Even though Onecoin is by no means a new phenomenon I still get a lot of people asking for my opinion of it. It is believed to be the greatest thing that will make you a mountain of money. I’ve written a post about it in the past. And also had some questions responded by the great lady behind Onecoin – Ruja Ignatova. You can read the interview here. So what is my opinion of Onecoin?
It is a scam. So why are so many people super into it and believe it will change their lives?
The OneCoin Scam
Firstly if I come across a business or a product that I have doubts about I look at who is behind it. Onecoin’s founder is Ruja Ignatova, also working on it are Sebastian Greenwood and Nigel Allan. These names have popped up in the past with a previous MLM scheme called Unaico. This immediately rings alarmbells. Now even though Onecoin has stated that Nigel Allan is no longer working with them that still doesn’t raise much confidence. Also when reading about the Claims on Dr. Ruja Ignatova, stuff just doesn’t seem to add up. Apparently she is an amazing business woman who was featured on the cover of Forbes. Wow, right? Not quite. Turns out that this was simply an advert run by the Onecoin Foundation. Furthermore Dr. Ignatova claims to have a degree from Oxford in European and Comparative Law from 2004. I cannot find any actual sources about this. Also some sites say that it was actually 2009. All of the info that comes up is from their own blogs.
Secondly it is a simple MLM scheme, that shit ain’t gonna make you millions. Indeed their hyped up product is not this amazing cryptocurrency but instead they are selling “educational materials”. So basically invest a whole lot of money and that should then turn into more money. What I’ve gathered from conversations with people who have joined Onecoin it’s all very simple. They are just capitalizing on one of the strongest human feelings – greed. I just talked to a friend of mine who was asking for my opinion on Onecoin. He had invested some money into it. I told him that my honest opinion was that it’s a simple ponzi scheme and should be kept away from. He sort of took my thoughts on board but said that he is currently in profit and he’s not that scared of losing the amount that he invested. When I asked why won’t he withdraw his profits he responded that it is definite that it will grow more and also there were some time restrictions or somtehing similar on withdrawing the profits. Well isn’t that convenient. This is how they hook you in. Promises of greater profits in the future and manipulating with fear of loss – yes you can withdraw now, but you will miss out on the millions waiting for you. So what happens next? The masterminds behind Onecoin will probably file bankruptcy and skip away into the sunset at some point. Because looking at it rationally there is no way this scheme can sustain profits for its members.
Wow! Many Onecoin, Such Lies
It has all been hyped up pretty well. Many people from the Estonian Onecoin community come up with wild lies like – a member of the board of the Estonian Cryptocurrency Associacion just invested 20k into it and hence I should too. It made me laugh as I too was a member of the board at the time and none of as had or were going to invest in such bullshit. So if it is a legit thing, why lie to promote it? These lies just kept coming and people who portraied themselves as now rich beyound their dreams turned out couldn’t actually afford a bus ticket.
It is not a genious new cryptocurrency but just another pyramid scheme. Onecoins are not used anywhere and have no value. Value of assets and currency comes from supply & demand. There is no demand for Onecoin apart from the people that have been sucked in with empty promises.
They regularly hold Onecoin conferences. Full of high energy speakers and lots of promises that this is the best thing that ever was and haters gonna hate, you know. It’s all very glam and amusing. I’ve spent the morning watching videos on Youtube about their presentations. Very dramatic indeed. When something sounds too good to be true then it probably is. The mirror also published a story on Onecoin not that long ago. One of their journalists attended on of their conferences and his experience is actually worth a read. Thank you Andrew Penman for bringing us insights from these ridiculous events.
Appealing to greed works very well with human beings. I too have lost money believing in quick profits. I’ve also worked in sales for a long time and know how well promises of hard cold cash work. Because we all want to be successful, don’t we.
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