Let’s listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” podcast together from the very beginning, as the new episodes arrive. This second one presents new facets of Dr. Ruja’s story and amplifies the scope of the podcast. Good news, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” might be even more interesting than we previously believed. As BBC presenter Jamie Bartlett puts it, “we thought we were looking for a missing billionaire, but now we seem to be entering a world that’s far murkier than we thought.”
NewsBTC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” listening group is now in session. In the first few minutes of this episode, Dr. Ruja Ignatova says: “In two years, nobody will talk about bitcoin anymore.” A line out of the book of every crypto scammer out there.
Remember, you can download episodes Directly from the BBCYou can also call it: listen to “The Missing Cryptoqueen” through Apple, Spotify, or iVoox.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqmE3tTJmd4
About “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Two, “Bitcoin Killer”
This podcast has a fast pace. It’s only “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” second episode and the whole OneCoin fiasco is already breaking apart. Both the producer and presenter alternate between telling the story and the search for Dr. Ruja. They went to Bulgaria, where they asked around about this controversial character. The team mentions her and the Bulgarians begin to talk loudly between themselves.
Sure, they are visiting places she used to frequent, but everybody seems to be familiar with Ruja Ignatova.
In any case, “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” audience is not exactly a cryptocurrency-savvy one. This episode begins with an awful definition of money and an inept explanation about how blockchain technology works. It’s necessary, because we will soon find out that OneCoin didn’t even run on a blockchain. It was from the start a fraud.
A podcast/radio documentary provides a live explanation on how Ponzi schemes operate. And the story’s protagonists tell you exactly what happened in their own words. One of the victims, Jane, a developer turned OneCoin whistleblower, and Timothy Curry dominate “The Missing Cryptoqueen’s” second episode. In the episode’s fourth quarter, the team goes to the marina where the boat Dr. Ruja’s disappeared from was located. There are also mentions of the mafia by the Bulgarians. It is also mentioned by the whistleblower who was a developer.
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An Almost-Always-Present Characteristic Of A Scam Or Ponzi
Besides the lack of a blockchain, “The Missing Cryptoqueen” points out an almost-always-present characteristic of a scam or Ponzi:
- People couldn’t withdraw or spend the tokens they bought.
OneCoin was only found in the SQL Database of Bulgaria in this instance. While the naive investors believed they were making a fortune by price-pushing, their tokens are numbers displayed on a screen. They couldn’t exchange them for other cryptocurrencies because OneCoin was not a cryptocurrency. It didn’t run on a blockchain.
At the time, the team reached out to OneCoin with these allegations and they denied everything and blamed the authorities and regulations for their token’s lack of usability. Classic
Quotes From “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” Episode Two – “Bitcoin Killer”
- “The €10,000 that Jen invested which she thought was now worth over €100,000 in one coin was just a number that someone in an office in Bulgaria had made up and could delete just as easily. OneCoin is not a real cryptocurrency, it’s just pretending to be one. It’s fake, it’s a scam, and it could be the scam of the century.”
- “OneCoin was only possible because of Dr. Ruja. Whenever we see complicated technology that we don’t understand, we make a judgment about it based on things we do understand. For example, the fact that her boss was a highly successful and inspirational woman. Dr. Ruja’s magic trick was to use the hype and terminology of legitimate cryptocurrencies. So ordinary people like Jen couldn’t tell the difference between the real and the fake.”
Extra material and episode credits
This week’s extra material comes courtesy of Investopedia, which summarizes “The Missing Cryptoqueen ’s” plot as:
“OneCoin was a cryptocurrency-based Ponzi scheme. OneCoin Ltd. was the company behind this scheme, as well as OneLife Network Ltd. (founded by Ruja Ignatova from Bulgaria, but who vanished in 2017). However, not before the scheme raised $4 billion.”
And finally, the episode’s credits:
Presenter: Jamie Bartlett
Georgia Catt is the producer
Chris Berube, Story Consultant
Editor: Philip Sellars
Phil Channell Original music and Sound Design
Dessislava Stephanova and The London Bulgarian Choir – Original music and voice recordings
Previous Companion Guides For BBC’s “The Missing Cryptoqueen” Podcast:
- Ep. 01 – https://www.newsbtc.com/news/bitcoin/ep01-dr-ruja-companion-guide-for-bbcs-the-missing-cryptoqueen-podcast/
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