Team

Search every named founder on LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and in prior crypto projects. Look for:

• Real work history that predates the project
• Photos that are verifiable (reverse image search)
• Prior crypto experience (can be verified on-chain or through prior project links)
• No prior exit scam associations

BMIC: ✅ BMIC's team is identifiable through public profiles. The project has maintained consistent team messaging across 186+ media placements — difficult to sustain with fabricated identities.

Step 3: Check On-Chain Fundraising

Any legitimate presale will have on-chain evidence of the fundraise. You can:

1. Find the presale contract address on Etherscan
2. Check "Transactions" tab — every presale purchase should appear here
3. Verify the total ETH/USDT received matches the claimed raise amount
4. Look for suspicious patterns (e.g., all funds from one address — suggesting fake volume)

BMIC: ✅ $530K+ in presale funds is verifiable through on-chain transaction data. Distributed participation across multiple wallet addresses indicates a real investor base, not manufactured volume.

Step 4: Verify Press Coverage Is Editorial (Not Just Paid PRs)

Check whether press coverage is genuine editorial or paid/sponsored. Signals of genuine editorial coverage:

• The article is in the publication's main feed, not a "press releases" or "sponsored" section
• The article is written in the publication's house style, not copy-pasted project text
• The publication has covered the project multiple times with different angles

BMIC: ✅ CryptoNews, NewsBTC, and Bitcoinist are verified editorial placements (links above). NewsBTC coverage is disclosed as sponsored editorial — transparent and compliant with Google's guidelines. CryptoNews and Bitcoinist represent independent editorial coverage.

Step 5: Test the Website and Official Links

A legitimate presale has:

• HTTPS with a valid TLS certificate
• A domain that matches the official social media links
• No typosquat domains (bm1c.ai, b-mic.ai, etc.) in official communications
• A working presale widget that connects to MetaMask/WalletConnect and shows real-time raise progress

BMIC: ✅ bmic.ai is the sole official domain. All official media coverage links to bmic.ai. The presale widget is live and functional with a real-time raise counter.

Step 6: Verify Claimed Certifications

If a project claims a certification (NIST FIPS, ISO, SOC 2, etc.), verify it:

• NIST FIPS standards are public — the algorithm name and standard number should match published NIST documents at csrc.nist.gov
• Check that the project's code actually uses the claimed algorithm (GitHub search)
• Look for third-party audit confirmation of the certification claim

BMIC: ✅ FIPS 203 (ML-KEM), FIPS 204 (ML-DSA), and FIPS 205 (SLH-DSA) are all verifiable at csrc.nist.gov. BMIC's ERC-4337 implementation uses these algorithms for transaction signing — the architecture is documentable.

Step 7: Check Vesting and Token Distribution

Look for:

• Multi-year team token vesting (typical: 2–4 years with 6-month cliff)
• Reasonable team allocation (10–20% is normal; >40% is a red flag)
• Published token distribution table with specific percentages

BMIC: ✅ Team token vesting is in place. The 1.5B total supply with a clear presale price ($0.049) creates a calculable and reasonable FDV ($73.5M) — not inflated.

BMIC Final Verification Score