WORST 10 SCAMS IN CRYPTOCURRENCY HISTORY – HOW MANY DO YOU KNOW?

In 2021, cryptocurrency scams had a record-breaking year. As compared to $7.8 billion taken by scammers in 2020, the amount lost by investors in cryptocurrency in 2021 increased to $14 billion. It means that the money lost in this domain to scammers by investors almost doubled.

More and more people show interest in investing in one form of cryptocurrency or another. Due to this interest shown by investors, scammers have found new opportunities for illegal activities in this domain. Even, investors presume that the high-tech nature of cryptocurrency will continue to attract more and more scammers, who are sophisticated.

The Worst 10 Scams in the History of Cryptocurrency:

You should keep yourself aware of the worst 10 cryptocurrency scams. When you have this knowledge, you can become cautious about making your investment in the right currency.

1. One Coin:

This scam gained popularity following the Missing Cryptoqueen podcast series from BBC. This scam is the biggest in the history of cryptocurrency with an estimated scam value of $25 billion. Now known to be the big Ponzi Scheme, it continues. Of course, it was shut down and leaders were arrested in 2017. Onecoin never had a digital currency and it was a well-planned deception right from the beginning.

2. Squid Game Token:

In 2021, this scam is one of the most publicized cryptocurrency scams. Following the popularity of the Netflix Series Squid Game, this crypto gained immense popularity as many media outlets fell head over heels. Within just a few weeks of release, the value of this digital currency reached nearly $3000 from the worth of nearly a few bucks.

You might wonder how is this crypto a scam? The founders of this token had no authority to use the name of a Netflix hit series. Further, many holders of this digital currency complained that they are not able to sell it.

Of course, not all holders were blocked from selling their tokens. But, this coin ended up like many other altcoins. It was just a pump and dump scheme. Only the creators and their friends benefited from this coin. They left retail investors with nothing.

3. Bitconnect:

This is yet another popular crypto scam of all time. It scammed nearly $4 billion in a marketing-led, multi-level Ponzi Scheme. It lured investors in through claims of having a great trading algorithm. But, the coin never existed at all. The weird thing is that the founders of this coin were not satisfied with a single scam. Yes, they launched another coin naming it BitconnectX when the value of their first coin reached zero.

4. SaveTheKids:

As you can judge from the name of this crypto project, it allured investors with the hope that their contribution will do something for children. Sadly in 2021, most of the cryptocurrencies promoted by social media celebs turned out to be pump and dump schemes. The same happened to this digital currency as well.

This scam is otherwise called FaZe Saga. In early June 2021, the members of FaZe clan along with many popular YouTubers instigated the promotion of this charity-based cryptocurrency. These social media celebrities went the extra mile to make promotional videos for the SaveTheKids charity token. The point of sale of this cryptocurrency that attracted many investors is that they can make money besides helping kids. So, they believed it to be a win-win situation.

The initial investors, who promoted this coin purchased a lot of this coin. So, when it was launched, it got an excellent price hype. But, when it went to the public, it became worthless. Only the initial investors made huge profits when the price of this crypto went up. So, it turned out to be a scam.

5. Bitclub Network:

This is yet another popular crypto-mining scam. It is another Ponzi scheme on this list. With excellent marketing strategies and salesmen, the founders of this crypto gathered $722 million. The promise of the founders of this digital currency is that they have bitcoin mining equipment. So, they would send guaranteed profits to investors. But, for the promotional videos, they have used the mining equipment that belonged to another mining farm. With promotional videos, it looted the hard-earned money of investors.

6. Africrypt Scam:

Brothers Ameer and Raees Cajee were running a Bitcoin investment firm. They operated their firm out of South Africa. The name of their firm was Africrypt. Now, they are missing. They are not simply missing but they have gone with all the money that investors invested in their cryptocurrency.

In April 2021, these brothers claimed that their investment firm had been hacked. So, they further claimed that all the accounts of their clients have been compromised. But, investors were not ready to believe it as they believed that this is a story cooked by the brothers.

The advocates of investors claim that their clients have lost as much as $3.6 billion. They further claimed that the Cajee brothers have stolen this money. If the Cajee brothers are proved to be at fault, Africrypt Scam is prominent among the cryptocurrency scams in history. To add fire to the burn, the brothers are missing as well.

7. Quadriga:

Quadriga was a popular and trusted crypto exchange in Canada. But, it is now believed that the founder of this exchange has faked his own death. Investors started doubting this crypto exchange as they came to know that founders have been running this exchange fraudulently right from the beginning. Also, the belief gained weightage further when they came to know that the founders of this exchange are experienced in fore-running many other scams earlier.

The founder of this exchange is the only one with access to the private keys of investors holding more than C$250 million. He is claimed to have died. But, most investors claim that he is still alive. Even, many of them claim that his body should be exhumed to confirm that he has really passed away.

8. Thodex:

Thodex is a Turkish crypto exchange. This exchange attracted investors to put $2.2 billion of their crypto onto the exchange with offers of free meme coins. This is yet another crypto scam, where the exchange looted the money of investors in the form of investment. The founder of this exchange is being searched for a long now.

9. Pincoin and iFan:

These crypto projects based in Vietnam together scammed nearly $660 million from investors. The crypto used persuasive events, sales and creative marketing to attract investments. This crypto has disappeared after attracting a lot of investment from investors.

10. Plexcoin:

Before its launch, this crypto ran an ICO that promised investors a return of 1354%. But, it has been shut down now. Also, the founders of this crypto were ordered to pay back investors around $20 stolen from investors.

Now, you know the popular scams that took place in the history of cryptocurrency. But, more than these things, you should also know one thing. Yes, you should know about the common type of scams that can happen in this market.