Bitcoin and other cryptos have been a means of unlocking high investment returns via online trading. The crypto industry is full of opportunities but is not without crooks who lure investors to rob them of their investments.
Bitcoin and other digital assets are known for their price volatility and the inherent complexities of their underlying technology. This has been taken as an advantage by fraudsters to lure investors and scam them.
Bitcoin
This has fueled the reoccurrence of crypto scams in the industry. It is therefore essential to invest with care in the crypto market.
In this article, we’ll look at the biggest Bitcoin Ponzi schemes in history, but before then, let’s learn about Ponzi Scheme.
What is a Crypto Ponzi Scheme?
In general terms, a Ponzi scheme is usually an elaborate investment scam designed to lure investors with the promise of generating high and quick rates of returns off the back of a non-existent enterprise.
In the case of a crypto Ponzi scheme, the fraudsters set up imaginary crypto enterprises and lure investors with various stories and pseudo-statistics.
It is very easy to market these unrealistic profits to an audience that does not deeply understand how crypto actually works. The fact that there are high returns in crypto investment is another reason for investors to fall into the hand of fraudsters.
Biggest Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme In History
Bitcoin is the largest and most popular of the digital assets. Several imaginary crypto investments around Bitcoin has been developed by fraudsters to scam investors.
They are listed below in no particular order;
- Onecoin: This is a blockchain-less digital asset founded by the Bulgarian fraudster, Ruja Ignatova aka crypto queen. It is the longest-running Ponzi scheme (2014-2019) ever in the crypto industry. The Ponzi scheme was said to have defrauded investors $5.8 billion by marketing Onecoin as a ”Bitcoin killer”. It was also marketed as the next hottest invention to the crypto which lured investors. The investors received or bought Onecoin, not knowing that they held a worthless coin that was not backed by accepted digital asset technology. The U.S government however ended its operation while the founder disappeared.
- Bitconnect: This is another Bitcoin Ponzi scheme, launched in 2016. It was created as a Bitcoin lending solution promising monthly returns of 40%. Here, investors had to purchase BCC tokens, lock them on the platform and wait while trading bots used their locked funds to trade. The unsustainable returns on investment promised by Bitconnect were criticized by top crypto enthusiasts. Eventually, the U.S. authorities declared Bitconect a Ponzi scheme and demanded that it halt its operations in 2018. Subsequently, the price of BCC crashed by 90%, causing investors to collectively lose over $3.5 billion.
- GainBitcoin: The marketing strategy of this Bitcoin scam is for investors to earn big with their investment. GainBitcoin emerged as an India-based cloud-mining solution with the promise of generating monthly returns of 10% for 18 months. As ridiculous as this sounds, this lured several investors, no less than $300 million worth of investment from Indian investors. In 2017 it became clear that there was neither physical mining equipment nor any mining operations backing the elaborate scheme. Although the founder, Amit Bhardwaj was arrested, the investors couldn’t recoup their investments.
These are the top biggest Bitcoin Ponzi scheme you need to know. Read More
It can be found that most fraudsters lure investors with a lack of education about crypto, crypto’s allure as a new technology, as well as its reputation for wild – and potentially highly profitable – price fluctuations.
Taking extra care and carefully studying investment opportunities before dabbling into them is one of the top ways to ensure you don’t become prey for fraudsters.
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