ZrCoin launched in 2017 as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) to fund the construction of a factory for producing synthetic zirconium dioxide from industrial waste. The project's mission was to create a "waste-free" production cycle while offering investors a cryptocurrency (ZRC) that was marketed as being backed by a real-world industrial asset. However, following the successful fundraising, the project's founders reportedly disappeared, and the project is now widely considered to be an exit scam, having failed to deliver on its promises or return investor funds.