Let’s hearken to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast collectively from the very starting, as the brand new episodes arrive. This second one presents new aspects of Dr. Ruja’s story and amplifies the scope of the podcast. Good information, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” is perhaps much more attention-grabbing than we beforehand believed. As BBC presenter Jamie Bartlett places it, “we thought we were looking for a missing billionaire, but now we seem to be entering a world that’s far murkier than we thought.”
NewsBTC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” listening group is now in session. In the primary jiffy of this episode, Dr. Ruja Ignatova says: “In two years, nobody will talk about bitcoin anymore.” A line out of the e book of each crypto scammer on the market.
Remember, you may obtain episodes directly from the BBC, or hearken to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” by means of Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.
About “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Two, “The Bitcoin Killer”
This podcast strikes quick. It’s solely “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” second episode and the entire OneCoin fiasco is already breaking up. The producer and the presenter transfer between telling the story of what occurred and the precise seek for Dr. Ruja. The workforce went to Bulgaria and requested round in regards to the controversial character. Every time they talked about her, Bulgarians began to talk loudly amongst themselves.
They are going to locations that she frequented, certain, however everybody appears to find out about Ruja Ignatova.
In any case, “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” viewers isn’t precisely a cryptocurrency-savvy one. The episode begins with a horrible definition of what cash is, and a shaky clarification of how blockchain know-how works. It’s needed, as a result of we are going to quickly discover out that OneCoin didn’t even run on a blockchain. This was a rip-off by means of and thru from the very starting.
The podcast/ radio documentary additionally serves as a residing and respiration clarification of how a Ponzi scheme works. And the story’s protagonists inform you precisely what occurred in their very own phrases. One of the victims, Jane; a developer turned OneCoin whistleblower; and OneCoin denouncer Timothy Curry are the friends in “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” second episode.
In the episode’s fourth quarter, the workforce goes to the marina the place the boat Dr. Ruja’s disappeared from was situated. The Bulgarians there point out the mafia. And the developer turned whistleblower additionally alludes to it.
BTC value chart for 10/06/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
An Almost-Always-Present Characteristic Of A Scam Or Ponzi
Besides the shortage of a blockchain, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” factors out an virtually-all the time-current attribute of a rip-off or Ponzi:
- People couldn’t withdraw or spend the tokens they purchased.
In this case, OneCoin solely lived in a SQL Database in Bulgaria. The naive traders noticed the worth pumping and believed they have been making a killing, however their tokens have been simply numbers on a display screen. They couldn’t change them for different cryptocurrencies as a result of OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency. It didn’t run on a blockchain.
At the time, the workforce reached out to OneCoin with these allegations they usually denied every part and blamed the authorities and laws for his or her token’s lack of usability. Classic scammers.
Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Two – “The Bitcoin Killer”
- “The €10,000 that Jen invested which she thought was now worth over €100,000 in one coin was just a number that someone in an office in Bulgaria had made up and could delete just as easily. OneCoin is not a real cryptocurrency, it’s just pretending to be one. It’s fake, it’s a scam, and it could be the scam of the century.”
- “OneCoin was only possible because of Dr. Ruja. Whenever we see complicated technology that we don’t understand, we make a judgment about it based on things we do understand. Like the fact that the boss was an inspirational, successful businesswoman. Dr. Ruja’s magic trick was to use the hype and terminology of legitimate cryptocurrencies. So ordinary people like Jen couldn’t tell the difference between the real and the fake.”
Extra Material And Episode Credits
This week’s additional materials comes courtesy of Investopedia, which summarizes “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” plot as:
“OneCoin was a cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme. The companies behind the scheme were OneCoin Ltd. and OneLife Network Ltd., founded by Bulgarian national Ruja Ignatova, who disappeared in 2017. However, not before the scheme raised $4 billion.”
And lastly, the episode’s credit:
Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story advisor: Chris Berube
Editor: Philip Sellars
Original music and sound design: Phil Channell
Original music and vocals: Dessislava Stefanova and the London Bulgarian Choir
Previous Companion Guides For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast:
Featured Image: The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast brand from the BBC | Charts by TradingView
