Why OneCoin is One Big Scam

Block by Block
5 min readJul 31, 2016

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A very easy to understand explanation of why Onecoin is a scam.

OneCoin Homepage edited for validity

Before we begin, let’s take a look at the claims made by OneCoin (which can be found scrolling down from the homepage).

The Core Values of OneCoin

“OneCoin empowers millions of people”

  • If OneCoin was used by millions of people, why are there NO places where you can actually spend or make use of it? With such a large potential customer-base, it would be an obvious decision for merchants to accept OneCoin as a payment method. Bitcoin, which does have millions of users, is accepted as a payment method at many merchants and that number continues to grow.
taken from CoinDesk

“We are open and honest… OneCoin wants to make cryptocurrency transparent”

  • OneCoin has not been open about anything, they have yet to share any details about their operations or even if their blockchain actually exists!
  • Cryptocurrency is ALREADY transparent because of the blockchain, so how is OneCoin claiming that they want to make cryptocurrency transparent when it already is?
  • Simply put, a blockchain is a ledger in which information is packaged into ‘blocks’ and then recorded. A blockchain can be public OR private and both have it’s uses. However, if you claim openness, honesty, and transparency, a public blockchain MUST be used.
  • In a public blockchain, all relevant information can be seen in real-time and accessed by anyone. An example is provided below using the Bitcoin Blockchain since it is ACTUALLY open and transparent.
  • Blockchain is an easy and amazing way to provide transparency but OneCoin has refused to do this despite being all about openness and transparency… I would not be surprised if OneCoin had no blockchain.
taken from BlockExplorer

Here are some other places you can see actual open and transparent blockchains for various other cryptocurrencies…

“OneCoin is the first cryptocurrency that is easy to mine, trade, and use.”

  • Mining is the process by which coins are earned. The ‘mining’ process can differ from protocol to protocol. In order to mine Bitcoin, you basically have to solve a complex math problem which increases in complexity as more and more people attempt to ‘mine’ it. Due to Bitcoin’s increase in use and popularity, mining Bitcoin has become difficult and specialized equipment has been developed that is dedicated to just mining Bitcoin, thereby making it ‘difficult’ to mine.
  • OneCoin has no actual process for mining. This is how OneCoin is ‘mined’:
  1. Give money to Ruja Ignatova for a specified rate
  2. That amount of OneCoin is simply created out of thin air and credited to you

So I guess you can consider that ‘easy’…

  • There are no platforms that allow you to ‘trade’ OneCoin. Other cryptocurrencies that are lesser known and considered to be near worthless can be traded on various platforms such as Poloniex, Bittrex, Kraken, Bitfinex, but OneCoin is not traded on any of them or anywhere else.
  • Regarding ‘using’ OneCoin, refer to first point.

“OneCoin uses one of the most advance technologies… Our blockchain will run every minute”

  • What advanced technology is OneCoin using? No information is given despite claiming to be open and transparent
  • Every blockchain is ‘running every minute’, any suggestions that this is exclusive to OneCoin is false.
further claims by OneCoin that are false

In a recent presentation, Ruja Ignatova told people that in October 2016, existing members will be able to double their coins. This is 100% possible because all it requires is modifying numbers seen on user balances. However, without creating actual value for the increased number of ‘coins’, doubling the amount of coins is effective as doubling the amount of all the money in that exists in the world and then raising the price of everything in the world by 100%. This accomplishes nothing and her ‘generous offer’ is nothing other than bait to get more people into giving them more money for something worthless.

The main premise behind OneCoin is a lie that is perpetuated by people who are looking to make a quick buck off you. The only way profits are seen is by getting more people to put money in and using that money to pay out existing users… This is also known as a ponzi scheme, which will inevitably collapse and result in many people losing all the money they ‘invested’.

Please note that OneCoin is NOTHING like Bitcoin.

A typical response from a OneCoin promoter will be “They’re scared of us!”

There is nothing to be scared of because the only thing OneCoin is capable of is taking hard earned money from unsuspecting people.

Here’s what I suspect the actual OneCoin ‘blockchain’ looks like…

If you’re still not convinced…

From BehindMLM

There are three primary component to the OneCoin MLM business opportunity.

The first is a simple recruitment-driven pyramid scheme, backed with a residual binary compensation structure.

Affiliates join OneCoin and are then directly compensated on the recruitment of new affiliates, who must spend money on packages to participate in the MLM opportunity.

The second is the whole Aurum Gold Coins schtick, which appears to be an alternative virtual currency to the OneTokens, and are backed by baloney.

The third and most secretive component is the OneCoin token share scheme.

“OneCoin is a new cryptocurrency that can be traded on the OneExchange.”

Details of the OneCoin token exchange are kept off the OneCoin website, with even the compensation plan only lightly going into details.

In a nutshell, based on how much an affiliate spends on a package, they are awarded a specific number of OneTokens.

Starter — 1000 tokens

Trader — 5000 tokens

Pro Trader — 10,000 tokens

Executive Trader — 30,000 tokens

Tycoon Trader — 60,000 tokens

These tokens are “traded” on what OneCoin refer to as the “OneExchange”.

Masquerading as a crypto-currency, OneCoin’s OneTokens are nothing more than Ponzi points, pegged to nothing more than the rate of new money flowing into the company via affiliates:

“The more people join the OneCoin concept, the higher the popularity and value of the currency.

The more popular OneCoin is, the higher the value of the cryptocurrency.”

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