Cryptocurrencies have undoubtedly made a huge impact in recent years. With Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and many others, people are eagerly investing into this technology. There are some good options when it comes to making money with cryptocurrencies. Optioment is a great example of a functioning investment fund; check out our review if you’re interested.
However, there are companies and cryptocurrencies that are not as trustworthy as the above mentioned one. These revolve around a scam and they are considered to be a Ponzi scheme; or worse, they are a full on scam with no money returned to any of the investors. In this article, we are talking about OneCoin, the biggest cryptocurrency scam that millions have fallen victim to. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what we are touching on today:
- What is OneCoin
- OneCoin timeline
- Why OneCoin is the biggest cryptocurrency scam
- Investment alternatives to OneCoin
As you can see, we are covering everything you need to know about OneCoin. First, we are looking at the history of this Ponzi scheme. The detailed timeline will show you what’s happened to the cryptocurrency and the company since it has launched. Next, we will talk about the reasons why OneCoin is considered to be the biggest cryptocurrency scam. We will also look at secure and working alternatives to OneCoin. These are far better choices if you are thinking about investing into cryptocurrencies.
Learn what a Ponzi scheme is by clicking on the Wikipedia article about it!
If you are not familiar with cryptocurrencies or the system that they operate on, check out some of our previous articles that we’ve published. It’s best if you start with understanding how the blockchain technology works. You might also be interested in taking a look at the top 10 cryptocurrencies of 2017. Click on the links and return when you’re ready to learn about OneCoin.
What is OneCoin
OneCoin is a company based on network marketing. It was (and still is) marketed as a cryptocoin and a business that sells educational material on trading. The cryptocurrency is based on a private blockchain (only they can mine it) and it has been labeled a pyramid scheme too. OneCoin offers educational packages that cost anywhere from 100€ to 118,000€. These packages also contain tokens that can be assigned to mine the cryptocurrency. This is the reason for the absurd price of their “educational packages”.
The eBook that users get contains information about trading that has been stolen from several different sources. The company claims that they are only selling educational materials, but their main selling point is investing into their cryptocurrency. The people behind this crypto scam have promoted their business as a cryptocurrency investment numerous times in press releases and interviews.
OneCoin is led by Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian woman who has been previously involved in other Ponzi schemes. She was behind Bigcoin and BNA; two other well-known cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes. This is her third attempt at creating a business around a private blockchain. Both of her previous projects went bankrupt. Shortly after the bankruptcy, a new but similar business emerged that promised better and more stable services.
Thankfully, not all crypto-related services are scams. Check out Bitley’s a reliable Bitcoin investment fund! Click here to learn more.
OneCoin timeline
In this paragraph, we are looking at everything noteworthy that has happened in this company’s history. This will help in understanding how this Ponzi scheme came to be and how the people behind it took advantage of the situation.
- End of 2014 – the cryptocurrency was launched by Ruja Ignatova, Sebastian Greenwood and Nigel Allen. This is when the first OneCoin is allegedly mined. They started educating people about blockchain technology, as well as their new cryptocurrency; OneCoin. The team behind OneCoin goes to Finland to promote their services and thousands of Finns purchase OneCoin educational packages.
- 2015 January – OneCoin writes a formal letter to all of their members, stating that Nigel Allan is no longer the president of OneCoin. Ruja Ignatova also posts that she has been betrayed by Nigel and that he lived up to his notorious online reputation.
- 2015 June – The Hungarian National Bank sends a warning against cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and OneCoin. They label OneCoin a pyramid scam.
- 2016 March – OneCoin under police investigation in Finland. Local TV news declare OneCoin as a scam that more than 10,000 Finns fall victim to. Swedish police launch preliminary OncCoin investigation. OneCoin closes their market for two weeks for maintenance without any warning. After the two weeks ended, no new changes were visible and most of the pending transactions have expired.
- 2016 April – Austrian Consumer Protection issues a warning against OneCoin. OneCoin declared an “illegal MLM” in Colombia. Chinese authorities start investigation against OneCoin and they arrest OneCoin investors.
- 2016 May – OneCoin loses their Chinese credit card processing merchant.
- 2016 June – The OneCoin Coin Rush global event is held in London. It is attended by thousands of people who eagerly await what Ruja Ignatova has to say. She calls OneCoin the Bitcoin killer and talks about OneCoin catching up to Bitcoin in value. Ruja also extensively talks about mining OneCoin and buying tokens. She briefly touches on the educational material, but quickly jumps back to talking about buying the mining tokens. Clearly, this was how they made money, so more emphasis was put on it.
- 2016 October – OneCoin introduces a “new and enhanced blockchain” in Bangkok, Thailand. This event is held as the two year anniversary of the blockchain and the coin. They claim that the new blockchain is safer, faster and tailored for future-proof mass transactions.
- 2016 December – The Italian Antitrust Authority declares OneCoin an illegal pyramid sales system and orders them to stop promoting and selling OneCoin in Italy.
- 2017 January – The only way people could exchange OneCoins to other currencies (OneCoin Exchange) shuts down without a warning.
- 2017 February – The Italian Antitrust Authority bans all OneCoin activity in Italy until further notice.
- 2017 April – Federal Financial Supervisory Authority aka BaFin bans all trading with OneCoins in Germany. They also order OneCoin to seize all promotional activity within Germany. Police put over two dozen OneCoin promoters under custody in India. The Bank of Thailand warns people about OneCoin, calling it an illegal digital currency that shouldn’t be used in trading.
- 2017 May – The Hungarian National Bank takes action against OneCoin. A task force is assembled against this cryptocurrency and everybody who promotes it. The International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) issues a warning against the company behind OneCoin. OneCoin has been conducting trading business without a license and they are directed to stop with any further illegal trading business.
- 2017 June – OneCoin claims that the cryptocurrency was licensed by the Vietnamese government and that it’s the first officially licensed cryptocurrency by a government. Days later, the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam states that the documents used by OneCoin as proof have been forged. Norway authorities issue ultimatum against OneCoin.
- 2017 July – Ruja Ignatova is charged by the Indian government for duping investors. This was part of an investigation held by the Indian police department.
- 2017 August – Luxembourg regulators issue investor warning against OneCoin.
- End of 2018 – According to OneCoin’s latest press release, they are planning on going public at the end of 2018. This means that the blockchain will be transparent and that mining the cryptocurrency will be possible. Again, this looks like another promise that they won’t keep.
Why OneCoin is the biggest cryptocurrency scam
First of all, the three main characters behind the OneLife company (Ruja Ignatova, Sebastian Greenwood and Nigel Allen) have all been part of a similar scam before starting OneCoin. Seeing known con artists jump into another project as soon as their previous one goes bankrupt is never a good sign. These people are known for their schemes and this should be the first warning against OneCoin. Additionally, unlike almost all other cryptocurrencies, the algorithm and the blockchain behind OneCoin is private. This takes away numerous advantages that cryptocurrencies have over other fiat currencies. The transactions are not anonymous, they are not fast and most importantly, they are not public.
The second reason why everybody is trying to avoid OneCoin is because of their history. As you can see from the OneCoin timeline, they have been constantly having trouble with governments. Currently, no country has declared OneCoin as criminal activity, but almost everybody is keeping an eye on them. Among the countries that have active investigations against OneCoin and OneLife are: Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria (where their servers are hosted), Latvia and many others. Some governments have also banned OneCoin and all promotion of it too.
Last but not least, as it stands right now, OneCoin cannot be exchanged to any other fiat currency (Euro, USD, etc.). There was only one website that exchanged OneCoins to cash, but it stopped working without a warning. Early investors should have been suspicious of the fact that only one exchange trader was ever available. This alone should make you lose interest in investing into this Ponzi and pyramid scheme.
Investment alternatives to OneCoin
Even though there are many cryptocurrency scams out there, you can still find safe and highly profitable crypto investment opportunities. The first thing that you need to keep in mind when looking for an investment is how you’re going to make a profit. Joining a system where you only make money from referrals is never a safe bet.
By far the best alternative that we could find right now is Optioment. What’s different between Optioment and OneCoin is that Optioment didn’t create a separate and private blockchain. Optioment is a Bitcoin investment fund that allows users to deposit Bitcoins to their accounts. These Bitcoins gain an interest rate each week. This is possible due to trading robots doing lightning fast arbitrage trading on the exchange market. Optioment doesn’t rely on referrals, but there’s a referral program too that can be beneficial if used correctly.
Find out how much you can earn with Optioment with this calculator right now!
If you want to learn more about Optioment, be sure to click on the following link and read our review on it! Or you can also head on over to the official website and start an account now!
Conclusion
OneCoin has gained a notorious reputation online because of their business model, as well as the people who are involved in the company. These con artists have been part of other similar projects and all of them went bankrupt after a few years. Many speculate that OneCoin is destined to fall too and that is why they are trying to avoid it.
Hopefully, you have learned a few things about this Ponzi scheme through our OneCoin review. OneCoin might be the biggest cryptocurrency scam in history and you shouldn’t do any business with the company behind it; OneLife.
If you want to learn more about different cryptocurrencies, be sure to check out every other article that we have published on the topic so far: