TL;DR: The Missing Cryptoqueen is an international hit. It’s a real-time podcast serial on the BBC, and everyone is addicted to listening. We dive deep, really, really deep, into one of the show’s true hero’s backstory. Tim Tayshun was among the first to warn about OneCoin and Dr. Ruja, and he’s spent years documenting what he considers to be the biggest scam in crypto history. This episode is available embedded in the article below, and on iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Radio Public, Breaker, PocketCasts, PodBean, YouTube for Newer Episodes, YouTube Older Episodes, and Overcast.

The Missing Cryptoqueen Hero: Tim Tayshun Tried to Warn About OneCoin

Dr. Ruja Ignatova was little-known to cryptocurrency enthusiasts, and maybe that was on purpose. The charismatic founder of OneCoin, supposed crypto to rival and eventually best Bitcoin, took her claims not to ecosystem veterans but instead to the subculture of multi-level marketing (MLM). It really is a world of its own, and it preys on classic Ponzi structures where the product matters little, hype is everything, and evangelization to get new money in rules adherents.

OneCoin burst onto the MLM scene nearly four years ago, around the time Bitcoin and other cryptos began to takeoff. The nascent Bitcoin technology minted newly rich folks who the media profiled as being outside of traditional legacy finance. Dr. Ruja seized that press wave and its rhetoric, building a many billions of euros-funded project you’ve never heard of.

And by late 2017, as crypto market price fever reached a kind of mania unseen in modern times, Dr. Ruja vanished. Poof. Gone. Without a trace. Some two years later, investigative journalist, BBC Sounds Jamie Bartlett, picked up the trail of Dr. Ruja, documenting both her and OneCoin’s murky history and present-day exploits. The saga makes for a fantastic podcast story arc, spread out over 8 episodes.

A key turning point in The Missing Cryptoqueen is Tim Tayshun, an American Bitcoiner with an insatiable lust for digging to get at the truth. He turns out to be a real-life heroic figure in the binge-worthy serial, warning folks he’d never met, pleading with them to read his research and listen to his arguments for no other reason than wanting to preserve the integrity of the cryptocurrency idea. Strap-in, CoinSpicers, this is a long episode but well-worth the slog. It’s time to get inspired.

LINKS

CoinSpice Podcast 53 Host C. Edward Kelso Tim Tayshun Twitter OneCoin Insider Twitter The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast



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