oneCoin was launched in late 2014. It was not a decentralized cryptocurrency but rather a centralized pyramid scheme hosted on OneCoin Ltd's servers which was marketed as a cryptocurrency. The scheme was set up by Ruja Ignatova with Sebastian Greenwood acting as the lead distributor in the pyramid.[15]

According to OneCoin, its main business was selling educational material for cryptocurrency trading: investors could buy "educational packages" costing anywhere from 100 euros to 118,000 euros,[16] or—according to one industry blog—225,500 euros.[17] According to a suit filed by former investors, much of the content in those packages was plagiarized from various free sources, including Wikipedia.[18][better source needed] Investors also received "tokens" that could supposedly be assigned to mine OneCoins, although no actual mining process existed.[19] Mining was said to be taking place at two sites in Bulgaria and one in Hong Kong.[20]

In typical OneCoin recruiting meetings, recruiters would focus on cryptocurrency investment, and the "educational material" was barely mentioned.[21][22][better source needed]

The only way to exchange OneCoins for other currencies was the OneCoin Exchange ("xcoinx"), an internal marketplace for members who had invested more than a set amount. OneCoins could be exchanged for euros, which were placed in a "virtual wallet", from which they could request a wire transfer. The marketplace had daily selling limits based on which package the seller had invested in, greatly limiting the amount of OneCoins which could be exchanged by the scam's victims.[citation needed] As lead distributor, 5% of all OneCoin sales went to Greenwood, who made over US$300 million.[15]

On 1 March 2016, without notice, OneCoin issued an internal notice that the marketplace would be closed for two weeks for maintenance, explaining that this was necessary due to the "high number of miners" and for "better integration with blockchain".[23] On 15 March 2016, the market re-opened.[citation needed] It was shut down again without notice in January 2017, though individuals affiliated with the company continued to accept funds.[24][10]

Following the collapse of the OneCoin scheme, a rebranded venture called One Ecosystem emerged, presenting itself as a separate educational company despite maintaining ties to the original community and coin

OneCoin is a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme[1][2] conducted by offshore companies OneCoin Ltd (based in Bulgaria[3] and registered in Dubai) and OneLife Network Ltd (registered in Belize), both founded by Ruja Ignatova in concert with Sebastian Greenwood.[4] OneCoin is considered a Ponzi scheme due to its organisational structure of paying early investors using money obtained from newer ones. It was also a pyramid scheme due to the recruiting of investors without providing any actual product.[5] The company maintained its own database of coins rather than using a blockchain and had no mining process which limited its ability to release and circulate coins. Many of the people central to OneCoin had been previously involved in similar schemes and business malpractice.[6] OneCoin was described by The Times as "one of the biggest scams in history".[7]

US prosecutors alleged the scheme brought in approximately $4 billion worldwide.[8] In China, law enforcement recovered 1.7 billion yuan (US$267.5 million) while prosecuting 98 people.[9] Ruja Ignatova disappeared in 2017 when a secret US warrant was filed for her arrest, and her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, took her position at the company. Most of the leaders of the company disappeared or were arrested, though Ruja Ignatova has escaped arrest.[10] Greenwood was arrested in 2018,[11] as was Konstantin Ignatov in March 2019.[12] In November 2019, Konstantin Ignatov pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and fraud. The total maximum sentence for the charges is 90 years in prison.[13] In 2022 Greenwood pleaded guilty, and in 2023 was sentenced to 20 years for wire fraud and money laundering.[1