The U.S. District Attorney has issued an arrest warrant for the founders of an international cryptocurrency pyramid scheme that issued a digital currency called "OneCoin." The announcement was made by the district attorney's office in the Southern District of New York on March 8. The founders and leaders of OneCoin, Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova, were arrested on March 6, 2019 in Los Angeles. The siblings were charged with "securities fraud and money laundering." Pyramid building story OneCoin was founded in 2014 and was headquartered in Bulgaria's capital, Sofia. The project operated as a marketing network through which members receive commissions for attracting other potential investors who would buy packages of "cryptocurrencies." The OneCoin network is reportedly over three million participants worldwide. When Ignatov was asked at a meeting with investors in Las Vegas when OneCoin members could "cash out" their coins, he replied: "If you are here to withdraw money, leave this room now because you don't understand what this project is." Commenting on the charges, prosecutor Geoffrey S. Berman said: "We suspect that the defendants created a 'cryptocurrency' company entirely based on lies and deception. They promised great returns and minimal risk, but this business was a pyramid scheme based on nothing (...). Investors became victims when the defendants [had already appropriately] enriched themselves." The investigation found that between Q4 2014 and Q3 2016. OneCoin generated 3,353 billion euros ($3,769 billion) in revenue from the sale of the said holdings. "Profits" reached 2,232 billion euros ($2,509 billion). New York District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. stated that "the defendants [i.e., the Ignatov siblings] created a classic pyramid scheme [based on] a high-tech platform, threatening the integrity of New York's financial system and robbing investors of billions [of USD]." Other suspicious projects Projects such as DasCoin and FuturoCoin have attracted similar controversy. Both of them (as well as OneCoin) were warned against by, among others, the Polish Bitcoin Association. In the case of DasCoin, MP Mirosława Nykiel wrote an interpellation to the parliament, while the Trading Jam foundation prepared a notification to the prosecutor's office. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice also became interested in My Big Coin Pay Inc. company, whose founders allegedly also scammed money from naive investors. Tags dascoin FuturoCoin cryptocurrencies onecoin pyramid
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