Back in 2016, thousands of Brits thought they’d struck gold. Word was spreading through WhatsApp and Facebook groups about an exciting new crypto-currency called OneCoin. It was rumoured to be the next Bitcoin – that strange digital currency that had been shooting up in value and minting millionaires.
OneCoin’s founder, a Bulgarian-German businesswoman called Dr Ruja Ignatova had impeccable credentials – a degree from Oxford and a stint at the respected McKinsey’s. OneCoin, Dr Ruja said, was the ‘Bitcoin Killer’, heralding a financial revolution and, if you got in early, a unique new investment opportunity.
Driven on by the crypto hype, OneCoin reached 175 countries around the world, and over €4bn was poured in from hopeful investors. We estimate as much as €100m was invested between 2014 and 2017 from people in the UK. But as you’ve probably guessed already, OneCoin was an elaborate scam.
While investigating the company for the BBC Sounds podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen, we found that OneCoin has no value outside its own eco-system, and its ‘market price’ (currently €29.95,
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