BitConnect: A cryptocurrency that became famous only for developing a major Ponzi scheme that valued the coin (BCC)for a market cap of $2.5 billion in the peak of December 2017.
The company proposed its value, which was that the users would receive up to 10% return on their investment each month. Bitconnect also claimed to use the strategy of tiered-investment which was based on the total amount of funds that an investor will initially deposit.
On 3rd Day of January 2018, BCC reached the top of its all-time high at $463, before plunging by 65%, down to $5 by the end of January. Bitconnect attempted to repay all investors for $363 per BCC, but by the time the investors received the coins, the price had already gone well below $10, making their refunds practically worthless.
Bitconnect tried to pay back to all its investors for $363 as per BCC, but by the time the investors received the coins, the price had gone down below $10, making their refunds worthless.
After receiving a cease order which was issued by the regulators in Texas and North Carolina, Bitconnect then announced that they would be shutting down their exchange and lending operations. The assets of the company got froze and the founders are currently under investigation.
Seeking information from the Bitconnect victims:
After the dozens of lawsuits filed against the company, FBI has then taken on the task of investigating the crimes that have been committed and further announced that it is seeking information about victims who may have lost their money by the Ponzi scheme.
FBI has prepared a questionnaire Based on the type of questions that are being asked, it looks like that the FBI is in search of anyone who is possibly involved in promoting Bitconnect.
The questions that the questionnaire consists of are:
- Where did you first hear about Bitconnect? (Friend, Youtube, Event, Other)
- How much money did you invest in Bitconnect?
- What was the username associated with your Bitconnect account?
- Who referred you to Bitconnect (if applicable)?
Based on these questions the FBI is investigating and looking into the case.
In the end:
Ponzi schemes seem to be around for decades, they always look into finding new ways to emerge and trick unsophisticated investors into pouring money into them. At last, hopefully, those people who lost money learned the most important lesson from experience.
