While various countries have contemplated issuing their own cryptocurrency, doing so is not as straightforward as one might think. In Turkey, the founders of the country’s so-called ‘unofficial national cryptocurrency’ were recently been arrested on charges of operating a parallel Ponzi Scheme.
The Turcoin Project Comes to an End
If Turkey (or for that matter, any other country) were to ever issue its national cryptocurrency, it would be under the purview of the central bank. In the case of Turcoin, the altcoin was designed by a few developer enthusiasts who had no official affiliation with the Turkish government, central bank, or any other national agency.
As per reports, the creators of Turcoin have been arrested earlier this week and are now facing charges of running an alt-asset based Ponzi Scheme and defrauding over 100,00 investors in the process.  This new cryptocurrency was created by a company known as Hipper, which was set up by the two arrested individuals. By claiming Turcoin would become Turkey’s official cryptocurrency, they were successful in defrauding investors for several months.
A More Detailed Look At the Matter
Turcoin has been in operation since October 2017. During the sale of this token, the creators allegedly earned TRY 100m, or $22m. Their objective was to offer a multi-level marketing model similar to some other Ponzi Schemes plaguing the cryptocurrency industry over the years. Although multilevel marketing is a legal business model, it heavily depends on which products or services are being sold. In the case of Turcoin, purposefully selling a worthless token is still illegal.
Final Thoughts
Consumers need to conduct their due diligence prior to investing in anything cryptocurrency-related, especially when a company claims to offer an official national cryptocurrency yet doesn’t have the backing of the government or central bank.Â
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