A $40 million fund has been established from seized assets for victims of the $4 billion OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, as announced by the US Department of Justice. The scheme, which operated between 2014 and 2019, involved Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood, co-founders of OneCoin Ltd., deceiving up to 3.4 million investors globally. The Bulgaria-based operation used a multi-level-marketing network to sell a fake cryptocurrency, with worldwide investments totaling over $4 billion. The scheme collapsed in 2017 after it was discovered that the value of OneCoin was artificially inflated.
In 2022, Greenwood admitted to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges, and a $5 million reward was offered for the missing Cryptqueen in June 2024. According to US Attorney Jay Clayton, the founders of OneCoin sold a false cryptocurrency, resulting in losses of over $4 billion worldwide.
The DOJ will continue to seize proceeds and prioritize returning funds to victims. This development comes after the FTX Recovery Trust announced a $2.2 billion distribution to creditors, as part of a larger effort to recover assets for users of the collapsed crypto trading platform.