On Oct. 14, the BBC wrote that Jen McAdam, a duped OneCoin digital currency investor, reported a slew of messages she received, threatening her with death and violence, to the police in Scotland.
Glasgow-based Jen McAdam claims supporters of the alleged OneCoin pyramid scheme are sending her death threats, mainly through Facebook.
McAdams added that there are around 70,000 OneCoin victims in the U.K., “but it feels as if they are being left behind, nobody here seems interested in this.»
Death threats reported to the police
McAdam claims that the threats are part of a coordinated attack by OneCoin supporters, adding:
«It is horrible, the abuse is vile and the threats feel very real to me, I’m always looking over my shoulder now. It is taking its toll on my health but I will not give up until me and the thousands of other OneCoin victims like me see some form of justice.»
McAdam, who is part of the Cryptoqueen BBC Sounds podcast, which investigates the alleged pyramid scheme, had invested thousands of dollars of her own money into the scheme. Later, she persuaded her family and friends to do the same, who together put in about $277,000. She said:
«I know through the different victims’ groups around the world that it is people just like me who are affected. They invested their life savings, they remortgaged homes and they convinced their friends and family to get involved and they feel as awful as I do about it all because we were all duped.”
Founders of OneCoin pyramid scheme arrested
Cointelegraph reported in March 2019, that a United States District Attorney had charged the founders of the international crypto Ponzi scheme that involved the marketing of the allegedly fraudulent digital currency OneCoin. The siblings and founders of OneCoin, Konstantin Ignatov and his sister Ruja Ignatova, were reportedly arrested on March 6, 2019, in Los Angeles. The siblings were accused of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering offenses.
VC Giant Grayscale Investments Reports Record-Breaking Year
Venture capital firm Grayscale Investments banked a stellar 2019 to surpass the $1 billion mark in total investments.
By the numbers
In a comprehensive eighteen-page report, the firm touted a record Q4 in 2019. It raised $225.5 million into its investment products, lifting the year’s inflow to $607.7 million after back-to-back quarterlies over $225 million, possibly signaling a larger market trend.
71 percent of the year’s inflow sprung from institutional investors. Managing director Michael Sonnenshein told Cointelegraph:
“We saw record-breaking investment into Grayscale’s family of products, illustrating continued demand from investors for digital currency access products and with a majority of investment coming from institutions, it’s clear that we’re experiencing institutional adoption.”
Existing clients amassed 75% of capital raised. 36% of Grayscale clients now use multiple company products. The company saw its client base grow by 24%.
Grayscale investors love Bitcoin
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which Cointelegraph first reported on last year, led 2019’s investment demand with $471.7 total – $193.8 million of it raised in Q4, another historical high for the New York-based firm.
Signaling a shift among traditional institutions, communications director Marissa Arnold told Cointelegraph, “As the largest digital currency asset manager, we feel that our numbers are indicative of broader market sentiment and institutional flows into digital currency.”
As younger investors continue finding Bitcoin and other digital currencies safer investments, especially as Bitcoin enjoys a slight surge, this may be the case.
Projecting the larger crypto market, Arnold added:
“The asset class is experiencing increased validation from legacy companies like Fidelity and CME, signaling to institutions and the investment community as a whole that crypto as an asset class is here to stay.”
