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

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

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

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