A Disguise for Deception
Founded by the elusive Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin presented itself as a groundbreaking cryptocurrency venture, but beneath the façade lay a labyrinth of deceit. While advertising itself as a cryptocurrency, OneCoin amassed an astounding $4 billion before Ruja vanished into thin air in 2017. Officially labeled as a Ponzi scheme, the platform neither traded on public exchanges nor allowed any tangible transactions.
The mastermind behind the operation, Ruja Ignatova, remains at large. Meanwhile, her accomplice, Sebastian Greenwood, is incarcerated in the U.S. The entity’s primary revenue stream originated from selling educational materials, which were largely plagiarized, resembling a multi-level marketing (MLM) strategy where course buyers were incentivized to recruit more participants.
The Illusion of Legitimacy
In 2014, Ruja Ignatova launched OneCoin, asserting it functioned identically to typical MLM schemes, where recruits received incentives for enlisting newcomers. However, the promised course materials primarily served as a smokescreen for their true intentions.
Courses bought supposedly entitled participants to tokens for mining OneCoins. Most of this educational content, however, was reportedly plagiarized. The exchange platform, known as xcoinx, was internal and exclusive. Only those who purchased advanced packages gained access to this limited marketplace, which ceased operations in January 2017, leaving many withdrawal requests unfulfilled.
Investigations and Unraveling
By 2016, skepticism about OneCoin’s operations grew, leading various nations to probe its legitimacy. The Direct Selling Association in Norway branded it a pyramid scheme in March 2016, followed by the Hungarian Central Bank’s warning in May. Despite OneCoin’s 2017 claim of being the first cryptocurrency licensed by Vietnam, the Vietnamese authorities dismissed this assertion.
Early 2018 witnessed Bulgarian police raiding OneCoin’s premises. Ruja, previously the face of the company, vanished just as legal actions were set against her, prompting her brother Konstantin Ignatov to assume leadership. By 2018, co-founder Greenwood was detained, followed by Konstantin’s arrest in late 2019.
Guilty of fraud and money laundering charges, Konstantin faced justice alongside Greenwood, who received a 20-year sentence. Throughout its operation, OneCoin never transitioned into a functional currency, nor served its affiliates as a legitimate trading avenue.
Ruja Ignatova: The Vanishing Act
Dubbed the “Cryptoqueen,” Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian originator of OneCoin, has remained elusive since her 2017 disappearance.
Notable Crypto Scams
OneCoin is not alone in the realm of crypto Ponzi schemes. Bitconnect collapsed in 2018, leading to a $3.5 billion loss for investors. PlusToken duped investors until its downfall in 2019, costing over $3 billion. GainBitcoin, originating from India, defrauded investors of more than $300 million, while Mining Max, until its 2021 shutdown, extracted $250 million from its victims.
The Value of Bitcoin
Bitcoin’s value fluctuates, yet in September 2023, it was valued at $26,551. Between June 2021 and September 2023, its price oscillated from approximately $26,000 to $67,500.