OneCoin

OneCoin is the name of a private cryptocurrency and investment project that, according to international law enforcement authorities, operated as an organised fraud scheme of global reach — not as a legitimate financial institution or a regulated organisation under international law. The project was launched in 2014 with its base in Sofia, Bulgaria, and marketed itself as a competitive alternative to Bitcoin. Ruja Ignatova and her co-founders sold OneCoin packages to investors worldwide with promises of large returns. According to US authorities, however, there was never any genuine blockchain-based cryptocurrency with a verifiable market value.

The FBI and the US Department of Justice describe the project as a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme in which victims allegedly suffered losses exceeding 4 billion US dollars. The case has led to coordinated international investigations, indictments and prosecutions across national borders. In the United States, prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Ignatova and other central figures with, among other things, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Ignatova's co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment in the United States after pleading guilty.

Ruja Ignatova herself disappeared in 2017 and has remained a fugitive since. She is listed on the FBI's list of most wanted persons and also appears on Europol's list of Europe's most wanted in connection with fraud against the financial interests of the EU. An international arrest warrant has been issued against her. The US Department of Justice has further established a compensation process for the victims of the OneCoin fraud, and assets linked to the project have been seized internationally. Because of its geographical scope, the enormous sums involved and the disappearance of the principal suspect, the case complex has attracted considerable media attention, including documentaries, books and podcasts.