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175 countries, four billion dollars, one scam: the thrilling rise and fall of the biggest cryptocurrency con in history and the woman behind it allIn 2016, on stage at Wembley Arena in front of thousands of adoring fans, Dr. Ruja Ignatova promised her followers a financial revolution. The future, she said, belonged to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. And the Oxford-educated, self-styled cryptoqueen vowed that she had invented the Bitcoin Killer. OneCoin would not only earn its investors untold fortunes; it would change the world. By March 2017, more than $4 billion had been invested in OneCoin in countries all around the world. But by October 2017, Ruja Ignatova had disappeared, and it slowly became clear that her revolutionary cryptocurrency was not all it seemed.
About the Author
My chief interest is the relationship between technology, politics and society - and my aim is to make writing on tech accessible to a general public. I find too many books on the subject are dry, technical and lack human characters. I especially like to find subcultures - the fringe groups and ideas most people dismiss as crazy - because they are very often useful guides to the future. This is the approach I took in my first book 'The Dark Net', which looked at hidden internet subcultures, based on months immersed in these groups. I write frequently on these questions for several outlets, and do occasional television work - including a two part BBC 2 series about disruption, called 'The Secrets of Silicon Valley'. You can find most of my recent stuff via my Twitter handle, @jamiejbartlett - and do get in touch with me there, as I always try to respond!
