October DealsAmazon USOctober deal check: compare before you payAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.Check DealsPC HealthRecommendedCrashes, freezes, slowdowns? Check your PC nowSpot repairable issues before they interrupt work.Check PCOctober DealsAmazon USDeal season is back - check today's better picksAmazon US: current deals, useful picks and tech finds.See Picks×
Skip to content
The Finance Base
The Money Desk · Blog
Re:

State Department Offers Up to $5 Million for Information on ‘Cryptoqueen’ Ruja Ignatova

The State Department offers up to $5 million for information leading to Ruja Ignatova’s arrest and/or conviction. The FBI says she remains at large and estimates OneCoin investor losses exceeded $4 billion.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

The U.S. Department of State is offering up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Ruja Ignatova, the OneCoin co-founder known as the “Cryptoqueen,” according to the FBI. The FBI says she remains at large and estimates that OneCoin investors lost more than $4 billion collectively. The reward is a State Department offer—not a guaranteed payment or an FBI reward—and the allegations against Ignatova have not been established as a conviction.

How much is the reward for Ruja Ignatova?

The State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program offers up to $5 million for information leading to Ignatova’s arrest and/or conviction, the FBI reported in June 2026. The FBI is a participating investigative agency; the offer is attributed to the State Department. “Up to” means the amount is a ceiling, not a promised payment for any tip.

The FBI first announced the reward at that level in June 2024. The current FBI case update continues to report the offer. FBI’s 2024 reward announcement and FBI’s June 2026 update.

Who is the “Cryptoqueen”?

Ruja Ignatova is a Bulgarian national and co-founder of OneCoin, which she and Karl Sebastian Greenwood launched around 2014. OneCoin was marketed as a new virtual currency and promoted as a “Bitcoin killer.” The FBI says Ignatova was the company’s top leader through October 2017.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

FBI New York Special Agent Ronald Shimko, a former case agent who worked on the investigation for almost 10 years, described the pitch as an opportunity for people who thought they had missed Bitcoin. The FBI says OneCoin packages were sold through a multi-level marketing strategy that encouraged investors to recruit friends, family, and others.

What does the FBI allege, and what charges were filed?

The FBI alleges that Ignatova made false statements to solicit investments in OneCoin packages. It estimates that investors’ equivalent collective losses exceeded $4 billion. That is the FBI’s loss estimate, not a verified amount recovered or returned to victims.

Ignatova was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on October 12, 2017, and a federal arrest warrant was issued. A superseding indictment filed February 6, 2018, added charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and securities fraud. These are allegations; the sources cited here do not establish a conviction of Ignatova. FBI case update and charge chronology.

Is Ruja Ignatova still on the FBI’s wanted list?

Yes. The FBI’s wanted-list history identifies Ignatova as entry 527, added June 30, 2022, and still listed as of October 8, 2026. The FBI’s June 2026 update also says she remains at large. Her present whereabouts are not established by those sources.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

The FBI says Ignatova traveled from Sofia to Athens on October 25, 2017. That is a historical travel detail, not evidence of where she is now. FBI wanted-list history.

What happened to OneCoin co-founder Karl Sebastian Greenwood?

Greenwood was arrested in Thailand in July 2018 and extradited to the United States. On September 12, 2023, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to the FBI. His sentence is a court outcome in his case; it should not be confused with the unresolved allegations against Ignatova. FBI case update.

Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Support on Ko-Fi

Can OneCoin victims still apply for remission?

The FBI described a Department of Justice remission program for qualifying net losses connected to OneCoin purchases made between 2014 and 2019. The application deadline was June 30, 2026, so it had passed by October 8, 2026. The FBI said applying was free but did not guarantee compensation. The program was to use more than $40 million in forfeited assets—a separate fund from the FBI’s estimate of more than $4 billion in investor losses. FBI update on the remission program.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Special offer. See more information about Outbyte and uninstall instructions. Please review EULA and Privacy policy.

More post from the Money Desk

  1. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 267 minMortgage Escrow FAQs: Taxes, Insurance, Shortages, and Refunds
  2. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow Mortgage Escrow Accounts Work and What Homeowners Pay For
  3. The Money DeskBlogTheFinanceBase09 OCT 265 minHow to Read a Stock Chart, Volume and Market-Cap Data
Recommended PC Tool
Recommended PC Tool
Outdated Drivers Are Slowing You DownFree scan - exact matches
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They SpreadFree repair scan

Two free Windows tools

One Free Minute Could Fix That PC

Before you go - each of these free tools takes about a minute and tackles what quietly slows a Windows PC down.

Special offer. View Outbyte info, uninstall instructions, EULA, and Privacy Policy.