Go Woke Go Broke Mega Fail

[WillBrink]

May not be on the radar for some, but this is the mother of all examples of the OP, and this kid had various Dem politicians, various woke Hollywood types, silicon vally types, suckered and or in his pockets, and is the Bernie Madoff of crypto. He plaid them all like a pro and it's not even clear how much yet, in the 50 billion range. He was the darling of the liberal media, investors who wanted to feel morally superior, etc. This is a developing story, but it's going to expose the whole house of cards. I don't fully understand the full scam, but neither does anyone else, so I don't feel too bad.

[markm]

Anyone losing money on those magic beans deserves it.

[Averageman]

Anyone losing money on those magic beans deserves it.

Except they are likely looking for a way that your tax dollars will "Bail Out" this idiot.
He gives money to democrats (I know they'll say it's bipartisan) the democrats take the Senate. He gets in trouble, they bail him out by printing more money and everyone's going to be happy.
When you're promised "Pie in the Sky" returns look around the room, who's the sucker? Because if you can't see him, it's you, you big dummy.

[SomeOtherGuy]

It's a huge scandal, for sure. If you look at the players and their relationships to HRC/DNC, I'm not sure any meaningful enforcement will get done.

Also, splitting hairs, still unclear if this is a Ponzi scheme or a much simpler fraud and theft. ENRON analogies might be better. It looks like some well-connected people got away (so far) with something more like a low level confidence scam / Nigerian Prince scam than with anything as sophisticated as Madoff. The liquidator-trustee-CEO's affidavit linked below indicates some mind-blowing amateur hour antics.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/...orate-controls

[WillBrink]

Anyone losing money on those magic beans deserves it.

A scam is a scam. Stocks, real state, gold, etc, etc. Where there's less regulation and oversight, there's more opportunities for scams. Lots of scams and bad investments in crypto. We should support crypto for no other reason than gubments hate it because they can't control it/you, and it's a space where fools also parted with their $. It's the gold rush of our time, good and bad.

[pinzgauer]

Zero oversight or financial accountability.

Intentional lack of recordkeeping.

They did stuff like pushing big $$$ transfers of funds from FTX depositors to his financial hedge fund entity Almeida. Which then loaned himself $1B, and his VP $500M.

This is the irrational exuberance that almost free money during the low interest rate days enabled venture capital to fund and support companies like this.

People made a huge mistake treating these crypto exchanges like they are banks. They are not, They have none of the protection or oversight.

If you're going to dabble in crypto you need to keep stuff offline. I personally don't even trust cold wallets much.

[WillBrink]

Zero oversight or financial accountability.

Intentional lack of recordkeeping.

They did stuff like pushing big $$$ transfers of funds from FTX depositors to his financial hedge fund entity Almeida. Which then loaned himself $1B, and his VP $500M.

This is the irrational exuberance that almost free money during the low interest rate days enabled venture capital to fund and support companies like this.

People made a huge mistake treating these crypto exchanges like they are banks. They are not, They have none of the protection or oversight.

If you're going to dabble in crypto you need to keep stuff offline. I personally don't even trust cold wallets much.

It's amazing how that's no where to be found if you pay off enough people and throw enough $ around. Greed, quick easy $, political pay offs, etc, never go out of style. Add to that now making woke progressive types feel that $ is focused on their favorite SJW causes, you have a perfect storm of "go woke go broke" event.

[SomeOtherGuy]

We should support crypto for no other reason than gubments hate it because they can't control it/you, and it's a space where fools also parted with their $. It's the gold rush of our time, good and bad.

This part, 110%. The current system is bad enough, and "central bank digital currencies" (CBDCs) promise to be 1000 times worse. Crypto is, in some ways, a terrific alternative. The independence of gold coins with the utility of electronic transfers.

But...

People made a huge mistake treating these crypto exchanges like they are banks. They are not, They have none of the protection or oversight.
If you're going to dabble in crypto you need to keep stuff offline. I personally don't even trust cold wallets much.

And this is the major reason I don't use crypto personally. It is too much Wild West, and I just don't have time to understand all the nuances to avoid the scams and traps.

Mostly posting just to keep people's awareness of CBDCs and the dystopian nightmare they would immediately bring.

[WillBrink]

This part, 110%. The current system is bad enough, and "central bank digital currencies" (CBDCs) promise to be 1000 times worse. Crypto is, in some ways, a terrific alternative. The independence of gold coins with the utility of electronic transfers.

But...



And this is the major reason I don't use crypto personally. It is too much Wild West, and I just don't have time to understand all the nuances to avoid the scams and traps.

Mostly posting just to keep people's awareness of CBDCs and the dystopian nightmare they would immediately bring.

Me either, and I'm just starting to "get" the basics of it I feel. I did what I do for most topics not my lane, find what I feel are people I can trust, people who have been at it a long time, people who can advise and recommend additional sources, and take their advice.

I know some people who have done very well with crypto, and asked for their recs on a handful of buys they recommended for a nube to get started, and put some fun $ into them, and view them a long hold.

For example, Hedera is very interesting, and if those guys can't make it work, no one can. Hence, I have been cost averaging purchasing with them and a few others. If they go up over time, win for me. If not, I always follow the golden rule in such things: NEVER invest more than you're not willing/able to lose.

[WillBrink]

Summary of what happened: