The greatest crypto rug pulls and scams of all time

The crypto world is reported to be value over $3 trillion with over 300 million folks worldwide proudly owning some type of crypto.

But as our cryptocurrency and NFT heist trackers have discovered, crypto is a profitable enterprise for hackers.

Below are the largest crypto rug pulls and scams (primarily based on the USD quantity stolen on the time of the assault) up to now:

1. OneCoin – $4 billion stolen: This Ponzi scheme started in 2014 and lured traders in by promising excessive return charges with little or no danger. At its peak, OneCoin is believed to have had greater than 3 million members from throughout the globe, raking in from $4 billion to $19 billion. And up to now, it is usually essentially the most “profitable” crypto rip-off because the search continues for the so-called “Cryptoqueen,” Ruja Ignatova, who is claimed to have been behind the scheme. In July 2022, Ignatova was added to the FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List.’
2. Africrypt – $3.6 billion stolen: In April 2021, the BTC pool of Africrypt, which was valued at $3.6 billion, disappeared. The two founders (brothers Raees and Ameer Cajee) mentioned the platform had been attacked and all the funds drained. However, every week earlier than the mentioned assault, Africrypt workers discovered themselves unable to entry the back-end of the platform. While the 2 brothers denied any involvement within the assault, they did disappear a month later. It is claimed that they’ve now settled within the UK with their households and proceed to disclaim any involvement, suggesting they fled in worry of their lives. They additionally mentioned the utmost sum they traded was $200 million and the quantity misplaced was $5 million not $3.6 billion.
3. GainBitcoin – $3 billion stolen: In India’s greatest crypto rip-off, from 385,000 to 600,000 bitcoins are mentioned to have been collected. Our $3 billion determine is predicated on the decrease estimate (on the time of the theft–March 2018), however the prime estimate extends so far as $4.7 billion. The scheme reportedly supplied traders month-to-month returns of 10 % on bitcoin-on-bitcoin investments. In March 2018, two administrators of the corporate (Amit Bhardwaj and Ajay Bhardwaj) have been arrested. Amit died in January 2022 however the case in opposition to Ajay stays ongoing, with estimates of the financial quantities concerned persevering with to escalate.
4. BitConnect – $2 billion stolen: In the BitConnect fraud scheme which ran up till August 2021, traders have been defrauded of $2.4 billion. BitConnect’s founders touted the platform’s expertise as having the ability to assure returns and generate substantial positive factors by buying and selling within the risky crypto market. However, it was all an elaborate Ponzi scheme and in February 2022, the founder, Satish Kumbhani, was indicted.
5. PlusToken – $2.25 billion stolen: From 2018 to 2019 traders have been defrauded of 14.8 billion yuan (US$2.25 billion) within the PlusToken crypto Ponzi rip-off. Millions fell for the rip-off whereby they paid a membership charge underneath the promise they might be supplied excessive funding returns. In 2020, the ringleaders have been jailed for as much as 11 years.
6. Wirecard – $2.1 billion stolen: In June 2020, Wirecard, a card issuer that supported crypto funds, issued an announcement that mentioned $2.1 billion in money had gone lacking. They pointed the finger at a 3rd party’s “spurious” money balances however three key males behind the corporate, together with former chief government Markus Braun, have been charged with embezzlement, market manipulation, and gang fraud in March 2022.
7. Thodex – $2 billion stolen: In this exit rip-off in April 2021, Thodex was mentioned to be “quickly closed” earlier than the founder shut down the platform completely and ran off with $2 billion of traders’ funds. The founder, Faruk Fatih Ozer, denied it was an exit rip-off however continues to be on the run. If caught, many need to see him serving a jail sentence of 40,000 years! Some estimates recommend that as a lot as $2.6 billion may have been stolen.
8. WoToken – $1.1 billion stolen: Over 715,000 victims have been impacted by this $1.1 billion rip-off. In this Ponzi scheme, traders have been instructed distinctive returns can be generated by the platform’s algorithmic buying and selling bots–however, as is the case with most of those schemes, the tech merely didn’t exist. Today, the stolen tokens (46,000 BTC, 2 million ETH, 292,000 LTC, 56,000 BCH, and 684,000 EOS) can be value over $5 billion. Six defendants have been trialed over the Ponzi scheme and every pleaded responsible and obtained really helpful jail occasions of 6 months to 11 years (a far cry from the instructed sentence for Thodex’s founder).
9. Arbistar – $1 billion stolen: Spanish police arrested the chief of this billion-dollar crypto rip-off in October 2020. The Ponzi scheme (run by dad or mum firm Arbicorp) duped round 120,000 customers and raised greater than $1 billion in bitcoin.
10. BitClub Network – $722 million stolen: This cryptocurrency mining scheme ran from April 2014 to December 2019 and accrued a minimum of $722 million in funds. Investors have been instructed they’d obtain shares within the crypto mining swimming pools whereas additionally being rewarded for introducing new traders to the scheme. In September 2020, a Californian man, Joseph Frank Abel, pled responsible to promoting unregistered securities and to submitting a false tax return.

As per REBECCA MOODY HEAD OF DATA RESEARCH comparitech.com findings recommend a whopping $25 billion and counting has been misplaced to cryptocurrency and NFT rug pulls and scams until date.