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Armchair theorists love postulating the reasons behind bitcoin’s latest price rise or sell-off. From China FUD to exchange hacks, anything and everything is fair game for blame. Plustoken is the latest bitcoin bear-maker that’s being credited with the last three months of downward price action. But is the revenue from a ponzi coin really responsible for bitcoin’s drop, or are there broader forces at play?
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Anatomy of a Scam
In June, the ringleaders of Plustoken were arrested by Chinese police, putting an end to a ponzi scheme that is estimated to have netted almost $3 billion from gullible investors. The magnitude of major scams is often exaggerated for dramatic effect, but Plustoken’s numbers appear to check out: blockchain analysis has shown that at least 187,000 BTC – or about 1% of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply – was siphoned away by Plustoken.