Edit: OneCoin — CryptoScamsWiki

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## Summary

OneCoin was a multi-level-marketing (MLM) operation founded in 2014 and based in Sofia, Bulgaria, that marketed and sold a cryptocurrency of the same name. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the scheme took in more than $4 billion from at least 3.5 million victims, and prosecutors stated that OneCoin "had no actual value". [1][3]

## How it operated

Prosecutors said OneCoin was structured as a global MLM network that paid commissions for recruiting new buyers, and that its price was set by the operators rather than any market. [1][2] U.S. officials described it as "one of the largest fraud schemes ever perpetrated". [1]

## People and outcome

Co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty and was sentenced in 2023 to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $300 million. [1][3] Co-founder Ruja Ignatova, known as the "Cryptoqueen", disappeared in 2017, was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list in 2022, and remains at large. [1][3]

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