The Lemon Fool

The never ending con:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-64939146

T7

Indeed, at least we have the banking system to look after us.

e.g. from the US - https://www.bankrate.com/banking/list-of-failed-banks/

There might have even been bank problems in the past week that are not total fails because of creative accounting and opportunistic behaviours.

At least we have the FSCS, FDIC and similar programmes to look after us.

From that list of failed banks, how many depositors actually lost money?

murraypaul wrote:At least we have the FSCS, FDIC and similar programmes to look after us.

From that list of failed banks, how many depositors actually lost money?

I'm not sure if that was the point of the reply.
Let us consider what it was a reply to.

terminal7 wrote:The never ending con:

To be blunt, just about any example of "con's" in the fiat system could be produced as a reply as there is absolutely no context to the statement.
The article mentions Nigeria, possibly the "never ending con" is the Nigerian Prince scam?

I fear, given the board it is on, I took it as an attempt to wind up crypto people here.

However, in answer to your question, is it JUST retail depositors losing money that should be considered? What of those who provide Tier-1 loans?
https://www.theguardian.com/business/ni ... ing-system
What of pension funds?
https://www.icelandreview.com/news/new- ... -billions/

It's also worth noting that the FSCS & FDIC are NOT free. They are paid for using tax and in some part reclaimed using a levy upon prudent institutions.

There are some simple truths.

1) there are, and always have been, "bad actors"
2) there are risks in anything and everything
3) someone is going to try and wind you up for their own amusement.

I happen to view that caveat emptor avoids the moral hazard issue as a good thing. Hence, while unhappy, accept my losses from the FTX debacle.
I keep most of my bitcoin "cold", but do have some at risk with coinbase for the convenience of a debit card.

Urbandreamer wrote:There are some simple truths.

1) there are, and always have been, "bad actors"
2) there are risks in anything and everything

4) If you stick to mainstream, regulated, protected investments, you can be covered for at least some of those risks.

murraypaul wrote:4) If you stick to mainstream, regulated, protected investments, you can be covered for at least some of those risks.

This IS the Crypto board!

There is very limited regulation of it in the UK and no protection scheme.
So that statement really means that you should not consider doing anything that those interested in this board are interested in doing, doesn't it?

Ignoring crypto for a moment and considering ISA's offered to the public.

This lot WERE regulated, claimed to be a protected investment, but were crooks.
https://leftfootforward.org/2021/06/the ... ng-losses/

There are "bad actors" even in traditional finance. Ignoring that fact doesn't necessarily help, and protection may not be what you hope. In the above case, public pressure caused the government to pass an act of parliament to recompense those who thought that they were protected, but were not.

To repeat the OP

The never ending con:

This IS the Crypto board!

There is very limited regulation of it in the UK and no protection scheme.
So that statement really means that you should not consider doing anything that those interested in this board are interested in doing, doesn't it?

Not unless you accept that there is a very real chance that you will lose all of your money, that all of the companies in the space are unregulated and many of them seem (to put it politely) very poorly run, and that if things go wrong there is no safety net behind them.

If you accept that, go ahead.

But people had convinced themselves that Celsius, Voyager, FTX, et al were just like banks, but in crypto, and they could reasonably expect to earn ten times the interest that banks were paying without taking any additional risk.

It was obvious to everyone else that they were deluded, but they believed it, and shouted down anyone who tried to warn them.

murraypaul wrote:But people had convinced themselves that Celsius, Voyager, FTX, et al were just like banks, but in crypto, and they could reasonably expect to earn ten times the interest that banks were paying without taking any additional risk.

It was obvious to everyone else that they were deluded, but they believed it, and shouted down anyone who tried to warn them.

Who are these "people"? Anyone we know? Anyone on this board? Anyone who actually educates themselves on the subject? Anyone who follow the news?

Oh but I forget, you don't need to educate yourself with anything but crypto. Banks don't require you to try and avoid being scammed. Nor do they offer to help you learn how ... do they.

Well as we all know they do. Yet some are still scammed. Those who have ignored instructions are not often not recompensed.

I have realized that I should not have used the phrase caveat emptor as it's Latin and may be regarded as obscure. For those who don't know it's a common law concept that buyers have a responsibility to ensure that they know what they are doing.

In the UK, consumer law has moved away from the caveat emptor model, ....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat_emptor

Less there be doubt, the concept is at the heart of bitcoin and most crypto.

Urbandreamer wrote:Who are these "people"? Anyone we know? Anyone on this board? Anyone who actually educates themselves on the subject? Anyone who follow the news?

I take it you don't follow crypto subreddits

No, they don't educate themselves on the subject, as they have no interest in crypto itself, just as a get rich scheme.