QUADRIGA INITIATIVE
CRYPTO WATCHDOG & FRAUD RECOVERY PLATFORM
A COMMUNITY-BASED, NOT-FOR-PROFIT
$6 000 000 000 USD
JUNE 2019
SOUTH KOREA
PLUSTOKEN
DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS
“US$2.9 billion worth of deposits appear to have been lost when Chinese police broke up an alleged Ponzi scheme involving the purportedly South Korea-based crypto wallet and exchange, PlusToken.” “In late June, PlusToken users began to experience trouble withdrawing custodial crypto assets. On June users found that withdrawals on the PlusToken app were frozen due to alleged “technical difficulties,” but by June 29 the PlusToken app had completely shut down due to alleged “system maintenance.””
"On July 31, Chinese authorities arrested 109 people suspected of involvement in the PlusToken cryptocurrency fraud ring. The South Korean Ponzi scheme was advertised as a high-yield investment for crypto traders, with the company claiming investors would achieve 9% to 18% monthly returns."
"Members were encouraged to bring others into the fold in exchange for a commission, creating a Ponzi scheme of massive proportions. Last year, the operators of PlusToken performed a suspected exit from their scam, in which roughly $3 billion was withdrawn from the accounts of up to four million users who suddenly found themselves unable to access their funds. The Chinese Ministry of Public Security says that they have 27 "major criminal suspects" and a further 82 "key" members of PlusToken in police custody."
"As this case keeps unfolding, the real scope of the financial damage continues to come to light. The original estimate of the amount stolen was $3 billion, but Chinese media outlet Chain News now suggests that $6 billion was stolen from investors."
From the looks of it, this has little to do with the exchange itself; however it’s worth noting that even today little is known about the incident. The main issues were that you had unknown people running the operation and they had no intent on honouring anything.
Chainalysis Blog | PlusToken Scammers Didn’t Just Steal $2+ Billion Worth of Cryptocurrency. They May Also Be Driving Down the Price of Bitcoin. [UPDATED 3/12/2020] (Feb 23)
On-Chain Bitcoin Analysis Reveals New Depth of PlusToken Scam | Crypto Briefing (Feb 23)
Is PlusToken Scam About to Dump ETH? $105M Moves to Unknown Wallet (Feb 23)
PlusToken Scam Moves $123M in Bitcoin Just as BTC Price Regains $10K (Feb 23)
CipherTrace Cryptocurrency Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Report 2020 (Jun 20)
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/69432/eth-transactions-plustoken-ponzi (Apr 10)
