VikCoin (English name: OneCoin) is a Ponzi scheme disguised as a cryptocurrency, which has been prosecuted for pyramid scheme fraud and illegal fundraising, with victims spread worldwide. Its founder, Ruja Ignatova, has been listed as a wanted suspect for fraud and money laundering, becoming a fugitive in one of the world’s largest financial fraud cases. The US government is currently offering a reward of $5 million for her arrest.
In 2013, Ruja Ignatova, from Bulgaria, founded the so-called cryptocurrency VikCoin. Starting from 2014, she promoted VikCoin globally and frequently spoke at various large conferences, attracting a large number of investors. She promised investors high returns and also encouraged them to become distributors to earn commissions by developing downlines.
In October 2017, Ruja mysteriously disappeared, and the police subsequently launched an investigation, revealing that VikCoin was a large-scale financial fraud. In June 2022, Ruja was listed as one of the top ten wanted suspects by the FBI, with a reward of $100,000. In June 2024, the US government increased the reward to $5 million, soliciting information to arrest Ruja.
In just three years, VikCoin attracted millions of people worldwide to participate. The sheer number and speed were astonishing. One reason for this is that every sophisticated scam has a “powerful” leader, and VikCoin is no exception. In the official introduction of VikCoin, the founder Ruja is described as a holder of a master’s degree in economics from the University of Konstanz in Bulgaria, a dual Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and the University of Konstanz in law, and a former CEO and CFO of Bulgaria’s largest fund management company, managing assets worth nearly 2 billion yuan.
With these titles, Ruja traveled around the world, giving speeches like a fish in water. Every time Ruja appeared, she was dressed in gorgeous attire, wearing expensive jewelry, and applying bright lipstick, just like the Queen of England. As a result, her enthusiastic followers gave her a resounding nickname: the Crypto Queen.
During her speeches, Ruja claimed that VikCoin was a new type of cryptocurrency that adopted revolutionary blockchain technology and could become a globally accepted digital currency. It even claimed to be the “Bitcoin killer,” inheriting Bitcoin’s decentralization, algorithmically determined supply, and adopting KYC and transaction recording to gain government recognition.
However, in reality, VikCoin itself has nothing to do with blockchain. It does not have any relevant blockchain technology support, and the tokens it provides do not meet the characteristics of decentralization. It only has an SQL database for the website, which can be easily modified, not conforming to the definition of an unchangeable blockchain.
Furthermore, in the official introduction, VikCoin is described as a second-generation virtual currency that can freely circulate and appreciate rapidly, allowing investors to “get rich overnight.” VikCoin adopts a membership system, and to become a member of the “VikCoin” organization, one must purchase an activation code for a “threshold fee” ranging from 130 euros to 36,330 euros, recommended by an existing member.
VikCoin divides profits into static and dynamic modes. In the static mode, members who pay different levels of membership fees can obtain corresponding VikCoin within a certain period. In the dynamic mode, returns are obtained through developing downline members and other methods.
From the perspective of membership levels and dynamic and static profit models, VikCoin is closely related to pyramid schemes. In fact, VikCoin has never been listed or traded on any exchange; it is simply a carefully designed pyramid scheme. It has no real underlying technology or operational mechanism, relying solely on the funds of new entrants to provide returns to old users. Ruja Ignatova and her cohorts have control over most of the issuance of VikCoin. They maintain high dividends by constantly attracting new users. As the operation of the project becomes more and more difficult to sustain, VikCoin eventually collapses, and investors suffer heavy losses.
According to investigations, VikCoin has over 3 million investors worldwide, with a total fundraising of about $5.6 billion. A large part of this comes from China, with over 2 million people, accounting for two-thirds, and the total transaction volume reaching billions of dollars. The number of members is so large that the police found, during their statistics, that in the highest level of the organization in China, there were up to 79 layers between three individuals. Overseas, the number of member levels reached an incredible 67,000.
In 2014, VikCoin entered China under the guise of “investment.” It is reported that the VikCoin team in China set up a membership hierarchy system with generally five levels of membership: entry-level, advanced, professional, executive, and tycoon. The entry-level investment is 975 RMB, with 1,000 tokens and 50 milligrams of gold as a gift. The highest tycoon level investment is 37,725 RMB, with 60,000 tokens and 2,500 milligrams of gold as a gift.
The VikCoin China team promised that VikCoin would only rise and the increase would be “substantial.” Furthermore, as long as VikCoin members introduced new users to purchase VikCoin, 60% of the amount spent by the new users would be given as a bonus to the old users. Faced with such “tempting” returns, more and more people fell into the trap, and a large amount of funds flowed into this scam, making China the largest market for VikCoin.
According to incomplete statistics, the total investment transaction volume of VikCoin in China reached billions of dollars, with most participants being ordinary people who were deceived by VikCoin’s false propaganda and invested their savings or even borrowed money, resulting in almost no return.
In addition to ordinary investors, VikCoin has also developed a large number of “agents” in China. These people develop downlines through various means to earn commissions. Some agents brought their family and friends into the scheme, destroying long-standing relationships. It is reported that the core team of VikCoin in China has hundreds of people, who deceive investors in various ways, ultimately turning VikCoin into an outrageous pyramid scheme.
Since 2017, victims have been reporting to the police, hoping to seek compensation through lawsuits. However, there are still a large number of investors trapped and unable to extricate themselves, firmly believing that Ruja will reappear and lead VikCoin to glory. However, the police have yet to find Ruja Ignatova’s whereabouts (there are unconfirmed reports that she has been killed). Regardless, Ruja has become a “fugitive” of the blockchain.
There are still some unscrupulous individuals in China taking advantage of the information asymmetry of the people and vigorously promoting VikCoin, profiting in various ways. Hopefully, those investors who still believe in VikCoin can wake up as soon as possible. VikCoin has been a complete scam from the beginning, and its founder, Ruja Ignatova, is now a globally wanted criminal. The fact that the US government is offering a $5 million reward is enough to illustrate the severity of this scam.
Furthermore, it is hoped that everyone can learn from this and stay away from all kinds of pyramid schemes and illegal financial activities, protecting their own assets. With joint efforts, we can eliminate the recurrence of such scams and jointly safeguard the healthy development of the cryptocurrency industry in the future.
