The biggest crypto scams and scandals
Mt. Gox, FTX, Terra/Luna, OneCoin, BitConnect, the Bybit hack, pig butchering and more: the real stories of the biggest crypto scams, collapses and heists – how they worked and the warning signs that help you avoid being next.
6 modules · 25 lessons · 165 min
Risk warning
This course is educational and is not investment advice. Trading crypto is highly risky – you can lose all the money you put in. Read the risk warning
Who it is for
Anyone who owns crypto, is thinking about buying it, or keeps getting "amazing opportunities" from strangers – no prior knowledge needed.
What you will learn
- Explain what really happened at Mt. Gox, FTX, Terra/Luna and other famous collapses
- Recognise Ponzi schemes, rug pulls, pump & dumps and fake giveaways
- Spot the tricks of pig butchering, fake exchanges and recovery scams
- Check any "opportunity" against a list of warning signs before sending a single coin
Course outline
Module 1Exchanges that fell
- 1.Mt. Gox: the hack that lost 850,000 bitcoinsMt. Gox, once the top bitcoin exchange, collapsed in 2014 with about 850,000 BTC missing. What happened, who was behind it and how repayments stand in 2026.7 min
- 2.Bitfinex hack: 120,000 BTC and the rapper who hid themIn 2016 hackers stole about 120,000 BTC from Bitfinex. In 2022 the FBI arrested Ilya Lichtenstein and Heather Morgan and seized about 94,000 BTC. The full story.6 min
- 3.QuadrigaCX: the CEO who died with the only keysIn 2019 QuadrigaCX said its CEO Gerald Cotten died holding the only keys to C$215M of client funds. Regulators found the wallets were already empty: it was fraud.6 min
- 4.Thodex and Africrypt: crypto founders who vanishedIn April 2021 two crypto platforms went dark in one week: Turkey's Thodex, whose founder got 11,196 years in prison, and South Africa's Africrypt. What happened.7 min
- 5.FTX collapse: how 8 billion dollars vanishedFTX collapsed in November 2022 with about $8B of customer money missing. How SBF, Alameda and the FTT token caused it, his 25-year sentence and the 2026 payouts.9 min
- 6.Celsius collapse: when 17% yield was too good to be trueIn 2022 crypto lenders Celsius, Voyager, BlockFi and Genesis froze withdrawals one by one. Celsius founder Alex Mashinsky got 12 years in 2025. Why it happened.7 min
Module 2Coins that were not
- 7.Terra Luna crash: how a $40 billion stablecoin diedWhat happened to Terra Luna? In May 2022 the UST stablecoin lost its dollar peg, LUNA fell to zero and about $40 billion vanished. Do Kwon got 15 years.8 min
- 8.BitConnect: the 1 % a day Ponzi scheme explainedWhat was BitConnect? A crypto lending scheme promising 1 % a day that raised about $2.4 billion and collapsed in January 2018. Its founder is still at large.6 min
- 9.OneCoin: the $4 billion crypto with no blockchainWhat was OneCoin? A fake cryptocurrency with no blockchain that took over $4 billion in 2014–2017. Its founder Ruja Ignatova, the Cryptoqueen, is still missing.6 min
- 10.PlusToken and Arbistar: the bot that always winsPlusToken (2018–2019) took about $2.25 billion and Arbistar (2020) about €200 million with fake arbitrage bots. How these Ponzi schemes worked and ended.6 min
- 11.SafeMoon: the 'safe' token whose CEO went to prisonWhat happened to SafeMoon? The 2021 hype token with a 10 % tax and "locked liquidity" hit $8 billion; its CEO was convicted of fraud and got 100 months in 2026.6 min
- 12.Squid Game token: the coin you could buy but not sellWhat happened to the Squid Game token? In November 2021 SQUID hit $2,861, holders could not sell and the devs pulled about $3.4 million. How to spot a rug pull.6 min
Module 3The great heists
- 13.The DAO hack: the bug that split Ethereum in twoIn June 2016 an attacker drained 3.6 million ETH from The DAO through a reentrancy bug. Ethereum answered with a hard fork – and Ethereum Classic was born.7 min
- 14.Bybit and Ronin hacks: North Korea's billion-dollar heistsLazarus Group stole about 625 million dollars from the Ronin bridge in 2022 and about 1.5 billion from Bybit in 2025 – how both heists worked and what to learn.7 min
- 15.Poly Network hack: the thief who gave back 610 millionIn August 2021 a hacker stole about 610 million dollars from Poly Network, chatted through transactions and returned almost everything. What happened and why.6 min
Module 4Scandals at the top
- 16.Tether (USDT) controversy: is it really backed?Is Tether backed? USDT, the biggest stablecoin, paid $18.5M to New York in 2021 and $41M to the CFTC over its reserve claims. Here is what changed by 2026.8 min
- 17.Binance and CZ: the $4.3 billion guilty pleaIn 2023 Binance pleaded guilty to US money-laundering and sanctions violations and paid $4.3B; founder CZ served 4 months and was pardoned in 2025.6 min
- 18.The Czech bitcoin scandal at the Ministry of JusticeIn 2025 the Czech Ministry of Justice took 468 BTC (about 1 billion CZK) from a man convicted in a darknet case. The minister resigned; the case is in court.7 min
Module 5Scams that hunt you
- 19.Pig butchering: the 'wrong number' crypto scamPig butchering starts with a 'wrong number' text and ends on a fake trading app. Crypto investment fraud cost Americans $7.2 billion in 2025, says the FBI.7 min
- 20.Pump and dump: $LIBRA, $HAWK and celebrity memecoinsHow a crypto pump and dump works, what happened to Milei's $LIBRA in February 2025 and Hawk Tuah's $HAWK in 2024, and why almost every new memecoin fails.6 min
- 21.Crypto giveaway scams: the 2020 Twitter hack and deepfakesIn July 2020 hackers took over Obama's, Biden's and Musk's Twitter accounts for a bitcoin giveaway scam. How 'send 1, get 2 back' works today, with deepfakes.5 min
- 22.Fake crypto exchanges and apps: how to spot a cloneFake crypto exchanges, apps and call-centre 'brokers' took hundreds of millions in Europe – over €600M in one 2025 case. How they work and how to check one.6 min
Module 6How not to be next
- 23.Why smart people fall for crypto scamsWhy smart people fall for crypto scams: greed, FOMO, urgency, authority, social proof and sunk cost – the tricks behind FTX, OneCoin and pig butchering.7 min
- 24.Crypto scam red flags: 12 warning signs12 crypto scam red flags, from guaranteed returns to withdrawal fees, each tied to a real case like FTX or OneCoin – plus a 60-second check before you send.6 min
- 25.Scammed in crypto? What to do now, step by stepCrypto scam victim? Stop paying, secure your wallet, save evidence, report fast – and beware recovery scams, which cost victims about $1.4 billion in 2025.7 min