Remember the crazy spike in Bitcoin's valuation during 2016-2017 and how it completely changed the way people looked at cryptocurrency, and how everyone wanted a piece of it?
It's during this time that one woman actually took the trouble of starting their own cryptocurrency, managed to generate billions of dollars, only to be termed as a Ponzi scheme with her disappearing with $4 billion (approximately Rs 28,500 crores) worth of cryptocurrency.?
That's the story of OneCoin and its infamous founder Ruja Ignatova.
Onecoin was advertised as a better and more powerful substitute to Bitcoin, and it had all the features Bitcoin did -- it could be mined using a computer¡¯s resources, you could transfer money with encryption safely without leaving a trace, all using your smartphone, among other features.?The brand boasted of a member base of 1.7 million.
They also offered courses in cryptocurrency, trading investments, asset management etc, sold educational materials on discounted prices for participants who were already a part of the network.?
The whole enterprise, however, worked more like a pyramid-scheme company, where participants would get rewards by getting more people under their network in the form of -- you guessed it right -- OneCoin.?
They advertised OneCoin being the safest using Blockchain, as well as following KYC (Know Your Customer) to keep a track of people and prevent illegal acts like money laundering. They even promised that they¡¯ll conduct a monthly audit of the blockchain.
Dr Ruja Ignatova was the face of OneCoin since the very beginning. Originating from Bulgaria, at OneCoin¡¯s first public event in 2016, she encouraged fans claiming that Onecoin was in fact a ¡®Bitcoin killer¡¯. She along with her team of fraudsters showed to the world how the brand was progressing and expanding.?
Investors were waiting to make the most of the platform and in 2017 this was soon going to happen. At an event in Lisbon, Ruja was being anticipated by its investors who wanted to discuss these concerns with her, however, she never showed up for the event -- a rare occurrence. Her phone became non-responsive. She wasn¡¯t responding to emails too. She was gone.?
When the police investigated OneCoin, they discovered the dark misinformation behind fancy gala parties and events to lure people on to the platform.?
Investigators discovered that the coins weren¡¯t mined, unlike conventional cryptocurrency. Instead, programmers carefully programmed the coin to change their values. They even discovered that it didn¡¯t really have blockchain, meaning the transactions could be easily tracked.
In fact, the people running OneCoin were actually allocating fake coins to its members that didn¡¯t really exist, completely taking away people¡¯s hard-earned money.?
While Ruja Ignatova was nowhere to be found, her brother and former bodyguard Konstantin Ignatov took over Onecoin in Ruja¡¯s absence, but not for long, as in a few months he was arrested when he entered LAX International Airport. During the investigation, he signed a plea deal admitting his role in the multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency scam.?
Konstantin Ignatov, in his testimony to the FBI, mentioned that Ruja¡¯s last known location was in Bulgaria, before the event in Lisbon. He said that he doesn¡¯t have any further information regarding her whereabouts. He even tried hiring a private investigator but had no luck. Further FBI investigations locate her last whereabouts at Athens, as she was thought to have boarded on a Ryanair flight from Sophia.
At the time of writing this story, Ruja Ignatova's whereabouts are still unknown. Multiple people involved with OneCoin have been prosecuted with fraud in China, UK and US, according to reports, with the process of recovering investor money currently ongoing.