Tales of the Cryptoqueen Who Robbed 175 Countries

• In 2014, a cryptocurrency called “One Coin” was created by Ruja Ignatova AKA “Cryptoqueen”, Sebastian Greenwood and Konstantin Ignatov

• The cryptocurrency was termed “Bitcoin killer” and the founders claimed that it was faster and cheaper than the flagship cryptocurrency

• More than $4 billion was invested by people from 175 countries, then the queen disappeared and is yet to be found

In early June 2014, 36-year-old Dr Ruja Ignatova AKA Cryptoqueen climbed the stage in Wembley and launched the idea of a super coin that was going to rival and even overcome Bitcoin.

The coin was founded by Ruja, her brother Konstantin Ignatov and Sebastian Greenwood.

Ruja told everyone that her “bitcoin killer” coin was going to be the biggest cryptocurrency worldwide and it will be used to facilitate payments.

Following the success of Bitcoin(rising from a few cents to thousands of dollars) many bought into the idea and invested in the opportunity.

All over the world, more and more people saw this cryptocurrency as an easy chance to wealth and invested their savings.

According to BBC, €30m was invested in Onecoin in the first 6 months of 2016 and by March 2017, more than €4 billion had been invested in the cryptocurrency.

Getting to 2017, cracks started to show in this crypto asset and investigators soon found out that the project didn’t have a blockchain technology as the founders had claimed.

Later in 2017, a warrant was issued for the arrest of the Cryptoqueen and she disappeared.

Read also: Amazon’s Latest Cryptocurrency Announcement Will Hurt Bitcoin

Sebastian Greenwood was arrested in 2018 and Konstantin Ignatov was caught a year later in Los Angeles, California.

Konstantin Ignatov eventually pleaded guilty to fraud but he had no details about the whereabouts of his sister.

A recent court filing has indicated that the Cryptoqueen bought 230,000 BTC in 2017. At this point, Ignatova’s stolen funds will be worth over $9 billion.

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