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Digital Audiobook
The Missing Cryptoqueen by Jamie Bartlett

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The Missing Cryptoqueen

Publisher
Ebury Publishing
Publish Date
23 June 2022
Run Time
8 hours 20 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

175 countries, four billion dollars, one scam: the inside story of the world's biggest crypto con and the woman who got away with it.


In 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 dozens of countries, from the USA to Pakistan, Hong Kong to Yemen, and the UK to Brazil. But by October 2017, Ruja Ignatova had disappeared, and it slowly became clear that her revolutionary cryptocurrency was not all it seemed.

In The Missing Cryptoqueen, Jamie Bartlett tells the unbelievable story of the rise, disappearance and fall of Dr Ruja Ignatova, setting out on a globe-crossing investigation into the criminal underworlds, corrupt governments and the super-rich. Along the way, he reveals a very modern tale of intrigue, techno-hype and herd madness that allowed OneCoin to become a million person pyramid scheme - where, at the top, investors were making millions and, at the bottom, people were putting their livelihoods at risk. It's the inside story of the smartest and biggest scam of the 21st Century - and the genius behind it, who is still on the run.

© Jamie Bartlett 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Critics Review

  • The Missing Cryptoqueen investigates a con that made Theranos look like small fry... The tragic account of how it happened is an astonishing read, plunging you into a toxic world of Insta-wealth, betrayal and ruthless ambition

    The Telegraph

  • A great story and a spectacular con

    The Spectator

  • Outrageously entertaining... populated with the kind of gaudy crooks, ambitious crackpots and tragically hopeful hustlers we'd expect from a Coen brothers comedy. One can only hope this shocking, compulsively readable story serves as a cautionary tale

    Irish Times

  • A story of a very modern scam full of intrigue

    The i

See more reviews
  • A gripping read. Jamie Bartlett races through this compelling tale of corruption, ambition and intrigue

    Irish Independent

  • Bartlett skilfully [presents] OneCoin's turbulent history like a thriller

    Reaction (Books Digest)

  • The most gripping podcast since Serial

    Telegraph

  • The best podcast yet produced by BBC … form-defining

    New Statesman

  • A brilliant slow-burner

    Financial Times

  • Hugely gripping

    Guardian

User Reviews

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Details

Author
Jamie Bartlett
Narrator
Jamie Bartlett
Duration
8 hours 20 minutes
Release Date
23 June 2022
ISBN
9781473599093
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Ebury Publishing
Genre
True crime, Fraud, Corruption in politics, government and society

Synopsis

Brought to you by Penguin.175 countries, four billion dollars, one scam: the inside story of the world's biggest crypto con and the woman who got away with it.In 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 dozens of countries, from the USA to Pakistan, Hong Kong to Yemen, and the UK to Brazil. But by October 2017, Ruja Ignatova had disappeared, and it slowly became clear that her revolutionary cryptocurrency was not all it seemed.In The Missing Cryptoqueen, Jamie Bartlett tells the unbelievable story of the rise, disappearance and fall of Dr Ruja Ignatova, setting out on a globe-crossing investigation into the criminal underworlds, corrupt governments and the super-rich. Along the way, he reveals a very modern tale of intrigue, techno-hype and herd madness that allowed OneCoin to become a million person pyramid scheme - where, at the top, investors were making millions and, at the bottom, people were putting their livelihoods at risk. It's the inside story of the smartest and biggest scam of the 21st Century - and the genius behind it, who is still on the run.© Jamie Bartlett 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

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