You know, the story of Ruja Ignatova is one of the wildest crypto scams I’ve ever seen. The Bulgarian-German fraudster created OneCoin in 2014, presenting it as a serious competitor to Биткойну. Sounds familiar? A classic scheme, but the scale was simply enormous.

Ruja Ignatova was born in 1980 in Ruse, moved to Germany as a child, and earned a PhD in international law. On paper—an ideal candidate. She even claimed she worked at McKinsey. But then she decided to make big money.

What did she do? She attracted investors from more than 100 countries, promising astronomical profits. The key trick was that OneCoin was allegedly supported by blockchain technology. There was no blockchain. The scheme collected about $4 billion, though some experts say losses could be as high as £12.9 billion. Victims worldwide.

In 2016, Ignatova made that same provocative statement: “In two years, nobody will be talking about Bitcoin.” Confidence, I’ll tell you. But in October 2017, she simply disappeared. She flew from Sofia to Athens and vanished. Her brother later admitted to the crimes, but Ruja Ignatova herself remains wanted.

The FBI added her to its list of the 10 most wanted in 2022, with a reward of $5 million. Europol is also searching, but their reward of £4,100 looks like a joke compared to the scale of the crime. Experts suggest she may be using fake passports—possibly even having undergone plastic surgery. There are theories that she is hiding in Russia or Greece under protection.

Most interestingly, OneCoin continues to operate in some African and Latin American countries, continuing to collect new victims. Ruja Ignatova’s story has already inspired several TV projects, including the BBC podcast “Пропавшая криптокоролева.”

This is a reminder of how dangerous unregistered financial schemes are. The cryptocurrency world is full of opportunities—but also full of predators. Be careful.