PlusToken

PlusToken was a ponzi scheme that operated worldwide but mainly had investors in China and South Korea.[1]

History

PlusToken started in April 2018.[2] It offered monthly payments to users of its cryptocurrency wallet.[3] There was also a token called Plus associated with it.[4] The total amount of cryptocurrency taken by PlusToken was estimated to be worth (based on 2019 prices) between $2 and US$2.9 billion.[1][5][6] The selling of cryptocurrencies from PlusToken was speculated to have been the cause of price drops in bitcoin.[7][8][9]

In June 2019,[10] six Chinese nationals associated with the scheme were arrested in Vanuatu and deported so they could face trial in China.[2]

In July 2020, China's Ministry of Public Security announced that 27 "major criminal suspects" and 82 "key" members of PlusToken have been arrested.[11]

In November 2020, a court in Jiangsu sentenced ringleaders behind the scheme to between two and eleven years in prison.[5]

See also

References
  1. Vinga, Paul; Jeong, Eun-Young (February 8, 2020). "Cryptocurrency Scams Took in More Than $4 Billion in 2019". The Wall Street Journal.
  2. McGarry, Dan (July 17, 2019). "Who Are the PlusToken Six?". Vanuatu Daily Post.
  3. "Plus Token Wallet Review: Mobile crypto wallet Ponzi scheme". BehindMLM. October 20, 2018.
  4. Orcutt, Mike (January 20, 2019). "Millions of people fell for crypto-Ponzi schemes in 2019". MIT Technology Review.
  5. Sidney, Leng (December 1, 2020). "Chinese cryptocurrency scam ringleaders jailed in US$2.25 billion Ponzi scheme involving PlusToken platform". South China Morning Post.
  6. Takahashi, Dean (August 12, 2019). "CipherTrace: Cryptocurrency thefts, scams, and fraud could hit $4.3 billion in 2019". VentureBeat.
  7. Kharif, Olga (August 15, 2019). "Bitcoin Drop Not Likely Triggered by Scam Dump, Researcher Says". Bloomberg.
  8. Kharif, Olga; Huang, Zheping (December 16, 2019). "Chinese Crypto Scam Unwind Suggests Bitcoin Risks Extending Drop". Bloomberg.
  9. Canellis, David (December 17, 2019). "Bitcoin's failing price could be caused by $2B Chinese Ponzi scheme dumping its crypto". The Next Web.
  10. McGarry, Dan (June 29, 2019). "SIX CHINESE FACE DEPORTATION". Vanuatu Daily Post.
  11. Osborne, Charlie (July 31, 2020). "China arrests over 100 people suspected of involvement in PlusToken cryptocurrency scam". ZDNet.


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