The 5 Largest Crypto Fraud Cases in History

The world of crypto has seen some of the most sophisticated financial crimes in history, with billions stolen from investors, exchanges, and protocols. While innovation in the sector has brought many benefits, it has also attracted fraudsters who exploit regulatory gaps and unsuspecting users.

Here are five of the largest crypto scams in history that resulted to mission of losses for investors and customers:

1. FTX (2022)

Losses:  $8 Billion

What happened?

The FTX scandal was one of the biggest financial disasters in crypto history, shaking the industry to its core. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of FTX, secretly diverted billions of dollars in customer deposits into his trading firm, Alameda Research, through a hidden loophole that let Alameda withdraw money from the clients’ funds without any limitations. Customer funds should be safeguarded. However, FTX through Alameda used them to do risky investments, buy luxury properties, to do political donations, and even personal loans to top executives.

 When questions about FTX’s finances started surfacing in November 2022, panic spread, and customers rushed to withdraw their money—only to discover that $8 billion had vanished. The crisis quickly spiraled out of control, and FTX collapsed almost overnight.

2. OneCoin (2014–2017)

Losses: $4 billion

What happened?

The OneCoin scam was one of the biggest cryptocurrency frauds in history, stealing over $4 billion from investors worldwide. Ruja Ignatova, known as the "Crypto Queen," created OneCoin in 2014, falsely claiming it was a cryptocurrency to compete Bitcoin. In reality though, OneCoin had no blockchain, and its value was entirely fake. Ignatova and her team ran a Ponzi scheme, using aggressive marketing and false promises of high returns to lure victims.

The fraud collapsed in 2017 when authorities exposed it. Ignatova disappeared and remains one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives. Her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, and co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, admitting OneCoin was a scam from the start.

3. BitConnect (2016–2018)

Losses: $2.5 billion

What happened:

BitConnect, founded by Satish Kumbhani, defrauded investors of $2.4 billion through a fraudulent “Lending Program.” Investors were told that BitConnect’s "Trading Bot" and "Volatility Software" could generate guaranteed profits by trading crypto market fluctuations. However, no such technology existed. Instead, BitConnect operated as a Ponzi scheme, using new investor funds to pay earlier ones. When the scheme collapsed in 2018, thousands of investors lost their money.

4. PlusToken (2019)

Losses: $2 billion

What happened: Between 2018 and 2019, PlusToken operated as a crypto wallet and investment scheme that promised high returns to users. Behind the scenes, it was a Ponzi scheme that siphoned Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other assets from millions of investors. The fraudsters cashed out billions before authorities in China arrested 109 individuals linked to the scam. However, much of the stolen crypto remains unaccounted for, making it one of the largest unsolved crypto frauds.

5. Thodex (2021)

Losses: $2 billion

What happened? What happened? What happened? What happened? Thodex was a Turkish cryptocurrency exchange that suddenly stopped its trading activities in April 2021, locking out over 400,000 users from accessing their funds. Its CEO, Faruk Fatih Özer, fled the country with an estimated $2 billion in customer assets. He was later arrested in Albania, extradicted to Turkey where he was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison.

Lessons Learned from the Largest Crypto Fraud

These scams show how easily fraudsters can exploit trust and excitement. Many people believed in promises of huge returns, only to lose everything when the truth came out. Especially when it comes to investing always do your due diligence, question everything, and never invest blindly. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.