OneCoin Victims Have Until June 30 to Claim Funds

The US Department of Justice opened a compensation process for victims of OneCoin, the fake cryptocurrency scam that defrauded investors of ₱239.44 billion ($4 billion) worldwide between 2014 and 2019.

Victims must file claims by June 30 through a DOJ webpage, but attorney Jonathan Levy warned the process will be tough. He said he feels bad for small investors who probably won't have the English language ability or documentation to meet the short timeline. The DOJ is using a remission process, not a restitution process like the one used for BitConnect victims.

OneCoin pitched itself as a Bitcoin rival but had no blockchain. Co-founders Ruja Ignatova and Karl Sebastian Greenwood ran a classic pyramid scheme, conning investors into buying educational courses on crypto trading and rewarding participants who brought in more people. Ignatova disappeared in 2017 and remains on the FBI's top 10 most-wanted fugitives list. A 2024 BBC investigation suggested she may have been killed on orders from a Bulgarian-linked mafia figure.

Levy expects few claims compared to the total number of victims. He said that while you can file online, the burden of proof is clearly on the claimant, and he thinks we'll actually see very few claims percentage-wise. US Attorney Jay Clayton said the announcement marks an important step toward returning funds to those harmed, though no recovery can fully undo the damage.

Greenwood was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2023 and had his assets frozen. OneCoin investors obtained a freezing order on Ignatova and her companies the same year, with the June 30, 2026 deadline now in effect for eligible claimants.