Crypto is the only one which has been around for a decade, and the area has already increased its prime Ponzi scheme actors. Here are three of them.
In the form of anonymity, accessibility, ease of use and low cost of transactions, cryptocurrencies have some significant drawbacks that inhibit their global adoption. The main one is the relation between crypto and crime.
OneCoin
OneCoin is deemed one of the biggest cryptocurrency pyramids, which worked from 2014 to 2017, misleading about three million people and extorting investors of around $5 billion in total.
The producer of One Coin is the Bulgarian fraudster Ruzha Ignatova. The pyramid helped according to the classical Ponzi scheme, in which participants earn a reward for each new person invited.
BitConnect
Another important crypto pyramid performed from 2016 to 2018: BitConnect. It was established by unknown creators and led by Satao Nakamoto.
PlusToken
The newest and biggest financial pyramid in recent years. Established in 2018, the pyramid was promoted in Chinese WeChat with vows of 10%–30% of return on investment per month. Around four million people became participants in the PlusToken ponzi scheme.
 Fraudsters allegedly advocated financial literacy and educated people to use cryptocurrencies, but eventually intended to convert them to Plus tokens.Â
Justice still overtook the organizers of the scheme, and a year ago, six of them were charged at the request of Chinese authorities. Also, the $3 billion missed investors could not be returned, and remains with the PlusToken team members.Previously, on June 22, all EOS was revoked from the pyramid’s wallets, and soon enough, this was repeated with all ETH tokens.
