Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Squid Game Coin & Other Crypto Scams That Left Millions of Investors Stone Broke

Squid Game Coin & Other Crypto Scams That Left Millions of Investors Stone Broke

Cryptocurrency is usually a volatile investment environment with no guarantees but the promise of impressive returns has seen scores of people trusting flimsy schemes that can disappear in the blink of an eye.

Crypto experts tend to warn the newbies in the game against trusting anyone on social media positioning themselves as a crypto trader. Anyone who asks for payment in cryptocurrency online or via ATM is also a red flag.

Investors are encouraged to be aware of anyone trying to pressure them to invest immediately on the website of the product or app to double their money in a matter of days or weeks.

The cryptomarket follows the newest global developments and trends, with a prime example being the creation of the Squid Game crypto token, launched after the success of the Korean TV series, Squid Game.


Those behind complex and convoluted Ponzi schemes can be persuasive, making investors part with thousands of dollars in no time.

The Squid Game coin turned out to be a scam, collapsing shortly after its launch and leaving many out of pocket.

Some of the loudest scam cases have robbed investors all over the world of millions.

Bitconnect


One of the biggest scams to date has been the open-source cryptocurrency BitConnect, launched in February 2016 by Satish Kumbhani. BitConnect presented itself as a cryptocurrency lending platform, where Bitcoin could be exchanged for the BitConnect coin. What was initially positioned as an open-source cryptocurrency with a guaranty of 40 percent return for investors, turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

BitConnect cost its investors around $3.45 billion after it shut down in 2017, following warnings and cease and desist orders by UK and US regulators.

OneCoin


Another Ponzi scheme – whose founders and leadership are now serving or facing a total maximum sentence of 90 years in prison – is OneCoin. The scheme, which has been reported to rob investors all over the world of £4 billion ($4.9 billion), was founded by a Bulgarian businesswoman Ruja Ignatova, who disappeared in 2017 and hasn’t been seen since. OneCoin was actually not a decentralised cryptocurrency but rather a centralised currency hosted on OneCoin Ltd's servers.

Owners of OneCoin could exchange it for any other currency at OneCoin Exchange, xcoinx, an internal marketplace for members who had invested more than just a starter package.

Ignatova’s brother, Konstantin, was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in March 2019. One of OneCoin co-founders, Sebastian Greenwood, was extradited to the US in November 2018.

Despite the shutdown and the charges against its founders, the Bulgarian-based organisation behind OneCoin Ltd continues to operate and denies all wrongdoing.

Pincoin


An ICO launched by a Vietnamese cryptocurrency company Modern Tech, Pincoin has raised more than $600 million from approximately 32,000 people.

Investors in Pincoin were promised constant returns and rather than being paid back in cash, they would receive a new token called iFan.

The Pincoin team were paying out rewards to investors in iFan tokens, until they disappeared in April 2018. The same year, Vietnamese authorities asked local ministries and the police to investigate Pincoin.

ACChain


In 2018, another company raised millions of dollars through its investors' three ventures, which were never realised. Investors of the Chinese company Shenzhen Puyin Blockchain lost $60 million as the company’s ICO’s – ACChain, Puyin, and BioLifeChain – failed to materialise.

Shenzhen authorities have since arrested six suspects involved in the fraud.

Bitclub Network

Good salesmanship and marketing won another Ponzi scheme – BitClub Network – more than $700 million.

The US Department of Justice has filed a case against people behind the “fraudulent scheme that solicited money from investors in exchange for shares of purported cryptocurrency mining pools and rewarded investors for recruiting new investors into the scheme.”

Matthew Brent Goettsche, Jobadiah Sinclair Weeks, and Silviu Catalin Balaci were conspiring, according to the US government, to solicit investment in BitClub Network through fraudulent means, including by providing false and misleading figures that BitClub investors were told were “bitcoin mining earnings” purportedly generated by BitClub Network’s bitcoin mining pool.

Monday saw the worth of the world cryptocurrency market reach more than $3 trillion for the first time, with Bitcoin hitting above $66,000 and Ethereum – $4,768.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
×