The Bank of Portugal has joined a long list of regulators that have warned the public that OneCoin is a scam.
The central bank warns that OneCoin Network Limited, OneCoin Limited, and One Network Services Ltd, from Belize, Dubai, and Bulgaria respectively, are not allowed to receive deposits or other repayable funds in the country.
The applies whether the organisations are acting under their own name or through third parties under the names Onecoin and Onelife.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, OneCoin is not based on blockchain technology, which makes its claim of being a cryptocurrency highly questionable.
Instigative researchers have labelled OneCoin, a “pyramid scheme disguised as a new digital currency.”
Consumer watchdog, Deco, already has warned potential investors that OneCoin is not a cryptocurrency, but it is a pyramid scheme where recruiters receive money from new members.
OneCoin has been advertising via Brazilian websites and Facebook pages advertising hotel meetings – the pyramid scheme’s modus operandi. One such page, targeting Portugal, Brazil, and Spain, has nearly 15,000 followers.
The promoter, which also uses YouTube, has a video titled “OneCoin guaranteed success,” in which he claims the number of coins in circulation is about to double but adds that their value won’t go down. In another video, he boasts of being in a different country every single week thanks to the success he’s achieved but neglects to mention where the money comes from.
The Bank of Portugal’s warning comes at a time in which bitcoin hits a new all-time high of around $12,000. The cryptocurrency’s surge has led a plethora of new investors to research cryptocurrencies, some of which could potentially end up investing in OneCoin thinking they were entering the cryptocurrency system.
In Europe, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority was among the first regulators to issue a warning against OneCoin, in mid-2016.
Months later, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority issued its own warning, pointing to an investigation by the City of London Police into the scheme. Since then, financial regulators throughout the world have been issuing warnings.
