The Cryptoqueen: The Rise, The Scam, and The Vanishing of Ruja Ignatova
pplpod by pplpod
E2534
27:54
Meet Dr. Ruja Ignatova: a brilliant scholar, a charismatic entrepreneur, and the mastermind behind one of history's biggest financial frauds. In this episode, we explore how Ignatova used her credentials from Oxford and McKinsey to sell the world on OneCoin, a "Bitcoin killer" that turned out to be a massive Ponzi scheme targeting investors from China to rural Uganda.
We trace her journey from a childhood in Germany to her placement on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list—where she remains with a $5 million reward on her head. Finally, we analyze the theories surrounding her 2017 disappearance on a flight to Athens: Is the "Cryptoqueen" living in luxury with a new face, or was she murdered by the very organized crime figures who helped her rise?.