OneCoin drama is coming to a TV near you

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The disappearance of OneCoin founder Ruja Ignatova has bewitched the crypto world for months, even beyond those directly affected by the alleged crypto Ponzi scheme. Now, the story looks set to be turned into a TV drama, amid a bidding war for the rights from TV production companies.

BBC Sounds podcast The Missing Cryptoqueen will be used as the basis for the new show, according to a Deadline report, with New Regency Television International having secured the rights to the story.

The drama will be produced by New Regency’s Emma Broughton and Ed Rubin, set to work alongside the podcast’s writers, Georgia Catt and Jamie Bartlett on the production.

New Regency Television International Wins Screen Rights To Hit Podcast ‘The Missing Cryptoqueen’ After Heated Auction https://t.co/gTcvCHSL2j pic.twitter.com/jExmH3EmaO

— Deadline (@DEADLINE) February 4, 2020

Rubin, head of television at New Regency Television International described the podcast as “compulsive listening,” and said the TV adaptation would deliver exciting drama around this true story to the small screen.

It’s a world-traversing story of corruption, jeopardy and deception – and combined with the twists and turns, complex mystery and global reach of the scandal, we’re excited to bring it to life on screen.

The podcast covers the story of Ignatova’s disappearance, after law enforcement began closing in on OneCoin. The scheme saw investors from over 175 countries putting their money into the cryptocurrency, with a total of $5 billion invested in the so-called “Bitcoin killer”.

However, when the true nature of the scheme was uncovered 2017, Ignatova vanished, and still remains at large several years later. While no one knows for sure, she is currently thought to be in either Athens or Vienna.

The Missing Cryptoqueen podcast was first released in September 2019, quickly climbing to the top of the iTunes podcast charts with some 3.5 million downloads.

With listeners hooked by the extraordinary twists and turns in the story, the TV drama looks set to captivate an even more mainstream audience.