Ten crypto-based Ponzi schemes paid out phony “returns” to initial backers using money from new backers.
“Crypto Ponzi schemes” are scams that try to get people to invest in cryptocurrencies. They pay off early investors with money from new investors. Those who devise Ponzi schemes frequently turn to cryptocurrency. But most investors don’t have the technical skills and knowledge to properly evaluate cryptocurrencies and decide if they are good investments or not. Many crypto projects aren’t regulated, and it’s common for their founders to stay anonymous. This is different from traditional investments, where investors can dig into earnings, third-party research reports (like Morningstar), audited documents, and other required regulatory material. Charles Ponzi is widely credited as the namesake of these fraudulent financial schemes.
In the 1920s, Ponzi is said to have promised investors that they would get back 50% of the money they put into international mail coupons within a few months. Ponzi schemes involves new investors’ money being used to pay “returns” to old ones who had invested in the scheme. In 2022, 10 crypto Ponzi schemes wrecked the market for digital assets. This article tells you all about them.
Onecoin
If you’re looking for the longest-running Ponzi scheme in the cryptocurrency industry, look no further than Onecoin. From 2014 to 2019, Bulgarian fraudster Ruja Ignatova, also known as Cryptoqueen, was able to get a lot of people to invest in Onecoin, which she started. There were allegations that $5.8 billion was lost to the Ponzi scheme that promoted Onecoin as a “Bitcoin Killer” and the next big thing in the cryptocurrency industry.
Dekado Coin
Anyone who says there is nothing like earning free bitcoin is wrong is a victim of the Dekado Coin scam, masterminded by Divyesh Darji, Ranjeet Saxena, and their associates. It’s true that Dekado was exceptional because it was able to pull off a double con.
The standard introductory sessions for Dekado Coin guarantee monthly returns of 40–70%. However, the website crashed shortly after its debut as a result of the large influx of users from all over the world, particularly India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, and Africa. Dekado.io users couldn’t login.
Bitconnect
Bitconnect, a Bitcoin lending service that started in 2016 and promised 40% monthly returns, was another big crypto Ponzi scheme. Unknown developers, led by a man or woman using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, ran the show. Investors had to spend money on BCC tokens, then leave those tokens on the platform where trading bots could use them to make trades. This is counted among the most egregious of the 2022 cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes.
Regalcoin
During the height of the Bitconnect scam, Michael James and Raymond Weil launched a similar staking plan with their brand-new token, Regal Coin. They promised monthly returns of up to 50%. Although the cryptocurrency was available on exchanges like CoinExchange.io, BTC-Alpha, and Yobit.it, its value plummeted from more than $70 in October 2017 to less than $0.005 today. According to UK filings, the company behind the coin, Regalcoin Corporation, was dissolved in September 2019.
PlusToken
One of the most recent and massive Ponzi schemes in the history of the cryptocurrency industry is PlusToken. The scam was mostly promoted on WeChat, where investors were promised 10–30% monthly returns. Most PlusToken investors were from China, South Korea, and Japan. The project’s entire economic foundation was built on the provision of crypto education and a wallet service. Fraudsters convinced investors to buy PlusToken to increase profits.
GainBitcoin
GainBitcoin, a cloud mining solution based in India, launched in 2016 with the promise of monthly returns of 10% for 18 months. Despite the obvious absurdity of the proposition, Indian investors pledged a total of $300 million to the endeavor. In 2017, it became evident that the elaborate scheme was not backed by actual mining equipment or actual mining operations.
Morris Coin
According to the Kerala Police Department, EOW, Nishad K, and his team collected a minimum of INR 15,000 from each investor, primarily in India. There would be a daily return of INR 270, or 4.4 times profit, on investments of INR 15K, he said. 10%-40% referral bonuses were promised. Morris Coin’s mess ended strangely. A white paper detailing Nishad K’s initial coin offering (ICO) was released. In 2022, this will be a leading Ponzi scheme in the cryptocurrency industry.
Mining Max
Like GainBitcoin, Mining Max pretended to be a cloud-based mining service to hide the fact that it was doing something wrong. Investors would have a way to profit from the cryptocurrency craze with the help of this platform. Mining Max suggested that they join a network that mines several different cryptocurrencies. This could be profitable. Advertising, as with other crypto Ponzi schemes, was critical.
Ether Trade Asia Scam
Ether Trade Asia, like many other bogus cryptocurrency exchanges, promised daily returns of 3% to its victims. Every time a trader tried to take tokens out of the platform, “technical glitches” were given as a reason. There was no way to contact the company through the website, as no physical address or email address was provided.
Forsage
The SEC has accused the founders of Forsage of selling $300 million worth of unregistered securities starting at least in January 2020. The government agency had already charged a former Coinbase employee with insider trading in connection with the exchange’s coin listings, and the civil charges came just a few weeks later. Through his lawyer, the former Coinbase employee claimed he was “innocent of all wrongdoing.” This is one of the top 10 crypto Ponzi schemes that wiped out billions of dollars.
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