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Crypto queen Ruja Ignatova’s connections to the Bulgarian underworld are missing
Image source, Shutterstock
Image caption, Ruja Ignatova has not been seen since she took a flight from Sofia to Athens in October 2017About the item
- Author, BBC Eye Investigations, Panorama team and The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast
- Role, BBC World Service and BBC News
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3 hours ago
In September 2019 a BBC podcast began reporting the extraordinary story of Ruja Ignatova, a Bulgarian woman wanted by the FBI after scamming investors out of $4.5 billion (£3.54 billion) through her fake cryptocurrency , before vanishing into thin air.
Now we have gone on his trail to try to discover his fate. BBC Eye Investigations and Panorama examined her close links to a suspected Bulgarian organized crime boss and allegations that she was brutally murdered. Did Ignatova enjoy the stolen billions or was she killed by the same people paid to protect her?
Oxford University graduate Ruja Ignatova was born in Bulgaria and raised in Germany, pursuing a successful career in finance before launching the OneCoin cryptocurrency in 2014.
Ignatova convinced millions of people around the world to invest in OneCoin, promising to eclipse the kind of huge returns seen by early Bitcoin investors.
But in reality, Ms. Ignatova – known to many as Dr. Ruja – had created a cleverly disguised investment fraud, without the digital documentation that underlies legitimate cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
When German and US investigators closed in on Ms Ignatova in October 2017, she took an early morning Ryanair flight from Sofia to Athens, never to be seen again.
Over the past year, BBC World Service’s Eye Investigations and Panorama have tried to find out more about what happened to her and whether she is alive.
The key to this was establishing who his inner circle was.
Richard Reinhardt, who initiated the OneCoin investigation for the US Internal Revenue Service alongside the FBI, spoke to the BBC about a key figure who investigators had never publicly named before.
The Missing Crypto Queen: Dead or Alive?
The CEO of the fake cryptocurrency OneCoin, Ruja Ignatova, is the FBI’s most wanted woman. She stole billions and then she disappeared. New evidence reveals what may have happened. Did she disappear or was she killed?
Dr. Ruja Ignatova’s research takes an unexpected turn when a story emerges that she was murdered. But since the sightings of Dr. Ruja keep coming, can it be true?
The BBC believes this is the man who was assigned the role of keeping Ms Ignatova safe: Hristoforos Nikos Amanatidis, commonly known as Taki.
“We were told that supposedly a major drug trafficker was responsible for his physical safety,” Reinhardt told us in his first interview since retiring at the end of 2023.
“Taki came up more than once, it wasn’t an isolated case. It was a recurring theme.”
This fit with information we already had: US government lawyers had said in 2019 that Ms Ignatova’s security chief was a major organized crime figure in Bulgaria, but they had not named him.
“We have evidence that a very important, if not the most prolific drug trafficker of all time in Bulgaria, was closely linked to OneCoin – served as [Ruja Ignatova’s] personal security guard,” an assistant lawyer said.
This was the same “security chief” who, according to another US government lawyer, was “involved in the disappearance” of Ms. Ignatova in court the day before.
Image caption, Richard Reinhardt, the former IRS investigator who opened the OneCoin case
According to Reinhardt, Ignatova was a much more sophisticated criminal than most people realize.
“It’s like a white-collar criminal combined with a drug trafficker or a mobster on steroids.”
This theory appears to be supported by leaked Europol documents, seen by the BBC, which show that – before Ignatova’s disappearance in 2017 – Bulgarian police had established links between her and Taki.
In the documents, police suspect Taki of using OneCoin’s financial network to launder drug trafficking proceeds.
In his native Bulgaria, Taki has an almost mythical status: an El Chapo or Pablo Escobar. He is widely suspected of being the head of a Bulgarian organized crime syndicate and a prolific drug trafficker. He and his associates were investigated there for armed robbery, drug trafficking and murder, but he was never successfully prosecuted for anything.
Image caption, At one time, Taki was the subject of an Interpol “Red Notice”.
“When we talk about Taki, he is the head of the mafia in Bulgaria. He is extremely powerful,” says a former Bulgarian deputy minister, Ivan Hristanov, who investigated allegations in 2022 that Taki ran a criminal network with the help of corrupt officials—and believes that was indeed the case.
“Taki is the ghost. You’ll never see it. We only hear about him. He is speaking to you through other people. If you don’t listen, you disappear from the earth.”
“The only person who can protect her [Ignatova] from all those investigations, including those by foreign agencies, it was Taki.”
The BBC has written to the Bulgarian government regarding allegations involving corrupt officials. He didn’t answer. The prosecutor’s office in the capital Sofia says it “does not cover crimes and people who may have committed crimes.”
Taki is now believed to live in Dubai, where Ms Ignatova bought a luxury penthouse and where her bank accounts received tens of millions of dollars from the OneCoin fraud.
While it is not known how Taki and Ms. Ignatova met, or whether he was involved with OneCoin from the beginning, several sources say they had a close personal relationship and that he was her daughter’s godfather.
A Bulgarian source close to Ignatova told the BBC that she may have paid Taki up to 100,000 euros a month for protection.
There appear to be other financial links between Ms. Ignatova and Taki.
Europol documents mention a complex deal for the sale of a plot of land, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, linking one of Ignatova’s companies to Taki’s wife.
The secret police documents were passed to the BBC by Frank Schneider, Ignatova’s former spy and advisor, now missing.
He told us his old boss worked with “crooks” and “gangsters.”
Image caption, A few months after he spoke to us, Frank Schneider also passed away
When we interviewed Mr. Schneider at his home in France, he was under house arrest, awaiting extradition to the United States in connection with the OneCoin scam. However, he was not willing to reveal names.
“I won’t tell you who, because I have a family… This is real, serious organized crime.”
But in the end, Ignatova’s pimp may have become an aggressor.
In 2022, Bulgarian investigative journalist Dimitar Stoyanov and his colleagues at the investigative newspaper bird.bg received a police report that a murdered Bulgarian police officer had been found at the home.
In the document, a police informant says he heard Taki’s brother-in-law drunkenly say that Ms Ignatova had been murdered on Taki’s orders in late 2018 and that her body had been dismembered and dumped from a yacht in the Ionian Sea. Stoyanov says this account is “very, very possible.”
The authenticity of the police document has been confirmed by Bulgarian officials, and several of Taki’s criminal associates believe the theory that he had her murdered is true, Stoyanov says.
However, the BBC was unable to independently verify the claim.
The associates’ logic was that the wanted Miss Ignatova became an obstacle for Taki, who wished to eliminate her ties to the OneCoin fraud.
Among these is Krasimir Kamenov, known as Kuro, wanted by Interpol on murder charges.
Mr. Stoyanov says that Kuro told him that he had overheard Taki discussing his criminal business in front of Ms. Ignatova, and when Kuro challenged Taki whether he should do so, Taki responded: “Don’t worry, she’s practically dead. “
Kuro had also claimed to have spoken to the CIA about Taki, including the allegation that Taki had ordered Ms Ignatova’s murder. Sources close to Kuro confirmed to the BBC that this meeting took place in late 2022.
In May 2023, Kuro was murdered in his Cape Town home, along with his wife and two others who worked for him. South African police are still searching for the killers, but former Bulgarian deputy minister Hristanov believes Kuro’s murder is linked to Taki.
“Some people had to be turned away because they knew too much about Taki.
“It was a kind of public execution that felt more like a statement. Be careful who you deal with,” she told us.
Since publishing allegations about Ignatova’s murder, journalist Dimitar Stoyanov says he and his colleagues have faced death threats, forcing him to temporarily leave Bulgaria for the fourth time in his career.
Mr Stoyanov does not claim to know the motive for the alleged murder, but property records show, and eyewitnesses have told him, that since his disappearance, a number of his Bulgarian properties are now used by people linked to Taki.
Image caption: Evidence suggests Ruja Ignatova mansions are now being used by people linked to Taki
Taki was never arrested on charges of having Ignatova killed. His body was never found and investigators say they don’t have enough evidence to prosecute him.
But former IRS investigator Richard Reinhardt believes Ignatova is probably dead. While he hasn’t seen any evidence linking her death to Taki, he says she fits the way drug cartels operate.
“There is no honor among thieves… knowing how violent the cartels are, if [Taki] he thought she was a threat to him…he probably would have taken her out instead of getting caught.”
The BBC wrote to Taki’s lawyers about the allegations in this investigation but they did not respond.
In 2022, Ignatova was placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, where she remains to this day.
The BBC team behind the podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen received various sightings and tip-offs about Ms Ignatova’s whereabouts following her alleged murder, including details of a failed police operation in Greece to capture her in 2022.
It could be that the rumors of his death are just another brilliant ploy to throw everyone off track.
If so, as the years go by it will probably become increasingly difficult for her to stay on the run.
“At some point it seems that Elvis Presley is still alive… It’s not very likely,” says Hristanov.
According to Reinhardt, the FBI “doesn’t just keep people inside [the] The top ten of entertainment”. But they would only remove someone if there was “definitive proof” of his death. And given the circumstances, with Ruja Ignatova there may never be one.
And that means that, at least for now, the missing Cryptoqueen remains a hunted woman.
If you have any information about Dr Ruja Ignatova, you can email BBC journalists at cryptoqueen@bbc.co.uk
News
US Cryptocurrency Rules Delayed by ‘Never-Ending’ Lawsuits
Ripple CEO says cryptocurrency industry still seeking regulatory clarity from US
Speaking to Bloomberg News on Wednesday (July 17), Author: Brad Garlinghouse he said America is behind behind other countries which have already adopted cryptocurrency regulations.
“What we’re seeing, where it’s the UK, Japan, Singapore… even the European Union, more than two dozen countries have come together to provide a framework for cryptocurrency regulation,” Garlinghouse said.
“It’s frustrating that we as a country can’t get that regulatory framework in place. And instead, we have this never-ending lawsuit coming from the SEC that doesn’t really address the problem.”
Ripple has been the target of some of these legal disputes. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company in 2020, accusing it of conducting a $1.3 billion operation offering of unregistered securities tied to its XRP token.
However, last year a judge ruled that only Ripple’s institutional sales of XRP, not retail sales, violated the law, a decision widely seen as a victory for the cryptocurrency industry.
As PYMNTS noted at the time, that ruling has “far-reaching repercussions impact across the digital asset ecosystem, which has long maintained that its tokens do not represent securities contracts.”
However, Garlinghouse told Bloomberg on Wednesday that the company cannot wage multimillion-dollar legal battles over each token.
He spoke to the news agency from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where the party is backing the candidacies of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, both of whom are considered pro-cryptocurrency.
But Garlinghouse argued that cryptocurrencies “should not be a partisan issue,” and noted that he had recently attended a conference in Washington that included Democrats, including White House officials.
“I think they were there, listening to the industry… it was refreshing to start having that conversation,” she said.
President Joe Biden earlier this year he vetoed a measure which would have ended the SEC’s special rules for crypto-asset custodians. This legislation was supported by both the digital asset industry and the banking industry.
Ripple early this year donated $25 million to the cryptocurrency industry’s super PAC Fair Smoothiewith Garlinghouse stating at the time that such donations would continue every year, as long as the industry had its detractors.
Second Open SecretsWhich monitor spending For campaigns, the PAC has spent $13.4 million this year, much of it to help defeat Rep. Katie Porter’s (D-Calif.) U.S. Senate campaign.
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The Future of Cybersecurity in the Cryptocurrency Industry
The cryptocurrency space has had a tumultuous journey, with its fair share of ups and downs. As we look to the future, one area that remains a constant focus is cybersecurity. The digital nature of cryptocurrencies makes them inherently vulnerable to cyber threats, and as the industry evolves, so does the landscape of potential risks.
In 2022, the cryptocurrency market faced significant challenges, with over $2 trillion in market value lost. This event served as a wake-up call for the industry, highlighting the need for robust cybersecurity measures. The future of cryptocurrency security is expected to see a shift towards more regulated and established institutions taking the reins of crypto technology and blockchain infrastructure.
The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies offers numerous benefits, such as transparency and financial inclusion. However, it also introduces unique security challenges. The risk landscape is filled with threats such as hacking, phishing, ransomware attacks, malware, and social engineering. These threats not only lead to financial losses, but also damage the reputation and trust within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
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The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies offers many benefits, but it also presents unique security challenges. Cyber risks such as hacking, phishing, and ransomware pose threats to the integrity of digital assets. The infrastructure that supports cryptocurrencies is not immune to vulnerabilities, including smart contract flaws and exchange hacks.
To address these vulnerabilities, the infrastructure that supports cryptocurrencies must be strengthened. Smart contract vulnerabilities, exchange hacks, wallet breaches, and flaws in the underlying blockchain technology are significant concerns that must be addressed to ensure the security and integrity of digital assets.
As cybercriminal tactics and techniques become more sophisticated, the cryptocurrency industry must stay ahead of the curve. The future will likely see more targeted attacks, exploiting weaknesses in infrastructure, networks, and human factors. This requires a proactive and multifaceted approach to cybersecurity.
To mitigate these risks, several measures must be adopted:
Strengthening security measures: Developers, exchanges, and wallet providers must improve security protocols, use strong encryption, implement multi-factor authentication, and conduct regular security audits.
Education and awareness: Users should be educated on best practices for protecting their digital assets, including using strong passwords, recognizing phishing attempts, and using hardware wallets for secure storage.
Looking ahead, the cryptocurrency industry is expected to see an increased focus on robust security measures. Blockchain projects and exchanges are likely to invest in advanced encryption techniques and decentralized storage solutions to protect user assets. The future impact of cyber risk on cryptocurrencies will depend on the collective efforts of stakeholders to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security measures.
Collective efforts by stakeholders in the cryptocurrency space are crucial to address vulnerabilities and strengthen security measures. While challenges persist, advances in cybersecurity technologies and practices offer hope for a more secure and resilient cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The future of cybersecurity in the cryptocurrency industry depends on finding a balance between innovation and regulation. It requires a collaborative effort from all parties involved, from developers to end users, to create a secure environment that fosters trust and growth in the industry. As we move forward, it is critical that lessons learned from past events guide the development of stronger security measures, ensuring the longevity and stability of cryptocurrencies as a vital part of the modern economic toolkit.
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Bullish XRP and RLBK price predictions rise, outpacing the broader cryptocurrency market, prompting Shiba Inu holders to switch!
Bitcoin’s one-week surge from $60,000 has pushed other cryptocurrencies into an uptrend. However, for many altcoins, this trend has been temporary. Altcoins such as XRP and Shiba Inu (SHIB) have experienced price drops. However, Rollblock, a new altcoin on the Ethereum blockchain, has thrived during this period, attracting thousands of investors looking for long-term growth.
XRP’s Nearly 30% Growth Over Last Week Drops as Selling Pressure Increases
XRP is seeing further price decline as Ripple investors withdraw their profits from the token. The surge in XRP’s price to $0.64 in the past week has provided investors with a perfect opportunity to increase their returns in the short term. With the ongoing sell-off in XRP, XRP has jumped over 8% in the past day and is now trading at $0.59. However, analysts tracking XRP indicators predict that XRP could still extend its gains by over 30% in the coming weeks.
Shiba Inu (SHIB) marks its third consecutive day of losses
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is in a period of adjustment after a week of strong gains. In the last 24 hours, SHIB has seen a jump of over 7%, reflecting a natural market fluctuation. Analysts are observing a death cross on the Shiba Inu chart, which historically signals the potential for future opportunities as the market stabilizes. As investors explore new possibilities, some are diversifying into promising altcoins like Rollblock (RBLK) to strategically rebalance their portfolios and capitalize on the emerging trend.
Rollblock (RBLK) Up Another 7% as New Investors Join Pre-Sale
Rollblock (RBLK) has taken the cryptocurrency market by storm, having attracted investors from more popular altcoins like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and XRP. Rollblock’s growth is attributed to its utility in the $450 billion global gaming industry.
Rollblock aims to use blockchain technology to bridge the gap between centralized and decentralized gambling. With blockchain technology, Rollblock secures every transaction in its online casino, providing transparency and convenience to millions of players who are uncomfortable placing bets on other iGaming platforms.
This innovative use of blockchain technology in the industry has grown Rollblock to over 4,000 new users in less than two months. With plans to add sports betting, this number is expected to grow exponentially in Q3.
Rollblock uses a revenue sharing model that splits up to 30% of its casino’s weekly profits with token holders. This happens after Rollblock buys back $RBLK from the open market and uses half of it for rewards. The other half is burned to increase the price of $RBLK.
Rollblock price has seen four increases in the past month with $RBLK tokens now selling for $0.017. Analysts predict that at the current growth rate, Rollblock could increase by over 800% before the presale ends. For investors looking for a long-term token with growth potential, phase four is the best time to buy Rollblock before its price skyrockets!
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Texas Crypto Miners Turn to AI as Crypto Declines
As cryptocurrency mining becomes less profitable, Texas cryptocurrency mining companies are switching to supporting artificial intelligence companies.
Bitcoin miners, with their sprawling data centers and access to significant energy resources, are ideally suited for computationally intensive AI operations, and as cryptocurrency mining becomes less profitable, companies see this shift as a logical answer to their problems.
On Thursday, Houston-based Lancium and Denver-based Crusoe Energy Systems announced a multibillion-dollar deal to build a 200-megawatt data center near the West Texas city of Abilene to support advanced artificial intelligence applications such as medical research and aircraft design, CNBC reported. The plant represents the first phase of a larger 1.2 gigawatt project.
Lancium and Crusoe’s move into AI mirrors a broader trend among bitcoin miners. The combined market capitalization of the top U.S.-listed bitcoin miners hit a record $22.8 billion in June. Companies like Bit Digital and Hut 8 are diversifying into AI, with Bit Digital securing a $92 million annual revenue deal to supply Nvidia GPUs and Hut 8 raising $150 million to expand its AI data center.
But the growing popularity of these operations also presents challenges, particularly for the Texas power grid. Last month, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced that the state is expected to nearly double its energy production by 2030 to meet the high energy demands of data centers and cryptocurrency operations.
Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick expressed concern about the projections.
“Cryptocurrency miners and data centers will account for more than 50% of the additional growth. We need to take a close look at these two sectors,” He wrote on Twitter/X. “They produce very few jobs compared to the incredible demands they place on our network. Cryptocurrency miners could actually make more money selling electricity to the network than they do from their cryptocurrency mining operations.”
Analysts predict significant growth in data center power capacity, which is expected to account for up to 9% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030.
The operations also pose challenges for nearby cities. Earlier this month, TIME reported that a crypto-mining facility was seriously compromising the health of residents in the city of Granbury. TIME reported more than 40 people with serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and hearing loss. At least 10 of the residents needed to go to the emergency room or an urgent care facility.
The disturbances were caused by the extreme noise generated by the crypto-mining facility’s fans, which are used to keep the machines cool. While the proposed data center in Abilene would use liquid cooling systems, it’s still unclear whether the facility’s operations would pose a health risk to local residents.
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