A $40 million fund has been established for victims of the $4 billion OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, as announced by the US Department of Justice. The international scheme, which operated from 2014 to 2019, defrauded approximately 3.4 million investors worldwide. OneCoin's founders, Ignatova and Greenwood, orchestrated the scam through a global multi-level marketing network, selling a fake cryptocurrency that did not exist on any blockchain.
The scheme collapsed in 2017 after it was discovered that the founders manipulated the perceived value of OneCoin. In recent developments, the DOJ has offered a $5 million reward for the capture of the missing 'Cryptqueen' and has vowed to continue seizing assets to compensate victims.
According to US Attorney Jay Clayton, 'OneCoin's founders deceived victims, resulting in losses of over $4 billion globally.' The compensation process is part of a broader effort to recover assets for scam victims, mirroring recent developments in the FTX recovery process, which has distributed over $6 billion to creditors.