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Homepage/News/Biggest Crypto Ponzi Scheme, BitConnect is Back Under FBI’s Investigation
NEWS

Biggest Crypto Ponzi Scheme, BitConnect is Back Under FBI’s Investigation

BY Joshua Trelawen·2 MIN READ·FEBRUARY 23, 2019

The FBI, who is currently investigating BitConnect has announced that it is “Seeking Victims in BitConnect Investigation.”. This investigation by the agency is coming a long time after the scam operation took place.

KEY FINDINGS - EVIDENCE LEVEL: MULTI-SOURCE
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BitConnect: Biggest Crypto Ponzi Scheme

BitConnect which is regarded as the biggest Ponzi scheme in the history of cryptocurrency has been under investigation by many government agencies, within and outside America. Then, the UK’s regulatory body issued a notice to the company, asking it to prove its authenticity within two months. Texas State Securities Board also issued a Cease and Desist order then. All these happened some few months after the exchange became very popular amongst users.

The BitConnect token, BCC, was in the top 20 during its reign. This popularity and ranking granted it the opportunity to scam a lot of people at that time. The platform didn’t just become popular overnight, it took almost a year since its official launching in November 2016 before becoming popular and making it to the top 20

The rise of the platform has been attributed to its multi-level referral feature that guaranteed a return of 1% per day. Just like with all Pyramid Ponzi scheme, the first set of participants are paid. Those who came after were not paid. Even before finally folding up, some prominent people in the crypto space came out to criticize the platforms openly.

The final downfall of the platform was registered when its coin feels from a peak price of $463 to $5 in just a matter of days.

The FBI is Collecting Information

Right now, the FBI is collecting voluntary responses from the victims of the Ponzi scheme. The agency believes the information collected will be “useful in the Federal assessment of this matter.”
The FBI is collecting the name, contact number and email address of the victims, along with questions pertaining to the matter.

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  • Byline - Reported by Joshua Trelawen
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