The Biggest Crypto Scams in History

The cryptocurrency revolution has brought unprecedented opportunities, promising decentralization, financial sovereignty, and life-changing profits.

The cryptocurrency revolution has brought unprecedented opportunities, promising decentralization, financial sovereignty, and life-changing profits. However, this meteoric rise, coupled with lax regulation and investor enthusiasm, has also created a playground for scammers. From classic Ponzi schemes to modern rug pulls, the crypto space has birthed some of history’s most audacious frauds, costing victims billions and shattering trust.

This article takes a deep dive into the biggest crypto scams ever, unraveling their intricate workings, the staggering losses they caused, and the enduring lessons for a market still finding its footing.

OneCoin: The Fake Crypto Empire

Topping the list of crypto scams is OneCoin, a fraudulent operation that duped millions with the allure of a Bitcoin killer. Launched in 2014 by Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian entrepreneur known for her polished Oxford pedigree, OneCoin was pitched as a groundbreaking cryptocurrency. Ignatova, nicknamed the “Cryptoqueen,” dazzled audiences at global seminars, promising that OneCoin’s proprietary blockchain would revolutionize finance.

The scam operated as a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme, selling “educational packages” ranging from $100 to over $100,000, which supposedly granted buyers the ability to “mine” OneCoin tokens. In reality, there was no blockchain—just a centralized database where token values were manipulated by the founders. Promoters earned hefty commissions by recruiting others, fueling a pyramid structure that ensnared over 3 million investors across 175 countries.

By 2017, OneCoin had amassed an estimated $4 billion to $15 billion, making it one of the largest financial scams ever. That year, Ignatova disappeared after boarding a flight from Sofia to Athens, just as authorities closed in. Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, took a plea deal in 2019, while co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood received a 20-year prison sentence in 2023. Ignatova remains at large, a ghost haunting the crypto world, with her scheme’s victims left with worthless tokens and shattered dreams.

BitConnect: The Ponzi That Roared

While OneCoin might be the more enduring name, BitConnect stormed onto the scene later, capitalizing on the 2017 crypto bull run with promises of guaranteed riches. Marketed as a lending and trading platform, BitConnect claimed its proprietary “volatility software” could deliver daily returns of up to 1%—a tantalizing prospect in a volatile market. Investors swapped Bitcoin for BitConnect Coin (BCC), locking their funds into the platform for months in exchange for these payouts.

The catch? Returns weren’t generated by trading but by new investors’ money—a classic Ponzi scheme. BitConnect’s hype was amplified by charismatic promoters on YouTube, like Carlos Matos, whose viral “BitConnect!” scream at a seminar became a meme. At its peak in late 2017, BCC hit a market cap of $2.6 billion.

However, the house of cards collapsed in January 2018 when regulators in Texas and North Carolina issued cease-and-desist orders, exposing the scam. The platform shut down overnight, BCC’s value plummeted 92% in hours, and investors lost an estimated $2 billion. Founder Satish Kumbhani fled to India, where he was arrested in 2022, while U.S. promoter Glenn Arcaro pleaded guilty to fraud, underscoring how greed and slick marketing can blind even savvy crypto enthusiasts.

PlusToken: The Asian Crypto Heist

If OneCoin and BitConnect targeted a global audience, then PlusToken pulled off a scam of staggering scale by focusing on Asia, particularly China and South Korea. Launched in 2018, PlusToken masqueraded as a crypto wallet and exchange, promising monthly returns of 8% to 16% through arbitrage trading. Its mobile app lured users with a sleek interface and referral bonuses, amassing over 3 million accounts by 2019.

Investors poured in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies, believing their funds were being expertly managed. In reality, the operators—said to be a group of Chinese programmers—siphoned assets into private wallets, orchestrating a slow bleed that netted them over $3 billion—some estimates suggest up to $6 billion. The scam unraveled in mid-2019 when withdrawals stalled and the founders vanished.

Chinese authorities later arrested 109 suspects, convicting six ringleaders in 2020, but much of the stolen crypto had been laundered through mixers and exchanges. PlusToken’s fallout also rippled through markets, with analysts linking its massive sell-offs to Bitcoin’s price dips in 2019. The scam exposed vulnerabilities in Asia’s crypto boom and the difficulty of tracking illicit