Posted on

Ep08- Uganda – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

The production team flew to Uganda for what was supposed to be “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” last episode. They wanted to show how far the OneCoin scam traveled and what it did to its victims. The results are devastating. As it happened all over the world, people in Uganda couldn’t afford to lose one dollar and ended up falling for OneCoin and losing it all. Dr. Ruja Ignatova is a legend over there. And in this episode, we also get to meet people who still believe in her and the OneCoin project. 

Anyway, let’s get into the episode titled “The Technology and the Dream.”

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” Episode Eight- “The Technology And The Dream”

In this interview-heavy episode, the production team exposes the embarrassment and shame of the victims. Their hopes, their dreams, and the denial that lead to this. The sheer volume of devastation OneCoin caused in Uganda, where people sold everything to get in on the early floors and some of them even got loans. We also learn that at the time of recording, as it happened in Bulgaria, OneCoin was still operational in Uganda. The organization was still working, people were still investing, and marketers were still recruiting.

We get to meet many characters, but the standing out one is Saturday David. He’s a multi-level marketer who made a lot of money selling OneCoin, but also bought a lot himself. When Jamie Bartlett interviews him, he has stopped selling the product but still believes in Dr. Ruja. He also thinks there’s a chance for the money he has put in to multiply as he has promised countless people. Plus, he still believes in cryptocurrencies as a concept and his objective is to build a crypto-friendly city in Uganda.

The Uganda episode was announced as the series’ last, and it ends with a brief summary of all of the participants’ lives and everything. That’s until the producers tell us that their “phone rang one more time.” An anonymous contributor called the show’s helpline and told them that they were too close to finding Dr. Ruja to quit. He confirmed that she’s in Frankfurt, looks like a German lady, and was in attendance at the Miss OneLife pageant as the production crew suspected. 

Quotes From The Uganda Episode of “The Missing Cryptoqueen”:

A promoter gives an example of what OneCoin middle-management insiders think happened to Dr. Ruja: 

“She went into a safer zone because OneCoin is bigger than what people thought. So when other people got to know that it is fighting the current way of banking. So our leader had to sacrifice herself and go to a safer zone and concentrate on bringing the vision to reality.”

Bartlett on what Dr. Ruja knew about human nature and the historical moment we’re living in: 

“Maybe above all, Dr. Ruja understood an even more difficult truth. That the difference between a straightforward scam and the complicated but legal world of finance and money isn’t as clear cut as we think. OneCoin wouldn’t be possible unless we lived at a time when people really do make millions simply by betting on cryptocurrencies, complicated derivatives, and high-frequency currency trading. OneCoin sounds plausible to so many people because it is plausible.”

Bartlett on Dr. Ruja being “the inverse Satoshi:”

“Ten years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto invented Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency. No one knows where or even who Satoshi is, but it doesn’t matter because the idea Satoshi unleashed of financial freedom through technology is bigger than one person. Dr. Ruja is the inverse Satoshi.

She stands for something too, something that’s more important than where she is. She represents the dark side of rapid technological change. Every new technology creates amazing opportunities and possibilities for people who understand it, but also the chance to exploit the people who don’t.”

BTCUSD price chart for 12/20/2022 - TradingView

Extra Material about Uganda: 

Six years ago, our sister site Bitcoinist mentioned Uganda in relation to OneCoin while denouncing the project as a scam: 

“OneCoin meanwhile continues to make alarm bells ring throughout the world. Most recently Uganda’s central bank issued a public warning on the risks of investing in it, yet drew no distinction between the scheme and bonafide cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.”

Later on, Bitcoinist pulled no punches while discussing the DealShaker marketplace:

“Recently, an online “marketplace” appeared offering products and services in exchange for OneCoins, which Bitcoinist advises readers not to use under any circumstances.

At the same time, OneCoin’s online website, which poses as an ‘exchange,’ has finally gone offline possibly suggesting that the scam is nearing its endpoint.”

Episode Credits

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 02 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep02-btc-killer-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 03 – https://www.newsbtc.com/altcoin/ep03-onecoin-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 04 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep04-onelife-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 05 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep05-mlm-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 06 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep06-dealshaker-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 07 – https://newsbtc.com/crypto/ep07-moneyland-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Posted on

Ep06- DealShaker – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

Believe it or not, the DealShaker marketplace is still working. The commerce arm of the OneCoin empire, DealShaker provided a clear and verifiable use case for OneCoin as a currency. The token was real because you could use it to buy things in a specific e-commerce store.  Oh, those were the days. The greatest thing about exploring OneCoin and Dr. Ruja’s story is that it reflects how naive the crypto world actually was just a few years ago. In many ways, it still is. 

In “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” sixth episode, we travel to the past. It’s titled “The Überflieger” referring to a “high-flying” person. That’s how teachers of the past described Dr. Ruja, who was definitely the star in all of her classes and was respected and hated for it. What else can Jamie and Georgia learn about Ruja Ignatova by tracing her steps? Let’s find out.

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” Episode Six – “The Überflieger”

Our blast from the past episode starts in 2009, five years before OneCoin and DealShaker. Bitcoin was entering the scene and so was Dr. Ruja, who bought a factory in Germany. Jamie and Georgia visit the site in 2019 and interview the survivors of that story. They tell them that Ruja Ignatova got there, impressed everybody, and made a lot of promises that she didn’t keep. After that, she disappeared, effectively rug-pulling everybody. Interesting fact, both her father and her mother worked at the factory. Which suggests Ruja Ignatova is a family woman. 

When Dr. Ruja disappeared, the factory offices were broken into and a lot of documents went missing, along with her. The factory workers that the podcast interviewed all seem to think that this was staged and that Dr. Ruja took and destroyed some important documents. “It’s exactly the same story,” one of them says comparing OneCoin and DealShaker to the factory in question. When things got tough, Ruja Ignatova sold the company and disappeared. The factory remains closed to this day.

In the next section’s second quote, you’ll sense the magnitude of that first case against Dr. Ruja. She paid the fine and kept it pushing. And, according to the factory workers, she learned that the next time she was going to have to disappear for real. 

Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” EpisodeSix – “The Überflieger”

In what appears a diary entry, we learn about the young Ruja Ignatova:

“Ruja was always friendly to everyone. She was always well behaved and cheerful, and the teachers were deeply fond of her. She doesn’t drink and she would never degrade herself to eating pizza. Her favorite classes were “p,” she was faultless, and now and then she likes “ari.” Generally, she got on very well with her colleagues. Stop. Maybe we should stick to the truth. Okay, fine. Maybe I did take pleasure in tormenting some students. I was always looking for the chance to spread new amusing stories about them.”

This quote summarizes the consequences of Ruja’s first fraud:

“This time, the law caught up with Dr. Ruja. In 2016, she was convicted in a German court for several crimes. Intentional breach of duty in the event of insolvency, fraud, withholding an embezzlement of employees’ wages, and violation of accounting duties, She received a 14-month suspended sentence and an €18,000 fine. The local newspaper reported that Ruja reappeared to attend the ruling and showed no emotion when the judgment was passed down. She quietly slipped out and returned to Bulgaria, and carried on with OneCoin as if nothing had happened.”

More About Dr. Ruja’s Past

Later in the episode, Jamie and Georgia confirm that Ruja really got a PHD. “She’s smart,” Georgia says. Then, Multi-Level Marketing makes a second appearance. We learn that in 2014, Ruja Ignatova tried to sell… wait for it… bitcoin using MLM techniques. The producers introduce Sebastian Greenwood, a Multi-Level Marketing expert that seems to have created the Dr. Ruja character with Ignatova. She had the charisma, he had the technique. They just needed a product they could control.

Last but not least, we meet Duncan. He once was an integral part of the OneLife organization and it’s the mind behind DealShaker. He says everything in there is rubbish and challenges Jamie to find five things he wants and can pay in OneCoin only. Jamie goes through DealShaker and realizes the already shady characters that sell products through the platform mostly want Euros. Is DealShaker really a OneCoin market?

At the end of the episode, a private detective that the production hired apparently found a lady that could be Ruja Ignatova in Athens. Could it be?

BTCUSD price chart for 11/03/2022 - TradingView

BTC price chart for 11/03/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

Extra Material: OneCoin Responds To The FCA

Approximately six years ago, the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom issued a warning against OneCoin. The company responded and NewsBTC reported the story:

“In the statement, OneCoin has called itself a global software and technology company with offices in Bulgaria, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates. The company has also described OneCoin has a digital currency sharing few features with existing cryptocurrencies. These similarities are confined to the maintenance of all transaction records on a database.

The digital currency company, in the last paragraph of the statement, expresses its full cooperation,

“OneCoin is committed to following good business practices and the relevant rules and regulations in the countries in which it operates. It will co-operate fully with the authorities in pursuit of this objective.”

Episode Credits

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 02 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep02-btc-killer-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 03 – https://www.newsbtc.com/altcoin/ep03-onecoin-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 04 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep04-onelife-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 05 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep05-mlm-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Featured Image: The Missing Cryptoqueen logo by BBC | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Ep05- MLM – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

It was about time that MLM made an appearance. Multi-Level Marketing explains a lot about the OneCoin story. In this ONE-HOUR episode of “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” we’ll learn about the secret ingredient that catapulted Dr. Ruja from the millions to the billions. We’ll meet interesting people and the plot will thicken. Also, the size of the OneCoin scam will increase significantly. This thing gets bigger by the episode, which is what makes the show so entertaining. What a clusterfuck this was.

It begins by answering the question posed in episode 4. Could an unrecognizable version of Dr. Ruja have been in attendance at the Miss OneLife beauty pageant? The production team shows a UK plastic surgeon pictures from the event. There was a person with OneCoin’s main directors that they suspect might’ve been Ruja Ignatova. He hesitates, but when Jamie Bartlett tells him that the person they’re looking for is a billionaire with an infinite budget, he changes his mind. “It’s possible, those things can be changed,” he says.

That being settled, let’s get into MLM.

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About MLM And “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” Episode Five – “What Dreams May Come”

This episode’s protagonist was the #1 seller of OneCoin at one point. He’s a professional multi-level marketer with an army of professional MLM salespersons at his disposal. His house is called “What Dreams May Come,” which inspired the episode’s title. This man’s tongue is the main reason this episode is one hour long. His stories are phenomenal, everyone should listen to them. Especially considering we’re going to skip them and stick to the core story.

So, network marketing, MLM, or multi-level marketing is the missing ingredient. When this man’s company started working for OneCoin, they put an army of top-level marketers to push the product. And it sold like hotcakes. “In the first year, it made more millionaires than Amway ever did in their 75 years of history,” he claims. The kicker to this part of the story is that the MLM marketer alleges that he believed Dr. Ruja and put more money into OneCoin than anyone on earth.

According to the released FBI documents we found last time, Dr. Ruja and company called this operation “The B*tch of Wall Street meets MLM.” You can’t make this stuff up. In an archival audio file, we hear her announce that OneCoin was going to inflate the supply 10X and the crowd cheered. Then, contradicting every economic law, she told them that the more OneCoin there were, the best it was for them. They Cheered. Then, by decree, she doubled the amount of OneCoin everyone had in their vaults. People lost their minds.

Besides MLM, two of the most mind-blowing revelations the episode contains are in the following quotes.

Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen,” Episode Five – “What Dreams May Come”

Tim Curry, OneCoin critic, said:

“The math of this is just completely ridiculous. Every minute 50,000 OneCoins are mined, right? Now, the value of those at today’s “price” of €29.95 would be €1.5 million a minute, is what they’re claiming right? And per hour, that’s €89.85 million. And then, per day, they’re creating €2.15 billion out of thin air, right? And so, the logic of it is just ridiculous. Now, if you follow how many coins have been mined for the first quote “Blockchain.” And then, from October 1 to present, it’s nearing about 70 billion coins. If we take 70 billion coins and multiply that by the internal price of 29.95, you’re looking at, I think it’s like $1.8 trillion or $2.1 trillion. Which is greater than all of the US dollars in circulation on earth, which is about $1.67 trillion.”

About the fact that OneCoin did have a certificate saying they were Shariah-compliant that was issued from Pakistan, Amjad Mohammed, scholar from Bradford and OneCoin critic, said:

“What Sharia compliant is supposed to mean, is that somebody has carried out thorough research, gone through all the conditions, gone through all the terms with a fine tooth comb. There was no evidence of any research whatsoever. It was just a blank certificate saying “this is okay.” Amjad issued a fatwa against this, a ruling that OneCoin was not halal. And then, “within weeks, the conditions which I had highlighted as being problematic changed. So, clearly, somebody was keeping a watching brief of what I was doing because I only picked a couple in the initial fatwa. However, OneCoin does not actually exist. So, I can easily make any form of conditions for something, when the actual thing does not exist. It’s a fraud.”

MLM And The Perfect Scam

Near the end, Jamie Bartlett reflects on the story so far:

“There’s something strangely beautiful about the OneCoin scam. It’s like the perfect scam. It combines the hype and terminology of cryptocurrencies and the hard-nosed MLM selling of people like Igor Alberts. It uses glamorous events and household brands to create the veneer of respectability and protects it with a religious-like zeal. And who could ever doubt the intentions of the trustworthy Dr. Ruja.”

The cult-like aspects of the whole ordeal are ever-present in this episode. The whistleblowers tell the producers about the death threats they get like it’s nothing. For people inside of OneCoin, they’re traitors of the highest order. For these religious zealots, Dr. Ruja is still running the whole operation from the shadows, and the people that want to silence her are just jealous “haters.” 

Before finishing, Jamie Bartlett explores the idea that, when it mixed with MLM, the OneCoin operation got too big. Maybe Dr. Ruja was scared, as she seems to show in an alleged email. Apparently, this was supposed to be a little scam, but it caught fire. And Dr. Ruja’s backers were not going to let a golden goose die.

Episode Credits

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 02 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep02-btc-killer-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 03 – https://www.newsbtc.com/altcoin/ep03-onecoin-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 04 – https://www.newsbtc.com/scams-and-fraud/ep04-onelife-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Posted on

Ep04- OneLife – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

What does a OneLife-produced event look like? Is the organization that supports the OneCoin community competent enough to produce a beauty pageant? The answer to those questions might surprise you. For this fourth episode, Jamie Bartlett and Georgia Catt go into the lion’s den. They travel to Bucharest, Romania, and witness the Miss OneLife coronation. Apparently, the event had some of “the world’s most famous brands as sponsors.” However, as it happens with everything Dr. Ruja related, things are not what they seem.

This episode’s guest star is Christi Calina, who’s a OneLife “independent marketing associate” and one of the event’s producers. Since the man’s ghosting them, Jamie and Georgia ambush him at a OneLife event in the same city. The conference “looks like the real deal, just like OneCoin,” Jamie evaluates. There, they get access to the Miss OneLife event and things take a turn for the mysterious.

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” Episode Four – “Miss OneLife”

In this episode, Jamie and Georgia go through the charges against Konstantin Ignatov, Dr. Ruja’s brother. They contain some of the FBI documents about the case and include emails between Dr. Ruja and “other top leaders” of the OneLife organization. In those, the people allegedly discuss how the scam works in detail. If those are real, there’s no doubt that OneCoin was a very deliberate scam from the very beginning. They even discuss how to fake the mining of the supposed cryptocurrency.

In those emails, Dr. Ruja discusses a possible exit strategy and proposes they could “take the money and run and blame someone else for this.”

Later on, the FBI claims Dr. Ruja is “directly associated with significant players in the Easter European organized crime.”

It’s important to know that OneCoin disputes all of these allegations. We included part of their denial in the quotes section. We also included concrete information about Dr. Ruja’s disappearance and a new factor that might explain why she fled at the time she did. 

BTCUSD price chart for 10/25/2022 - TradingView

BTC price chart for 10/25/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

The Miss OneLife Beauty Pageant

Our heroes go into the eye of the storm. They can barely enter the premises because everyone in the OneLife organization knows exactly who they are. They don’t blend in. Everyone is “smartly dressed.” Bottles of Moet and cigars abound. The production is slick. A stage comes down from the ceiling and Jamie loses his mind. In the end, they both admit that the OneLife organization can throw a hell of an event. It was boring, though. And it doesn’t look like any cryptocurrency-related function that the podcast host has ever attended. 

“OneCoin is still going and there’s a lot of money here,” Jamie says before fleeing the event. 

Back in London, the producers fact-check everything that happened. The famous brands that were supposedly attached to the Miss OneLife pageant deny sponsorship. They’ve never heard of the event. Then, they contact Forbes and the magazine denies that Dr. Ruja was ever on the cover like the organization made seem in their promotional material. Then, they check on her education claims. As it turns out, Dr. Ruja did go to Oxford and got the degree she claims to have.

To finish the episode off, Jamie interviews Miss OneLife UK. She gives them peripheral information, like the event’s ticketing wasn’t open to the public and one of the prizes was a gift card for cosmetic surgery. Then, Jamie mentions Dr. Ruja. She says that she heard someone important was at the event, but couldn’t remember if it was her.

Is it possible that Dr. Ruja was in attendance at the Miss OneLife event? Apparently, “she’s unrecognizable now.”

This story gets more fascinating by the minute.

Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” Episode Four – “Miss OneLife”

OneCoin’s statement:

“OneCoin disputes all allegations. To our claim that OneCoin is not a cryptocurrency and that its nominal price is not determined by demand and supply, but is manipulated and set internally, they said: “OneCoin verifiably fulfills all criteria of the definition of cryptocurrency, and also those of a transparent pricing that is in line with the common market”. The BBC podcast series, they say, “is based on testimonials of haters, former employees who were either fired or disgracefully dismissed for internal company violations, intellectual property theft, and other violations. Thus, the series will not present any truthful information and cannot be considered objective, nor unbiased.” 

Concrete information about Dr. Ruja’s disappearance, and a new factor that might explain why she fled:

“The FBI files also contained valuable new information about Dr. Ruja’s disappearance. “Bulgarian travel records show that on or about October 25th, 2017, Ruja flew on Ryanair from Sofia, Bulgaria to Athens, Greece.” Dr. Ruja was last seen in Sozopol, in around July 2017. That was on her private yacht, the Davina, the one we saw. On October 7th, she then failed to turn up at a OneCoin event in Lisbon. But now we know that her last known whereabouts was in fact Athens on 25th October 2017. And there’s some more clues here. 

Last week, I said that the US authorities charged Dr. Ruja in absentia in March 2019. That’s not the whole story. We’ve learned that Dr. Ruja was actually indicted on 12th October 2017, but this indictment was sealed until March 2019. It was just two weeks after that first indictment that Dr. Ruja vanished. Is it possible she could have been tipped off?”

Extra Material And Episode Credits

As you probably know if you’ve gotten this far in the series, Dr. Ruja is on the FBI’s most-wanted list. The text under her name says:

“Ruja Ignatova is wanted for her alleged participation in a large-scale fraud scheme. Beginning in approximately 2014, Ignatova and others are alleged to have defrauded billions of dollars from investors all over the world.  Ignatova was the founder of OneCoin Ltd., a Bulgaria-based company that marketed a purported cryptocurrency.  In order to execute the scheme, Ignatova allegedly made false statements and representations to individuals in order to solicit investments in OneCoin.  She allegedly instructed victims to transmit investment funds to OneCoin accounts in order to purchase OneCoin packages, causing victims to send wire transfers representing these investments.  Throughout the scheme, OneCoin is believed to have defrauded victims out of more than $4 billion.”

And finally, the episode’s credits:

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 02 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep02-btc-killer-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 03 – https://www.newsbtc.com/altcoin/ep03-onecoin-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Featured Image: The Missing Cryptoqueen’s logo from the BBC | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Ep03- OneCoin – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

Good news! Since OneCoin is back on the news and “The Missing Cryptoqueen” already released an 11th episode, proving that they’re back for real, we’re going to double down on our efforts. Starting today, we’ll summarize two episodes a week to catch up with the new developments in Dr. Ruja’s case. We hit the nail on the head on this one, and there’s nothing left to do but let the roulette roll and see where the OneCoin story takes us.

In this episode, we learn that OneCoin’s internal slogan was “the greatest company ever” and Jamie Bartlett travels to Sofia, Bulgaria, to look at Dr. Ruja’s properties. This episode is free of mafia insinuations, it deals with the cultic aspects of OneCoin’s entrepreneurial culture instead. We’re also able to put a number on how big of a scam OneCoin really was. SPOILER ALERT: It was at least €4B big.

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About OneCoin And “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” Episode Three

The most exciting thing about “The Missing Cryptoqueen” is the sense of immediacy it conveys. It’s a living and breathing podcast. The story was happening all around Jamie Bartlett and the team. The OneCoin people react to “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” creation and, through social media, attack the creators with everything they have. And the whole scene is part of the podcast. And this is just episode three. In the end, they even ask for the audience to call and tip them about Dr. Ruja’s whereabouts.

This episode starts with Konstantin Ignatov, Dr. Ruja’s younger brother, personal assistant, and heir to the OneCoin crown. He was arrested by the FBI and charged with money laundering and fraud. The authorities had already declared OneCoin a fraud, even. Surprisingly, when Bartlett and the team visit the OneCoin headquarters, they realize that the company is still “open for business.” People are still buying OneCoin despite the fact that one of their leaders is on the run and the other was arrested.

That leads us to the cult-like aspects of the operation. A faith-like belief justifies the disappearance of the leaders as a conspiracy to stop OneCoin. In the quote below, you will feel the silence while reading the description of the organization’s offices. You’ll feel the Dr. Ruja worship. It’s just one step away from religion and very near a cult.  Jamie Bartlett describes OneCoin as “less a cryptocurrency and more like a belief system.” An expert in that field corroborates the hypothesis.

BTC price chart for 10/20/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
The Devastation That They Caused

At one point we, once again, listen to Dr. Ruja’s own voice saying the crypto scammers’ slogan. “In two years, no one will talk about bitcoin.” If you ever hear that, run. In the second episode, we figured out that OneCoin called the critics “haters.” In this one, we learn that the investors and employees are instructed to keep away from them Scientology-style. Another surprising fact is that the second term OneCoin uses the most to describe its critics is “bitcoiner.” Those pesky bitcoiners, always causing trouble.

We learn about the scale of the devastation that Dr. Ruja caused by hearing about the OneCoin Victims Support Group. The victims are broken, they’ve lost everything and then some. We also learn about the scale of the scam by way of a report/ database that producer Georgia Catt got her hands on. From all over the world, the organization was getting €60M a week. From August 2014 to March 2017, OneCoin’s revenue was over €4B. Over €100M were from the UK alone. And that’s where the report stops, the organization was still making money left and right.

Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Three – “More Than Just A Coin”

An anonymous witness describing the OneCoin offices: 

“At its peak, it was about 50 people working in the Sofia office. Ruja’s office is on the 4th floor. You never saw her without the gypsy earrings, the gowns, the jewelry, everything. Even when she’s just working in the office. Inside the Sofia office, the crypto center is where members of the OneLife network are allowed to meet members of the Sofia staff who are important. If you are out of favor, they won’t let you in, or they’ll keep you sitting there the whole day, waiting. 

It’s set up almost like a cathedral. You don’t speak out loud, you whisper to each other. It’s all set in dark tones, everything is gilded. There was a big cardboard cutout of Ruja. You see people touching it and doing that stupid OneCoin sign like it’s an icon. It’s gone now because it eventually fell apart because too many people were touching it. Dr. Ruja! Dr. Ruja! The biggest insult that you can give OneLife is to say: “that’s not Dr. Ruja’s vision.”

Bitcoin-enthusiast Timothy Curry, describing the cult of personality behind Dr. Ruja:

“There were many cultish things that the company did. The repetitive indoctrination. If you look at the top leaders, the way they dress, the way that they showed things off. Ceremonial things, almost like, especially on stage. Everything, from the musical introductions to Ruja, to the theatrics, they really did create a worship behind her.”

OneCoin Material And Episode Credits

Six years ago, while OneCoin conquered the world, NewsBTC quoted the infamous Roger Ver speaking on the case. Then known as a “bitcoin evangelist,” the controversial figure denounced OneCoin for what it is: 

“In a recent interview, the owner of Bitcoin.com says he believes OneCoin is a fraud, and that investors should always be wary of new coins and read up before they put their money in things they don’t understand:

“There is never a cryptocurrency without a wallet. This sounds like more evidence of its fraudulent nature. OneCoin isn’t traded on a single exchange anywhere in the world as far as I know.”

OneCoin has been around for over two years, but questions surrounding its authenticity continue to plague the Internet.”

Say what you will about Roger Ver, but the man was right on the money on this one.

And finally, the episode’s credits:

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Ep. 02 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep02-btc-killer-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Featured Image: The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast logo from the BBC | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Ep02- BTC Killer – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

Let’s listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast together from the very beginning, as the new episodes arrive. This second one presents new facets of Dr. Ruja’s story and amplifies the scope of the podcast. Good news, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” might be even more interesting than we previously believed. As BBC presenter Jamie Bartlett puts 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 first few minutes of this episode, Dr. Ruja Ignatova says: “In two years, nobody will talk about bitcoin anymore.” A line out of the book of every crypto scammer out there.

Remember, you can download episodes directly from the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Two, “The Bitcoin Killer”

This podcast moves fast. It’s only “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” second episode and the whole OneCoin fiasco is already breaking apart. The producer and the presenter move between telling the story of what happened and the actual search for Dr. Ruja. The team went to Bulgaria and asked around about the controversial character. Every time they mentioned her, Bulgarians started to speak loudly among themselves. 

They are going to places that she frequented, sure, but everyone seems to know about Ruja Ignatova.

In any case, “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” audience is not exactly a cryptocurrency-savvy one. The episode starts with a terrible definition of what money is, and a shaky explanation of how blockchain technology works. It’s necessary, because we will soon find out that OneCoin didn’t even run on a blockchain. This was a scam through and through from the very beginning. 

The podcast/ radio documentary also serves as a living and breathing explanation of how a Ponzi scheme works. And the story’s protagonists tell you exactly what happened in their own words. One of the victims, Jane; a developer turned OneCoin whistleblower; and OneCoin denouncer Timothy Curry are the guests in “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” second episode.

In the episode’s fourth quarter, the team goes to the marina where the boat Dr. Ruja’s disappeared from was located. The Bulgarians there mention the mafia. And the developer turned whistleblower also alludes to it.

BTC price 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 lack of a blockchain, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” points out an almost-always-present characteristic of a scam or Ponzi: 

  • People couldn’t withdraw or spend the tokens they bought.

In this case, OneCoin only lived in a SQL Database in Bulgaria. The naive investors saw the price pumping and believed they were making a killing, but their tokens were just numbers on a screen. They couldn’t exchange them for other cryptocurrencies because OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency. It didn’t run on a blockchain.

At the time, the team reached out to OneCoin with these allegations and they denied everything and blamed the authorities and regulations for their 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 extra material 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 finally, the episode’s credits:

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: 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:

  1. Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/

Featured Image: The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast logo from the BBC | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Ep01- Dr. Ruja – Companion Guide For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast

Is Dr. Ruja Ignatova the cryptocurrency world’s biggest scammer? The competition is fierce, there are so many faces and stories fighting for that spot, but none of them is on the FBI Most Wanted List. Dr. Ruja is. Great, but, why is NewsBTC revisiting the 2019 true crime podcast “The Missing Cryptoqueen”? Because Jamie Bartlett, the journalist behind the project, just released a new episode. 

Is there new information? Did they FIND Dr. Ruja Ignatova? The only thing we know for sure is that there’ll be a few new episodes, and that’s all we needed to hear. A BBC production, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” features various music and sound design, witness testimonies, interviews, and sound bites. There’s even original music in this podcasting extravaganza. 

NewsBTC will produce companion pieces for each of “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” episodes. With summaries, quotes from the episode, and extra material from all over the web, this is the feature you people didn’t know you needed. Have this window open as you listen to each episode, it’ll enhance the already phenomenal experience.

You can download episodes directly at the BBC, or listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.

About Episode One – Dr. Ruja

This is the introductory episode, it presents Dr. Ruja Ignatova and the OneCoin world. We feel the size of the scam, we hear from the people that fell for it and the voices of the true believers. It begins with Bitcoin and Satoshi Nakamoto’s story, goes to a OneCoin seminar in Mbarara, a town in Western Uganda, and ends with Dr. Ruja’s disappearance in October 2017.

In “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” first episode we can also see what a charismatic leader could do with bitcoin’s story and narrative. If Dr. Ruja Ignatova didn’t plagiarize it, she at least was heavily inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto’s mystique and discourse. Using quotes from her speeches, we hear Dr. Ruja speaking about a rotten financial system and corrupt banking institutions. About the possibility of banking the unbanked and what that would do for the world. About bitcoin’s pizza day story and how that could happen to OneCoin holders.

However, Dr. Ruja’s OneCoin was better than bitcoin. It was here to replace it, in fact.

Whenever you hear that, run. That should’ve been the witnesses’ first warning. In episode one, we hear about the OneLife network. The social part of the scam. We hear from a UK victim who assisted to the webinars, from a OneLife employee and insider, and we listen to an African song about OneCoin. There’s emotion in all of their voices. And an open wound.

Near the end, we hear about 2017 and Dr. Ruja’s disappearance from people that were there at the scene. What happened? So far, there are nine more episodes of BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen.” Let’s hope we get an answer to that question.

BTC price chart for 09/28/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Quotes From Ep. 01 – “Dr. Ruja”

  • “Then, in late 2017, Dr. Ruja disappeared. One of Europe’s richest women, a woman who seemed destined to change the world had vanished.”
  • “It was impossible not to be impressed by Dr. Ruja. She appeared on the front cover of prestigious business magazines, she has degrees from Oxford and Konstanz University and is fluent in several languages.”
  • “Thousands of people were filling stadiums to hear Dr. Ruja talk, to buy OneCoin and join this financial revolution.”
  • “But in October 2017, there was a big OneCoin event in Lisbon, Portugal and Dr. Ruja was scheduled to speak.”

Extra Material And Episode Credits

This guide’s extra material comes courtesy of the podcast series’s IMDB page. In the description, IMDB gives us a good overview of what to expect from “The Missing Cryptoqueen.”

“Dr Ruja Ignatova called herself the Cryptoqueen. She told people she had invented a cryptocurrency to rival Bitcoin, and persuaded millions to join her financial revolution, investing billions. Then she disappeared. Why? Jamie Bartlett spent months investigating how she did it for the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast, and trying to figure out where she’s hiding.”

This 2019 clip with producer Georgia Catt also qualifies as a trailer for what’s to come:

And finally, the episode’s credits:

Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Producer: Georgia Catt
Story consultant: Chris Berube
Editor: Philip Sellars
Original music and sound design: Phil Channell
Original music and vocals: Dessislava Stefanova and the London Bulgarian Choir

You’re part of NewsBTC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” listening group by just reading these guides. Let’s explore Dr. Ruja Ignatova’s world together.

Featured Image: “The Missing Cryptoqueen” logo from the BBC’s site | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Floki Inu To Feature Its Logo On S.S.C. Napoli’s Match Stadium And Jersey

The popularity and influence of digital assets keep surging as different sectors keep sticking to them. Among other mainstreams involved in cryptocurrency, the sporting portals and industry as a whole are not left out.

Recently, S.S.C. Napoli, an Italian football giant, signed a Floki Inu (FLOKI) token sponsorship deal. This deal will enable the cryptocurrency to feature its logo on both the team’s jersey and stadium.

Founded in 1926, S.S.C. Napoli is among the prominent and leading Italian professional teams. In 1987, Diego Maradona, the legendary football icon, led the team to its first victory in Serie A title. Presently, the group maintains the first position in the 2021-2022 league session.

The route of Floki Inu in football partnership with clubs has a similar trend as that of FTX, a top crypto exchange. The latter made numerous partnership involvements with sporting clubs this year.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Firm Argo Blockchain To Raise $57.5M Via Senior Notes Offering

Through this recent sponsorship deal, Floki Inu just included Napoli to its football clubs’ list. The Cadiz in Spanish La Liga and the Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League are other clubs on the list.

Also, earlier in the month, Floki Inu completed an endorsement deal with Tyson Fury, a boxing star. The terms included a promo to feature the two-time world heavyweight champion in Floki’s upcoming NFT play-to-earn game, Valhalla.

FLOKI trading in the green | Source: FLOKIUSDT on TradingVieew.com

An announcement from the football team on Tuesday disclosed the featuring of the Floki Inu logo at the back of the team’s jerseys. Also, some LED signs within Napoli’s home stadium will display the logo, serving as a reminder of the ongoing league session. The logo will comprise a Shiba Inu dog that wears a Viking helmet.

One of Napoli’s supporters, Jay Cassano, expressed his excitement about the sponsorship and the club’s involvement with cryptocurrency. He mentioned that such partnerships create the right pathway for increased mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. He recalled the recent interest from some crypto firms on sports teams.

 Floki Inu Sponsorship Terms Still Unknown

There’s still no disclosure of Napoli specifying if the sponsorship is a multi-year deal. Also, the amount that Floki Inu invested in the deal is still unknown.

However, the marketing department of Floki Inu acknowledges in the announcement the company’s move as part of the project’s goal. This was to push the cryptocurrency as the global most used and known digital asset.

Since last September, the Floki team has maintained a high marketing push for the project’s promotions. The team has about $1.5 million in allocations for its campaigns on adverts.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining In The U.S.: 4 States Attract The Most Miners

One of its key target locations is London, as it features its branding through several transportation services within the city. However, the advertising move created controversies by attracting the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the country’s advertising regulatory agent.

BBC’s Friday report revealed that ASA had commenced a review of Floki’s ads. This will help the watchdog to ascertain if the firm broke any advertising rules. On its part, the Floki Inu team insists that its ads had legal clearance with disclaimers.

Featured Image GameRevolution

Posted on

Apparently, Our Theory About The Fake Banksy NFT Was Incorrect. Here’s New Info

A couple of weeks ago, a hacker with a heart of gold sold a fake Banksy NFT for 100 ETH and then gave the money back. They advertised the auction through Banksy’s official site. If the NFT was fake, someone hacked that site. Which seemed unlikely. Also, there is the issue of the alias that the scammed NFT collector uses. Pranksy, a play on words referencing the elusive graffiti artist Banksy mixed with the word “prank.” Which is what this whole situation was, a prank. 

Too many coincidences. Suspicious, we posed our theory:

“Was Pranksy targeted by Banksy and his team? If Banksy wanted to create worldwide headlines and comment on the NFT boom at the same time, a notorious art collector was the missing ingredient. Pransky’s prominence in the NFT community mixed with his name makes him an ideal target.”

It seemed to fit, but the case of the fake Banksy NFT never ceases to amaze. 

Security Experts Warned Banksy About His Website’s Vulnerability

Luckily for us, the BBC is on the case. They interviewed Sam Curry, “a professional ethical hacker from the US and founder of security consultancy Palisade.” There seem to be too many “ethical hackers” in this story, but ok… Curry told them:

“I was in a security forum and multiple people were posting links to the site. I’d clicked one and immediately saw it was vulnerable, so I reached out to Banksy’s team via email as I wasn’t sure if anyone else had.

“They didn’t respond over email, so I tried a few other ways to contact them including their Instagram, but never received a response.”

These things happen. How many emails does Banksy’s team get? Did it pass their spam folder? Can we be sure they read it on time? The suspicious thing, though, is Mr. Curry’s description of the site’s vulnerability. It:

 “allowed you to create arbitrary files on the website” and post your own pages and content.

So, the flaw permitted the hackers to do exactly what they needed to do to advertise the fake Banksy NFT auction and not much more, huh? Interesting.

ETH price chart on FTX | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Banksy Isn’t Responsible For The Fake Banksy NFT, Experts Say

Neither the artist’s official website nor the Pest Control website even acknowledge the fake Banksy NFT. Something doesn’t feel right here. The BBC felt our uneasiness and tried to put our concerns to rest. They consulted two Banksy experts and they both thought that the shoe didn’t fit. According to them, the elusive graffiti artist is not the mastermind behind the whole event. This is not a “Banksy stunt.” Professor Paul Gough, “principal and vice-chancellor of Arts University Bournemouth,” goes first:

“I don’t see it as a Banksy prank. The timing for me doesn’t work right, the context doesn’t feel appropriate. He’s just done his ‘Spraycation’ stunt where he bombed 10 sites in East Anglia, and put out a video on social media about it.

“That is a pretty major stunt and takes a lot of organising by a very professional crew, so I just don’t think the timings right here so soon after that.”

Here’s the Spraycation video, dated August 13th, 2021:

It does seem like a “major stunt.” Does that mean that the fake Banksy NFT operation is out of the question? Or did Banksy went to work immediately after finishing his spraycation? Did the elusive graffiti artist strike again in the digital realm?

Second at bat is John Brandler, a Banksy collector, who provides another reason why the situation is not an original Banksy:

 “Banksy’s stunts are not malicious and they don’t hurt people.”

Good point, but let’s be honest, the incident didn’t really hurt Pranksy. The NFT collector got his ETH back,  was the subject of worldwide headlines, and still got to keep the fake Banksy NFT. It may be worth something, someday. 

Or is this the last we’re going to hear about the fake Banksy NFT?

Featured Image: Screenshot of the fake Banksy NFT | Charts by TradingView

Posted on

Everything We Know About The Fake Banksy NFT That Sold For 100 ETH

Everything about the fake Banksy NFT story fits together like puzzle pieces. And it’s mysterious. And no one gets hurt. A feel-good story with a twist, if you will. First of all, the person who bought the fake Banksy NFT is known as Pranksy. That’s right, Pranksy. What are the odds? And it just gets weirder from there.

Related Reading | David Marcus Of Facebook Indicates Plans To Support NFTs

You see, Pranksy is a notorious NFT collector. Twitter gave him a blue checkmark. His prominence in the NFT community is what elevates this story. Was this person targeted? Pranksy bought the piece “Great Redistribution of the Climate Change Disaster” knowing full well that there was risk involved. Even though Banksy’s official site hosted a page linking to the auction.

Let’s quote Gizmondo with the 411:

“The forged piece of digital art popped up on Banksy’s official site on Tuesday morning under the now-deleted URL “banksy.co.uk/nft.html.” The only thing on the page was a JPEG of what was presumably Banksy’s take on the $1 billion dollar CryptoPunk hype train, featuring the artist’s usual kind of social commentary, this time about the awful carbon footprint that NFT artwork leaves behind.”

To be fair, Banksy’s “usual kind of social commentary” is usually much more poignant than what this piece offers. The fake Banksy NFT, “Great Redistribution of the Climate Change Disaster,” is basically a CryptoPunks rip-off barking at the wrong cause. The NFT collector knew something felt off from the very beginning; “Is this… real?” was Pranksy’s first reaction.

Is this… real? https://t.co/jzxlAYs99T#Banksy #NFT on @opensea commentating on potential climate damage of PoW blockchains? pic.twitter.com/GG8FkGr2k7

— Pranksy 📦 (@pranksy) August 31, 2021

Who’s Behind The Sale Of The Fake Banksy NFT?

In the opensea NFT marketplace, the page that hosted the auction was under the name “gaakman.” The Art Newspaper offers information about the possible pseudonym.

“Suggestions that gaakmann could be Banksy because the artist used the pseudonym “Bryan S. Gaakman” when he entered a work into the RA summer exhibition in 2018 seemed far-fetched.”

Since that’s a known Banksy pseudonym and the link came from the official site, Pranksy proceeded. The NFT collector bid 100 ETH, orders of magnitude more than the highest bid at the time. The offer was immediately accepted. That’s when Pranksy knew something was wrong. “The link was removed from his website so it could have been a very elaborate hoax, my guess is that is what it will be, only time will tell!”

So my bid of 100 ETH was accepted for the potential #Banksy first #NFT on @opensea.

The link was removed from his website so it could have been a very elaborate hoax, my guess is that is what it will be, only time will tell!https://t.co/EEmElqIvBZ pic.twitter.com/Pbs5zrht05

— Pranksy 📦 (@pranksy) August 31, 2021

Then, someone at the BBC contacted Pranksy and informed him that the fake Banksy NFT was indeed fake. “Hopefully I can get in touch with the team who represents him, if not it was fun entertainment for us all today,” Pranksy said via Twitter. Banksy’s Pest Control authentication team told the BBC, “any Banksy NFT auctions are not affiliated with the artist in any shape or form.”

ETH price chart for 09/01/2021 on Bitfinex | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
The Return Of The Scammed ETH

Was this Pranksy person targeted? This is the turn. This is where it gets weird. Let’s quote Decrypt with the description:

“Then, in perhaps an equally strange turn of events, the scammer returned 97.69 ETH to Pranksy a little more than eight hours later. “No idea why [he returned the funds],” Pranksy told Decrypt. “I think I tracked him down, and he was made aware.”

My ETH from the #Banksy #NFT purchase was just returned to me, ethical hacker proving a point?https://t.co/idDNEsEIhK

— Pranksy 📦 (@pranksy) August 31, 2021

Pranksy gave the BBC a more detailed description of what “tracked him down” means

“The refund was totally unexpected, I think the press coverage of the hack plus the fact that I had found the hacker and followed him on Twitter may have pushed him into a refund.

“I feel very lucky when a lot of others in a similar situation with less reach would not have had the same outcome,” he said.”

This is where the tables turned and Pranksy turned into the main suspect. The Art Newspaper accuses:

“The question, then, is who has masterminded the sale. Pranksy’s cover photo on Twitter is of a pixelated red and white aeroplane, not dissimilar in aesthetic to the crudely rendered NFT. When asked if he was in on the hoax, Pranksy denied any involvement. “No prank at all,” he told The Art Newspaper. So was he scammed? “I think so, but I wasn’t forced to bid. It’s the risk I took. No refunds on the blockchain!”

Pranksy is a pro. He was aware of the risks from day one.

Just to add a comment, to those who feel this may have been some sort of stunt. I would never risk a future relationship with Banksy or any fine artist by hiring someone to hack their website and then buying an #NFT from myself, what an unusual day!

— Pranksy 📦 (@pranksy) August 31, 2021

Our Theory About The Fake Banksy NFT

A mysterious stranger Direct Messaged Pranksy to let him know about that one-in-a-lifetime auction. In the Decrypt story, they have screenshots of the DMs. Was Pranksy targeted by Banksy and his team? If Banksy wanted to create worldwide headlines and comment on the NFT boom at the same time, a notorious art collector was the missing ingredient. Pransky’s prominence in the NFT community mixed with his name makes him an ideal target. 

Related Reading | TA: Ethereum Bulls Keeps Pushing, Why Rally Isn’t Over Yet

Of course, we have no way to prove any of this. Everything about the fake Banksy NFT story fits together like puzzle pieces, however.

Featured Image: Screenshot of the fake Banksy NFT | Charts by TradingView