Apps that demonstrate questionable behaviors are seemingly in their high time these days. Zynn, a TikTok-clone made by Chinese company Kuaishou that gives users cash for viewing short videos, some of which are directly scraped off rival apps and imported en masse, topped the rank on both iOS and Android before taken down from Google Play for plagiarism. 

Meanwhile, Mile (秘乐, pronounced mee-leh), a short video platform showing very similar user onboarding mechanisms to that of Zynn's, ranked first in free iPhone apps in China for several consecutive days, dethroning Douyin, TikTok's Chinese sister app.

Mile gives users money too for viewing content for as little as 5 minutes. However, before they are allowed to make money on the app, they need to type in their referral code from existing users to register, and pay about 13.5 RMB for real-name authentication and unlocking all basic features.

Established in November, 2019, Mile Mofang, the Hangzhou-based company behind the app claimed more than 35 million registered users as of May this year, with daily active users exceeding 9 million.

"We are ambitious, aiming to create a platform that integrates short video, live streaming, social media, e-commerce and blockchain. We hope to gain more than 100 million users by the end of this year," the company said in a posted job description.

Basically, there are three ways to earn money on the app:

1. watching videos for at least 5 minutes a day would earn users a small amount of MD (秘豆), the virtual currency on the platform that can be converted into real cash;
2. Recruit more new users into one's "team" by sharing his or her own referral code, and earn more MD than watching videos.
3. Upgrade one's "badge" through micro-transactions so MD generation speed is increased. These badges are only valid for 30 days and need to be repurchased after expiration.

Essentially, the app works exactly as a pyramid scheme since the MD revenue from referring new users (especially when one's badge level is high) can significantly outperform that from simply watching video, which is what any short video app is supposed to be all about. 

The app even has a "city partner program" lets users pay a "franchise fee" ranging from 50,000 to hundreds of thousands of RMB to become the head of a city, so that the user can take a commission out of every user in that city. The company also holds meetings and establishes physical stores in cities across China, letting city partners show off their luxurious life brought by Mile to seduce more users into the bottom of the pyramid.

Ironically, besides being investigated back in March by local police, the scheme, packaged inside a short video app, has largely flown under the radar of regulators as it quickly snowballed tens of millions of users and achieved high ranking on numerous app markets. 

Backing the issued MD is MHL, an Ethereum-based cryptocurrency that facilitates conversion to real world cash, launched by none other than Mile Mofang itself. The company had previously set up but recently closed its own exchange, and moved the withdrawal feature into the app itself.

This is not the first time an app has tried pyramid scheme in China. Qubu, a fitness app, grabbed 30 million users by telling them to walk with the app open and earn cash. Akin to Mile, it also told users to recruit more underlings to make a better profit. 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in a press briefing following China's annual legislative conference that there are some 600 million people, or almost half of the nation's population, making less than 1,000 RMB ($141) a month. The huge disparity can mean that a considerable percentage of Chinese population are eager to increase their income by any mean necessary. The Covid-19 pandemic also worsened their financial situation, so if there is a seemingly effortless way to make money, quite a number of people will definitely be amenable to participate.