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I'm more than a little concerned that the recent election is going to pull a lot more people into investing in cryptocurrency -- most of whom probably are nowhere near as savvy as they need to be to avoid getting fleeced by scammers. I hear constantly from people who poured their savings or kids' college fund into crypto, only to see it all stolen when they clicked the wrong button or link.

You know what the typical answer is from the feds? We're drowning here. Just too many cases. These thefts are often $500K or more, and the frequency of them is rapidly increasing the monetary loss thresholds that would normally get law enforcement's attention.

Also, tons of people are now pouring money into the market, which is already vastly overpriced by almost any measure. Here are some sage words from a WSJ story today about how "investors are betting on a market melt-up:"

"One measure closely tracked by investors, the equity risk premium—or the gap between the S&P 500’s earnings yield and that of 10-year Treasurys—shrank close to zero, the lowest level since 2002, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That means the reward for owning stocks over bonds is dwindling."

“The market is awfully expensive to have a melt-up,” said Rob Arnott, the founder and chairman of Research Affiliates."

wsj.com/finance/investing/inve…

in reply to BrianKrebs

why is there a threshold and not a ceiling for law enforcement? People who can invest hundreds of thousands of dollars should not be a priority.
in reply to Henning Deters

@DetersHenning I find it hard to analogize, so this is stretched to be sure, but it's a bit like trying to convince a band of mercenaries that the booty is worth the risk of life. In this case, prosecutions also have a political element, and there is always an eye toward cases that can be bundled with others, either because they appear to have a common perpetrator or victim(s). Those, after all, tend to have least risk for prosecutors of actually going to trial, and a very high rate of conviction.
in reply to BrianKrebs

This may sound harsh, but those investing their life savings in to say crypto, they are adults, they should know the risks etc.

We have a TV programme in the UK, it is about people buying property at auction, usually as property developers, one of the things that the presenters keep reminding people 'read the legal pack' as that has all the info about the property, any issues, covenents or otehr restrictions.

I am NOT an expert, but surely it is important to invest but do so after taking solid advice on the subject before hand.

in reply to Paul Sutton

@zleap
What if those providing the advice, are the ones ripping you off? Then sell your details to other scammers, to rip you off more.

smh.com.au/business/consumer-a…

@briankrebs

in reply to BrianKrebs

This was an interesting look at #axieInfinity , folk in the #Philippines using the game as a primary income source. Scary unstable foundation to invest in.

youtube.com/watch?v=SHCPMDLzIA…

#crypto #NFT

in reply to BrianKrebs

The traditional view is that the value of anything is created by what people are willing to pay for an item.

In the real world, people price rocks based on what other people are willing to pay for said rocks.

When the market is based on bets about the future possible value of invisible rocks, used mainly for crimes...to launder money, evade sanctions, evade taxation, & conduct scams,... any valuation of price & its evaluators are themselves frauds.

The intent of the...

1/2

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in reply to Nicole Parsons

2/2

...nation actors promoting said frauds BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, Saudi Arabia) are deeply suspect.

This is about triggering a global financial crisis to supplant the US dollar as a global reserve currency.

The cryptocurrency advocates who funded the ouster of Jon Tester & Sherrod Brown from the Senate are furthering Putin's aims.

The fact that Deutsche Bank is involved is a huge red flag.

news.bitcoin.com/deutsche-bank…

intellinews.com/brics-members-…

nairametrics.com/2024/10/21/pu…

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in reply to Nicole Parsons

@Npars01
Dave Troy laid out a very thorough explanation of this. I've not seen a better one.
in reply to Nicole Parsons

@Npars01
Crypto must be stopped. This will be catastrophic for most people if Elmo and Putin are allowed to crash the economy. That's what Elmo saying "things will be hard for awhile" means. Are there no sane billionaires out there who can stop these maniacs? The populace is too stupid to even comprehend WTF they voted for. Absolute morons.

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