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PlusToken

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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. ^ a b Vinga, Paul; Jeong, Eun-Young (February 8, 2020). "Cryptocurrency Scams Took in More Than $4 Billion in 2019". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on November 22, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b McGarry, Dan (July 17, 2019). "Who Are the PlusToken Six?". Vanuatu Daily Post. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  3. ^ "Plus Token Wallet Review: Mobile crypto wallet Ponzi scheme". BehindMLM. October 20, 2018. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Orcutt, Mike (January 20, 2019). "Millions of people fell for crypto-Ponzi schemes in 2019". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Sidney, Leng (December 1, 2020). "Chinese cryptocurrency scam ringleaders jailed in US$2.25 billion Ponzi scheme involving PlusToken platform". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  6. ^ Takahashi, Dean (August 12, 2019). "CipherTrace: Cryptocurrency thefts, scams, and fraud could hit $4.3 billion in 2019". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Kharif, Olga (August 15, 2019). "Bitcoin Drop Not Likely Triggered by Scam Dump, Researcher Says". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-11-28. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  8. ^ Kharif, Olga; Huang, Zheping (December 16, 2019). "Chinese Crypto Scam Unwind Suggests Bitcoin Risks Extending Drop". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
  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. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  11. ^ Osborne, Charlie (July 31, 2020). "China arrests over 100 people suspected of involvement in PlusToken cryptocurrency scam". ZDNet. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.


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