More than a decade after the OneCoin scam began, victims of the $4 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme are now eligible for compensation from a $40 million fund of seized assets, as announced by the US Department of Justice. The scheme, which operated from 2014 to 2019, involved co-founders Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, who deceived up to 3.4 million investors worldwide through a global multi-level-marketing network. The Bulgaria-based operation sold a fake cryptocurrency, accumulating over $4 billion in investments globally, despite not being a real cryptocurrency and not existing on any blockchain.
The scheme collapsed in 2017 after Ignatova and her team were found to have artificially inflated OneCoin's value. In recent developments, the DOJ has offered a $5 million reward for the missing Cryptqueen, while Greenwood admitted to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges in 2022.
According to US Attorney Jay Clayton, the founders of OneCoin 'sold a lie disguised as cryptocurrency, causing losses of over $4 billion worldwide.' The DOJ will continue to prioritize seizing criminal proceeds and returning funds to the victims. This announcement comes shortly after the FTX Recovery Trust revealed plans to distribute $2.2 billion to creditors, as part of its efforts to recover assets for users of the collapsed crypto trading platform.