PlusToken started in April 2018.[2] It offered monthly payments to users of its cryptocurrency wallet.[3] There was also a token called Plus associated with it.[4] The total amount of cryptocurrency taken by PlusToken was estimated to be worth (based on 2019 prices) between $2 and US$2.9 billion.[1][5][6] The selling of cryptocurrencies from PlusToken was speculated to have been the cause of price drops in bitcoin.[7][8][9]
In June 2019,[10] six Chinese nationals associated with the scheme were arrested in Vanuatu and deported so they could face trial in China.[2]
In July 2020, China's Ministry of Public Security announced that 27 "major criminal suspects" and 82 "key" members of PlusToken have been arrested.[11]
In November 2020, a court in Jiangsu sentenced ringleaders behind the scheme to between two and eleven years in prison.[5]
^ abMcGarry, Dan (July 17, 2019). "Who Are the PlusToken Six?". Vanuatu Daily Post. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
^McGarry, Dan (June 29, 2019). "Six Chinese Face Deportation". Vanuatu Daily Post. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
