The cryptocurrency market has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past decade, but alongside legitimate innovations, it has also become a breeding ground for sophisticated big crypto scams. These fraudulent schemes have not only resulted in billions of dollars in losses but have also undermined trust in the broader crypto ecosystem.
This article delves into some of the most notorious big crypto scams that have rocked the digital asset landscape.
1. OneCoin: The $4 Billion Pyramid Scheme
OneCoin stands as one of the most devastating big crypto scams in history, orchestrated by the self-proclaimed “Cryptoqueen” Ruja Ignatova. Launched in 2014, this elaborate scheme managed to defraud investors of an estimated $4 billion before its eventual collapse in 2017.
Ignatova and her team marketed OneCoin as a “Bitcoin killer,” promising educational packages that would help users learn about cryptocurrencies and give them the right to mine OneCoin tokens. The company operated through a complex multi-level marketing structure, encouraging members to recruit others with promises of commissions and bonuses.
Unlike legitimate cryptocurrencies, OneCoin didn’t have a real blockchain. The tokens existed only on a centralized database controlled by the company. Investors were shown fabricated trading volumes and artificial price increases, creating an illusion of growing wealth while their money was being siphoned into the organizers’ pockets.
In 2017, Ignatova disappeared with millions in investor funds. She remains on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, with a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. The collapse of OneCoin highlighted the dangers of big crypto scams involving unregulated investments and the importance of proper due diligence.
2. Thodex: The Vanish of Turkish Exchange
Among the notable big crypto scams that rocked the cryptocurrency world, the Thodex scandal stands out for its sudden and dramatic collapse. This Turkish cryptocurrency exchange disappeared overnight in April 2021, taking with it an estimated $2 billion in investor funds.
Before that, Thodex operated as a legitimate-seeming cryptocurrency exchange in Turkey, attracting hundreds of thousands of users with aggressive marketing campaigns, Dogecoin giveaways, appealing fees, and promises of high returns. The platform even offered luxury vehicles to some traders through promotional giveaways.
In April 2021, the exchange abruptly halted trading and froze all accounts, citing suspicious activity in user accounts. Shortly after, founder Faruk Fatih Özer fled to Albania with user funds, leaving approximately 391,000 investors unable to access their accounts.
Thodex’s collapse left thousands of investors in financial ruin. Turkish authorities launched an international manhunt for Özer, who was accused of orchestrating one of the biggest crypto scams in Turkish history. Thodex also severely damaged trust in centralized exchanges, particularly in Turkey, where crypto adoption had been rising due to economic instability. Following Thodex, Turkish regulators began crafting crypto regulations to safeguard investors and prevent similar big crypto scams.
3. Save the Kids: A Charity Token Turned Cash Grab
The Save the Kids token scandal represents a newer breed of big crypto scams, involving social media influencers and supposedly charitable causes. In 2021, some popular YouTubers and FaZe Clan members promoted the Save the Kids token, claiming it would help children in need while providing investment opportunities. The token was marketed as having anti-whale mechanics to prevent price manipulation.
Shortly after launch, the token’s value plummeted when large holders sold their positions. Investigation revealed that the promised anti-whale mechanisms had been modified before launch, allowing for exactly this kind of manipulation. Investors who bought in on the promise of a good cause were left with losses while the insiders walked away with substantial profits.
The scandal led to the suspension of several FaZe Clan members and damaged the reputation of involved influencers. It also rised discussions about influencer responsibility in cryptocurrency promotion and the need for transparency in charitable crypto projects.
4. Pudgy Penguins: NFT Dreams That Went Cold
Pudgy Penguins was an NFT project that initially captivated the crypto community. Launched in July 2021, the project was a collection of 8,888 NFT penguins that gained significant popularity and attracted millions in trading volume. Pudgy Penguins promised a future roadmap with an ecosystem of games and merchandise.
Pudgy Penguins quickly gained attention, and prices soared as collectors sought to join the exclusive community. However, what began as an exciting project turned out to be one of the most disappointing big crypto scams in the NFT space.
As time passed, the project’s founders failed to deliver on their promises, and rumors emerged about mismanagement and a lack of development. In January 2022, allegations emerged that the founding team had emptied the project’s treasury and attempted to sell it for 888 ETH (approximately $2.5 million at the time), leading to a major backlash from the community.
Unlike other big crypto scams that ended in a total loss, the Pudgy Penguins story had a unique twist. The community rallied, and the project was eventually sold to new leadership, leading to a remarkable turnaround in both value and community trust.
While not as financially devastating as other big crypto scams, the Pudgy Penguins controversy exposed the vulnerabilities in the NFT space and the importance of project leadership integrity.
5. Evolved Apes: The Game that Never Launched
This project was marketed as an NFT fighting game where holders could battle their unique “Evolved Apes” characters for ETH rewards. The project raised significant funds through an initial NFT sale of 10,000 apes.
Shortly after the successful launch, the anonymous developer known as “Evil Ape” disappeared with 798 ETH (worth approximately $2.7 million at the time), turning Evolved Apes into one of the big crypto scams of the NFT boom. The game development never materialized, and the project’s social media accounts were deleted.
The anonymous Evil Ape left investors with nothing more than digital art and unfulfilled promises. The sudden disappearance turned Evolved Apes into a classic “rug pull,” leaving investors empty-handed and frustrated. Some community members attempted to salvage the project by creating a new initiative called “Fight Back Apes”, but who knows if this is a new rug-pull scam or not.
6. Baller Apes: Another NFT Vanishing Act
Baller Apes was launched as a high-profile NFT project, offering buyers exclusive, stylized ape characters that became highly popular in 2021’s NFT boom. The team had built credibility through extensive Discord engagement and partnerships with minor influencers. They promised an exclusive collection of 5,000 unique apes with gaming utility, staking features, and governance rights in a future DAO.
However, after raising approximately $2 million through NFT sales in October 2021, the developers abandoned the project, disappearing with investor money. This made Baller Apes one of the big crypto scams in the NFT world, leaving many investors frustrated and disillusioned.
Investigators later discovered that the smart contract had been deliberately coded with a backdoor that allowed the developers to manipulate the reveal mechanism. This technical sophistication marked a new evolution in big crypto scams, showing how fraudsters were becoming more adept at blockchain technology.
The incident led to the development of new smart contract auditing tools specifically designed to detect similar backdoors. Several NFT platforms implemented mandatory code reviews for pre-reveal projects, setting new standards for project launches.
7. Frosties: The Frozen NFT Dreams
Among the major big crypto scams of early 2022, the Frosties NFT project distinguishes itself through its targeted approach to younger investors. The project marketed itself with adorable cartoon-style ice cream characters, promising an entire ecosystem of rewards including metaverse integration, merchandise, and exclusive access to future drops.
The initial mint price was set at an accessible 0.04 ETH per NFT, deliberately positioned to attract first-time NFT investors. The project creators, Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna, managed to generate approximately $1.3 million in sales before executing their elaborate exit scam. Within hours of the collection selling out, they not only deleted their Discord server and website but also transferred all funds through a complex series of wallets designed to obscure the money trail.
Their arrest by US authorities marked a significant milestone in crypto fraud enforcement, with prosecutors describing their scheme as a “sophisticated rug pull.”
8. Blockverse: The Minecraft Ghost Project
Blockverse was a blockchain project introduced in January 2022, centered around a Minecraft-based play-to-earn game.
Blockverse offers players unique NFTs that could be used within its Minecraft world, promising an exclusive gaming experience where NFT holders could earn cryptocurrency through gameplay. The development team claimed to have created proprietary technology that would seamlessly blend blockchain mechanisms with Minecraft’s existing infrastructure.
The project launched with tremendous success, raising over $1 million worth of ETH in just eight minutes. The initial access pass NFTs sold for 0.1 ETH each, quickly rising to 0.8 ETH on the secondary market. However, Blockverse quickly became known as one of the big crypto scams when developers vanished with approximately 500 ETH within just 24 hours after the successful launch.
Their brief reappearance on social media, claiming they had fled due to community threats, only added to the controversy. Subsequent investigations revealed that the promised Minecraft integration was technically unfeasible, exposing the fraudulent nature of their entire premise.
9. SQUID Token: The Pop Culture Trap
The $SQUID token scam represents one of the most infamous big crypto scams that exploited pop culture phenomena.
Launching in October 2021, the token’s creators masterfully leveraged the global popularity of Netflix’s “Squid Game” series, despite having no official connection to the show. The project promised a play-to-earn game mirroring the show’s deadly competitions, with winners earning significant cryptocurrency rewards.
The token’s price skyrocketed from $0.01 to $2,861 in just a few days, driven by massive media attention and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). However, investors soon discovered they couldn’t sell their tokens due to implemented “anti-dump” mechanisms that were intentionally designed to prevent users from selling.
The scam culminated in a devastating rug pull, with developers draining $3.38 million in liquidity, causing the token’s value to plummet to zero in mere minutes. The incident also highlighted the dangers of unauthorized intellectual property exploitation in cryptocurrency projects.
10. Quadriga: The Death of Canadian CEO
The Quadriga case stands as one of the most mysterious big crypto scams in history, sparking many investigations and conspiracy theories. The Quadriga exchange’s CEO, Gerald Cotten, reportedly died in India in December 2018, He brought with him the exchange’s private keys containing approximately $190 million in customer funds.
The death of Cotten then triggered a series of revelations that exposed the fraudulent nature of Canada’s then-largest cryptocurrency exchange. Cotten was the sole person with access to Quadriga’s cold wallets, where the majority of client funds were stored. His sudden death led to an exchange shutdown with $250 million in client funds inaccessible. An investigation revealed that funds were mismanaged and likely misappropriated long before his passing.
Subsequent investigations showed that Cotten had been operating a sophisticated Ponzi scheme for years. He had created fake accounts under various aliases to generate artificial trading volume and used customer funds for personal luxury purchases, including real estate and private aircraft.
The Ontario Securities Commission’s investigation discovered that Cotten had been conducting high-risk trades with customer funds on other exchanges, losing substantial amounts in the process. The case has sparked numerous conspiracy theories, with some suggesting Cotten may have faked his death to escape with the funds. Till now Quadriga is still one of the most talked-about big crypto scams.
11. Bored Bunnies: Big Influencers, Still Fail
The Bored Bunnies project illustrates how even celebrity-endorsed NFT projects can turn into devastating big crypto scams. Launched with endorsements from high-profile celebrities including Jake Paul, DJ Khaled, and Floyd Mayweather, the project promised to revolutionize the NFT space with exclusive utilities and a comprehensive roadmap including metaverse integration and play-to-earn gaming features.
The initial mint price was set at 0.4 ETH per NFT, generating millions in sales. However, the project’s value crashed by over 90% within weeks of launch as promised features failed to materialize. While not a traditional rug pull, the project demonstrated sophisticated pump-and-dump mechanics, with early investors and team members allegedly profiting while leaving later investors with nearly worthless assets. The incident led to increased scrutiny of celebrity involvement in NFT promotions and discussions about influencer accountability in the cryptocurrency space.
12. Bitconnect: The Legendary Ponzi Scheme
Launched in 2016, Bitconnect is one of the most infamous big crypto scams in history, operating as a high-yield “lending platform” that lured investors with promises of enormous returns.
They offered investors the opportunity to “lend” their Bitcoin in exchange for Bitconnect tokens (BCC), claiming its algorithmic trading software would generate returns of up to 40% per month regardless of market conditions. At its peak in December 2017, BitConnect’s native token BCC reached an all-time high of $463, with a market capitalization of over $2.6 billion.
However, in reality, Bitconnect was just a multi-layered Ponzi scheme. Investigations later revealed that no “trading bot” existed. Bitconnect relied on the influx of new investors to pay returns to earlier investors based on their investment tier, creating a cycle that was bound to collapse.
After receiving cease-and-desist letters from U.S. regulators and mounting pressure from skeptics, Bitconnect abruptly shut down its lending and exchange services on January 16, 2018, causing BCC’s value to plummet by over 90% in just a few hours. Investors worldwide lost an estimated $2.5 billion, making it one of the major big crypto scams in terms of financial impact.
13. Finiko: The Russian Pyramid Scheme
Finiko emerges as one of the big crypto scams to come out of Eastern Europe, particularly devastating for its targeting of vulnerable populations during the economic uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating primarily from Russia between 2019 and 2021, this elaborate Ponzi scheme attracted over $1.5 billion in investments from victims across Russia, Ukraine, and other former Soviet states.
The scheme marketed itself as an “automatic profit generation system,” promising returns of up to 30% monthly on cryptocurrency deposits. Finiko’s founders, led by Kirill Doronin, created an elaborate facade of legitimacy through professional marketing materials and large-scale promotional events. The project particularly appealed to those new to cryptocurrency investment, positioning itself as a safe haven during economic turbulence.
What set this among other big crypto scams was its sophisticated multi-level marketing approach combined with religious undertones. Doronin, a former Buddhist monk turned crypto entrepreneur, leveraged his religious background to build trust within communities.
Investigations revealed that Finiko had operated as a classic Ponzi scheme, using new investments to pay earlier investors while funneling massive amounts of cryptocurrency into the founders’ personal wallets. Blockchain analysis showed that the project had received over 800,000 separate deposits in Bitcoin alone.
The scheme’s collapse began in July 2021 when Russian authorities arrested Doronin and several key team members. Many victims lost their life savings, having been convinced to convert traditional assets into cryptocurrency for investment in the scheme. Russian authorities have since identified over 5,000 victims, though the actual number is believed to be much higher, with many victims reluctant to come forward.
14. LUNA,Terra & UST: The Big Crypto Scams That Shocked 2022
The collapse of Terra/LUNA represents one of the most technically sophisticated big crypto scams that devastated the cryptocurrency market in 2022. It all started from the Terra blockchain ecosystem created by Do Kwon.
Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin, UST, was supposed to maintain a 1:1 peg to the US dollar through a system of arbitrage with its sister token, LUNA. The system appeared revolutionary, offering users up to 20% annual yields through the Anchor Protocol.
However, in May 2022, coordinated selling pressure caused UST to lose its dollar peg. This triggered a death spiral: as UST depegged, more LUNA was minted to restore the peg, causing hyperinflation in LUNA’s supply. As panic set in, UST holders sold off their coins, causing a death spiral that drop the price of both UST and LUNA. Within days, both tokens became nearly worthless, wiping out over $40 billion in value from the market.
Despite being marketed as a decentralized alternative to traditional stablecoins, the system’s flaws were revealed and millions of investors were left with huge losses. Do Kwon was accused of orchestrating one of the biggest big crypto scams through market manipulation and misleading marketing. He later faced multiple arrest warrants and was eventually arrested in Montenegro in 2023.
15. FTX: The Fall of The Second-Biggest Exchange
The FTX collapse stands as perhaps the most notorious among big crypto scams in the industry’s history, sending shockwaves through the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem. Founded by Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), FTX grew to become the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange globally, valued at $32 billion at its peak.
The exchange’s downfall began in November 2022 when investigations revealed that Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, had been using customer funds for risky trading activities. CoinDesk’s report exposing Alameda’s balance sheet, heavily loaded with FTX’s native token FTT, triggered a bank run on the exchange.
As customers rushed to withdraw their assets, FTX was unable to cover the withdrawals, exposing its precarious financial position. Within days, FTX faced an $8 billion hole in its balance sheet, leading to its bankruptcy filing.
The scandal revealed systematic misuse of customer funds, with Sam Bankman-Fried and his inner circle allegedly using FTX as their personal piggy bank. Customer deposits were used to fund luxury real estate purchases, political donations, and high-risk trading strategies.
The collapse affected millions of users worldwide and led to criminal charges against SBF and other executives. This case has become a watershed moment for cryptocurrency regulation and institutional oversight.
Conclusion
These big crypto scams have taught valuable lessons to the cryptocurrency community and potential investors. While the blockchain industry has made significant strides in security and transparency, investors must remain vigilant and apply lessons learned from these historical frauds to avoid future schemes.
As the saying goes in the crypto community: “Don’t trust, verify”, always stay informed with the latest news and crypto insights from FMCPAY. By doing proper research, diversifying, and maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism, you can protect yourself against falling victim to future big crypto scams.