Devil’s Coin: My Battle to Take Down the Notorious OneCoin Cryptoqueen

An unassuming Scottish grandmother takes down a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme in this exhilarating mix of memoir and true crime. After her father’s death in 2015, McAdam inherited £15,000. Wanting to secure a future for her son and grandchildren, she invested the money with OneCoin, believing the company’s pitch—buttressed by flashy videos and marketing materials—that the cryptocurrency’s value (reportedly quintuple that of the dollar) would turn her inheritance into a life-changing windfall. McAdam promoted the investment opportunity to friends and strangers online, until she started asking questions about the company’s operations when her contacts there started nudging her into ever more elaborate investment “packages” and she ultimately realized she’d never get her money back. When McAdam spoke out publicly, she was threatened with violence and lawsuits for defaming OneCoin. In response, McAdam founded online support groups for other victims and cooperated with London police and the FBI to track down the company’s founder, Ruja Ignatova, and expose OneCoin’s fraudulent practices. In the end, her actions helped bring about the company’s dissolution. This riveting account of a victim fighting back is an inspired, and inspiring, page-turner. Agent: Rachel Mills, Rachel Mills Literary. (Aug.)