Regulatory action

PlusToken

Chinese-origin MLM-crypto Ponzi promising 6-18% monthly 'AI trading' returns. Founders arrested in Vanuatu in June 2019. One of China's largest crypto criminal cases.

Losses

$2.9B

Affected

~2,000,000

Started

May 2018

Collapsed

Jun 2019

Timeline

2018 年 5 月: PlusToken launches in China, expands to Korea, Japan

2018-2019: Accumulates 200,000+ BTC and 790,000+ ETH from users

June 2019: PlusToken wallet stops allowing withdrawals. Team claims 'hackers'

June 29, 2019: Chinese police arrest 6 suspects in Vanuatu with cooperation from local authorities

November 2020: Chinese courts sentence 82 individuals, with prison terms up to 11 years. Seized: 194,775 BTC, 833,083 ETH, 1.4M LTC, 27.6M EOS, plus cash

2021-2022: China sells seized crypto through OTC channels, triggering multiple market dips

Evidence

Verified via: Chinese state media reports (Xinhua, Yancheng Intermediate People's Court rulings), Chainalysis on-chain tracing, multiple academic studies documenting the case as the largest crypto Ponzi by coin quantity ever prosecuted.

Lessons for you

Chinese-origin 'high-yield' crypto products have a >95% failure rate historically
MLM structures + AI trading claims = guaranteed Ponzi
Cross-border crypto crime CAN be prosecuted — China's Vanuatu operation was a milestone
Seized-crypto distributions from convicted fraud cases can move markets for years