Have you ever heard of the OneCoin Ponzi scheme? Well, this read offers a brief OneCoin update 2025. You may also take a look at the honest OneCoin review.
Nigeria and other jurisdictions in the world are required to stay vigilant and only trade regulated currencies.
Before unravelling the aftermath of the $4.5 billion cryptocurrency scheme in this OneCoin update 2025, let’s first have a recap.
OneCoin is a cryptocurrency created by the companies OneLife Network Ltd. and OneCoin Ltd. These companies were founded by the Bulgarian national, Ruja Ignatova, in 2014.
What started as a Bulgarian-based company marketing a purported cryptocurrency ended up defrauding investors of over $4 billion across the globe from 2014 to 2016.
The company mainly sold course materials, which some speculations suggest were plagiarized.
This course material business model was linked to a financial scheme called the multi-level marketing scheme.
It is through the use of the MLM scheme that investors bought the materials and were paid to recruit more buyers.
Before she went into hiding, Ruja Ignatova served as OneCoin’s main leader through October 2017.
To execute the scheme, Ignatova reportedly made false statements and representations to solicit investment funds in OneCoin.
According to the FBI’s report, Ruja Ignatova allegedly instructed victims to transfer investment funds to their OneCoin accounts to avail OneCoin packages.
As instructed, victims of the scheme sent wire transfers to represent these investment funds.
OneCoin offered the promise of significant returns and incentivized its investors when they recruited new participants.
As a result, the crypto platform garnered billions of users worldwide before its operations closed. By 2016, OneCoin defrauded victims of over $4 billion.
There are several factors that led to speculations arising about the crypto scheme. Among them were:
Although Ruja Ignatova marketed OneCoin as a legitimate cryptocurrency, one of the things users noticed with its platform is that it does not have blockchain technology.
Genuine cryptocurrencies have been widely known to use blockchain technology to function as a decentralized ledger.
In the case of OneCoin, however, its transactions and creation were internally managed and vague.
By 2016, questions started to arise about the cryptocurrency.
Several jurisdictions started investigating the company, and notions of it being a pyramid scheme started to arise.
Reputable bodies like Norway’s Direct Selling Association and the Hungarian Central Bank placed warnings against the cryptocurrency in March and May 2016, respectively.
Among the claims made by the cryptocurrency fraud is that it is the first company to be licensed by the Vietnamese government.
According to Ruja Ignatova and her team in 2017, the government will allow the use of OneCoin as a digital currency.
However, the government of Vietnam rebutted the claim.
Following the abovementioned speculations, Ignatova travelled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, on October 25, 2017. When a warrant was filed for her arrest, Ignatova disappeared.
According to an official report by the FBI, Ignatova may have also travelled elsewhere using her German passport. Among the countries she purportedly went to include:
Charges were placed against Ignatova in the United States District Court, which is in the Southern District of New York. On the same day, October 12, 2017, a federal warrant was issued for her arrest.
On February 6, 2018, an indictment was issued to supersede this warrant. Charges against Ruja Ignatova now involve one count each of the following:
The FBI urges the public to contact them for any information that can lead to the whereabouts of Ignatova.
They also believe that the “CryptoQueen” may be traveling with armed guards or associates, or have been altering her appearance with the use of procedures like plastic surgery.
One notable repercussion of the crypto scheme involves Ruja Ignatova being included in the FBI’s list of Top Ten Most Wanted in June 2022.
The U.S. Department of State is currently offering a reward of up to $5 million for anyone who can provide information about the whereabouts of Ruja Ignatova.
Tagged as the “Missing CryptoQueen,” Ruja Ignatova is currently subjected to a global asset freeze, preventing her assets from being moved or sold.
This global freezing order was put in place on behalf of investors who are seeking compensation. The order was led by Jennifer McAdam, who mentioned that she and her loved ones lost more than £200,000 in the Ponzi scheme.
To this day, attempts to provide the victims with significant compensation have been unsuccessful, and so has the search for the Bulgarian founder Ruja Ignatova since she went into hiding in 2017.
In early 2018, the OneCoin company office was raided by the Bulgarian police. Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin Ignatova, took her place as the manager and face of the company.
In addition, Karl Sebastian Greenwood, co-founder of OneCoin, pleaded guilty on December 16, 2022, to money laundering and wire fraud charges related to his involvement in the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
Although Ruja Ignativa is publicly known as the “CryptoQueen,” she has been using the following aliases, as per the FBI’s official report:
Furthermore, the following information about Ignatova was revealed by the FBI to the public in a PDF report:
| Date of Birth Used | May 30, 1980 |
| Hair Color | Dark Brown to Black |
| Sex | Female |
| Languages | Bulgarian, English, German |
| Place of Birth | Bulgaria |
| Eyes | Brown |
| Race | White |
Note that this is a summary of what is known about Ignatova based on the information used by the crypto scammer herself.
As also noted in the previous section, the FBI suspects that Ignatova has made changes to her appearance.
The events in this scam highlight the risks of new digital currencies and the importance of practicing due diligence in trading cryptocurrencies.
Although there are several Ponzi schemes in the industry, OneCoin remains one of the biggest crypto schemes that has ever existed.
No one wants to be a victim of any scam, and there are ways to protect yourself.
Before you invest in anything, it is important for you to do your research and not mindlessly follow the hype.
If you are part of an investment forum that is using the same tactics, be careful.
While it may emotionally draw you in, you have to consider the importance of having a good platform to keep your funds safe and actually experience growth.
Only use a reputable crypto exchange. Look for platforms with enhanced utility and a long-term strategic map.
In this way, you can stay away from the false promises of high returns.
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