Security News > 2022 > December > OneCoin scammer Sebastian Greenwood pleads guilty, “Cryptoqueen” still missing
OneCoin appeared to be what's known as a pyramid scheme, or MLM system, short for multi-level marketing, where the people who buy in at the start earn commission for bringing in the next wave of "Investors", who in turn earn commission from bringing in the third wave, and so on.
OneCoin falsely claimed that the value of OneCoin was based on market supply and demand, when in fact, the value of the cryptocurrency was simply set by OneCoin itself.
As the DOJ explains, the purported value of a OneCoin grew steadily from €0.50 to approximately €29.95 per coin, and the purported price of OneCoins never decreased in value, and yet the DOJ states that "OneCoins were entirely worthless."
Greenwood and Ignatova promoted OneCoin, including at official OneCoin events all over the globe.
During the event, Greenwood introduced Ignatova to the crowd, stating in part: "This is the creator, the mastermind, the founder of cryptocurrency, of OneCoin Now, this will be the biggest welcoming on stage that we've ever done in history." Then, to the tune of Alicia Keys's "Girl on Fire," and surrounded by actual onstage fireworks, Ignatova strode onto the Wembley Arena stage wearing a red ball gown.
The power-plays and the stage drama seem to have done the trick, given that Greenwood is said by the DOJ to earned approximately €20 million a month in his role as the top MLM "Distributor" of OneCoin.