It has been some time since we last heard from OneCoin. The notorious Ponzi scheme is under investigation in several countries including Italy and the United Kingdom. The One Life Network, the company behind OneCoin, has now been fined 2.5 million euros for its misleading promotional campaigns. Slowly but surely, the end is approaching for OneCoin.
Governments are not taking kindly to OneCoin. The investment promises its users the stars and the moon if they invest in this program. Investors will not be required to do anything in return for said riches (although recruiting new users is always appreciated and rewarded). According to advertisements running across Italy, investing 27,530 EUR would result in a three million euro payday after two years. It is an appealing but entirely fake offer.
Such false advertising attracted the attention of Italy’s Competition Authority a few months ago. After the organization announced an official investigation regarding this Ponzi scheme, nothing was heard from it for a while. That situation has now changed. The Authority has taken a closer look at OneCoin and the One Life Network, and found its virtual money and training packages to be not entirely transparent. In fact, according to the investigating body, some of the information is outright misleading.
According to the Authority, OneCoin displays myriad “pyramid scheme characteristics.” Users of the scheme have been uttering similar sentiments for quite some time now. The investigative body also seized several OneCoin-related domains registered with Italian service providers. They include the OneCoinItalia and OneCoinItaliaOfficial domain names. It is good to see these getting shut down by government officials.
One of the main reasons why the Competition Authority is not too keen on OneCoin is the latter’s creation of virtual tokens. According to the website, it owns a blockchain system capable of mining OneCoins. These coins are then sold to new users, effectively driving up the value of every coin in circulation. However, users cannot use these coins beyond the One Life Network itself, let alone withdraw them to a private wallet.
The Italian investigation revealed that none of those claims could be validated at this time. This confirms that there is no blockchain, mining, or even digital currency involved in OneCoin. Instead, users are paid on the basis of recruiting high-profit prospects by ensuring other people will purchase OneCoin packages in the future. That is, of course, a classic Ponzi scheme structure. Programs like these deserve to be punished, since they will cause lot of unsuspecting people to lose their hard-earned money.
With a 2.595 million EUR fine now due, things are looking rather bleak for OneCoin right now. The company has yet to issue a response regarding these findings. It appears the One Life Network itself must cough up 2 million euros, and the related One Network Services another half a million. Other companies mentioned include Easy Life Srl, OneCoinItalia, OneCoinitaliaOfficial, and OneCoinsuedTirol. A lot of money will need to change hands, although it is highly doubtful that the One Life Network will cough up the funds without a fight. We eagerly await an official statement from the OneCoin team regarding this decision.
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