The Missing Cryptoquine: Hundreds of Countries. Billions of dollars. One Lie Jamie Bartlett Penguin €16.99
ryptocurrencies are making headlines at the moment because they are crashing. The value of bitcoin, the most well-known cryptocurrency, has dropped from last year’s high of $68,000 per coin to $20,000 earlier this month.
This book tells the story of another, lesser-known cryptocurrency, OneCoin. No matter how volatile bitcoin is, it is built on an innovative and sophisticated technology called blockchain. In contrast, OneCoin was based on something simpler – but more terrifying – in thin air.
The founder of OneCoin was a Bulgarian woman in her thirties called Dr. Ruja Ignatova; A flamboyant figure, whose face was regularly adorned with dark red lipstick and framed by jet-black hair.
She had incredible credentials and a perfect bio: Ignatova was a former McKinsey consultant with a master’s in law from Oxford and a PhD from the University of Konstanz in Germany. An expert in self-presentation, she became a darling of the convention circuit.
Those close to the woman later known as ‘Cryptoquine’ noticed her appearance changed over time, from fresh-faced enthusiast to glamor mag seductress (a transition assisted by plastic surgery, they say).
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Jamie Bartlett races through a tale of corruption, ambition and intrigue. Photo: Pele Sjoden
Just as the value of bitcoin increased by eight billion percent between 2010 and 2021, according to one financial website – at an even higher rate for OneCoin.
Ignatova acquired an army of salespeople who earned a commission on each OneCoin sold. The business made thousands of millionaires – on paper.
Catch? Those OneCoins could not be exchanged for real cash. The company repeatedly claimed that investors would be able to translate their funds into standard currency “really soon”.
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And the famous blockchain technology – a complex piece of coding that underpins bitcoin’s security? The OneCoin blockchain did not exist, despite statements from the currency’s founders.
The reality was that very few people understood what a blockchain was or how it worked. As long as things went smoothly, such technical details seemed irrelevant.
The book recounts the origins of one of the biggest financial scandals since Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. It was a roller-coaster ride that fueled a growing interest in cryptocurrencies – money held in ether far away from government control – and fears of people having lost a good thing.
Jamie Bartlett, author of several books on cryptocurrency and the dark web, runs through this compelling tale of corruption, ambition, and intrigue.
He presented a podcast called The Missing Cryptoquine, A popular BBC series, in 2019. In this account, Bartlett attempts to find the end of the story, ruling out various court cases related to OneCoin, which were held in Germany and the US.
For some reason investors’ stories don’t appear as in-depth as on the podcast, where the recorded voices of people who put all their savings into OneCoin, and encourage their loved ones to do the same, are poignant evidence of scam. Were. real effect.
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‘The Missing Cryptoquine’ by Jamie Bartlett is an amusing read
This set OneCoin apart from Madoff’s get rich scheme, which primarily catered to the upper middle class who wanted a higher return on their investment. With OneCoin, those at the top made millions, and sometimes billions; The people at the bottom who lost were ordinary and even poor. The currency took off in China, Pakistan and Uganda, as unlucky individuals around the world invested their hard earned money.
A Chinese man received one million yuan in compensation after being wrongly imprisoned for 23 years; He put the entire amount in OneCoin. A Pakistani man tried to sell his kidney for OneCoin.
However, such a loss was not destined for Ignatova. He recorded his own wealth in a series of labyrinthine financial instruments, often registered in other people’s names.
Incidentally, Ireland played an important role in these arrangements as Ignatova invested in struggling European tech firms, “mostly in the UK and Ireland”. In 2017, his investment fund sent €185m into accounts in Dubai, “through the Bank of Ireland”, Bartlett says.
The most shocking thing about the rise and fall of OneCoin is that it is still being traded, according to Bartlett. And although some members of her team are in prison, Ignatova herself disappeared without a trace, due to her investors some in the region of €100bn – possibly backed by her extensive network of criminal contacts.
Bartlett writes, “The uncomfortable truth is that every year hundreds of criminals escape justice and run away like Rooza.” “Some disappear in distant lands, while others take on new identities and fade into obscurity closer to home.”
For prospective investors and crypto-enthusiasts, the missing cryptocurrency A cautionary tale, but not for Ignatova herself. She sits down with Madoff and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, one of the staunchest scammers of our age.
The difference is that she got away with it, and although her whereabouts are unknown, she may be spending her days (Bartlett hypothesis) on a grand yacht, sailing the high seas splendidly.
