Not even a mention here.

[Urbandreamer]

My question to you would be to ask where these types of damning articles are that relate to the more established financial controls that you often wish to compare crypto to in terms of comparable-risk?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

The risks are not "comparible". A romance scam can ask for money or crypto. Neither relate to the currency. A Nigerian prince scam... the same.

Now INVESTING in crypto is not the same as buying dollars, dong or peso's, or is it?

Forgive me, other than bitcoin I don't deal with FX. Are foreign currency accounts in foreign banks covered by our government guarantee. European ones were, when we were part of Europe.

The damning posts on this board, with the exception of the one that confused bitcoin with Luna all relate to scams.

"‘I felt powerless’: how a crypto scam cost a finance boss £300,000"
"How the fall of the 'King of Crypto' cost one British man millions"
"iEarn Bot"

ALL SCAMS!

Indeed you make my point for me by quoting Lloyds. Here is their advice about push payments.
https://www.lloydsbank.com/help-guidanc ... -code.html

SCAMS again.

What of the British steel pensioners who were scammed?
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6 ... cial-harm/

But that sort of stuff only happens with crypto doesn't it!

Sure FTX turned out to be fraudulent, however a quick web search turned up this about "established financial companies".
https://uk.investing.com/broker-blacklist/
To be fair at least one claims to be crypto.

Here is advice on how to avoid such, which clearly isn't needed as it's not about crypto.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/a ... -legit.asp

However to return to your main point, crypto risks are indeed NOT the same.
As I pointed out, there are no government guarantees. Proceed at your own recognizance.
Just as you do when you cross the road, or do something less safe like enjoying skiing or playing football or rugby.

We could outlaw "Jay walking" as some countries do and ban dangerous sports. Wouldn't the country be a better place for such authoritarian rules by a benevolent dictator.

[CliffEdge]

My question to you would be to ask where these types of damning articles are that relate to the more established financial controls that you often wish to compare crypto to in terms of comparable-risk?

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

The risks are not "comparible". A romance scam can ask for money or crypto. Neither relate to the currency. A Nigerian prince scam... the same.

Now INVESTING in crypto is not the same as buying dollars, dong or peso's, or is it?

Forgive me, other than bitcoin I don't deal with FX. Are foreign currency accounts in foreign banks covered by our government guarantee. European ones were, when we were part of Europe.

The damning posts on this board, with the exception of the one that confused bitcoin with Luna all relate to scams.

"‘I felt powerless’: how a crypto scam cost a finance boss £300,000"
"How the fall of the 'King of Crypto' cost one British man millions"
"iEarn Bot"

ALL SCAMS!

Indeed you make my point for me by quoting Lloyds. Here is their advice about push payments.
https://www.lloydsbank.com/help-guidanc ... -code.html

SCAMS again.

What of the British steel pensioners who were scammed?
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6 ... cial-harm/

But that sort of stuff only happens with crypto doesn't it!

Sure FTX turned out to be fraudulent, however a quick web search turned up this about "established financial companies".
https://uk.investing.com/broker-blacklist/
To be fair at least one claims to be crypto.

Here is advice on how to avoid such, which clearly isn't needed as it's not about crypto.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/a ... -legit.asp

However to return to your main point, crypto risks are indeed NOT the same.
As I pointed out, there are no government guarantees. Proceed at your own recognizance.
Just as you do when you cross the road, or do something less safe like enjoying skiing or playing football or rugby.

We could outlaw "Jay walking" as some countries do and ban dangerous sports. Wouldn't the country be a better place for such authoritarian rules by a benevolent dictator.

Yes but how do I buy a Bitcoin?

[Itsallaguess]

What of the British steel pensioners who were scammed?

https://committees.parliament.uk/work/6 ... cial-harm/

But that sort of stuff only happens with crypto doesn't it!

I'm not sure why you continue to ignore one of my main points around crypto risk, related to media and social-media over-promotion, and the rate at which a susceptible and gullible demographic are bombarded with opportunities to lose money through crypto-related promotions, all of which is covered in the Lloyds Bank article that I linked to earlier and again below, but given that I see that specific over-promotion on heavily-used social-media, and the gullible demographic that's targeted by it, as providing one of the largest risks associated with crypto, and you don't seem to want to recognise or discuss that concerning aspect, then I think there's little point in me continuing to engage on this topic at this stage.

Remarkably, the analysis found that 66% of all investment scams start on social media – with Instagram and Facebook the most common sources. This includes a mix of bogus ads, fake celebrity endorsements, and targeting through direct messages.

The organised criminal gangs behind scams are constantly evolving their tactics to exploit new trends and trick more victims into parting with their cash.

Over recent years they’ve widened their net to target younger investors, who are often tempted by the supposed ‘get rich quick’ promise of cryptocurrency trading.

The most common age range for crypto scam victims is 25 to 34 year olds, who make up a quarter of all cases.

https://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/media/press-releases/2023/lloyds-bank-2023/lloyds-bank-issues-warning-over-crypto-scams.html

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[Urbandreamer]

Yes but how do I buy a Bitcoin?

Well assuming that you do actually want to here is how I have done so in the past and a few ideas.

I started by buying it on PayPal. This may make sense for many and I believe that they will be starting to sell again in the new year. Ideologically it is the wrong way to do things, but if you are the sort to consider a bitcoin etf or closed end fund then it's a good solution. They charged a commission to buy or sell of 1.25%, which may change, while Greyscale charge a management fee of 2%pa and you would pay your broker his commission. You can't withdraw the bitcoin, it's just number on your account. Hence any scam would have to be via traditional finance.

Can't wait until they reopen? Well I know at least one TLF member has a Revolut account. They use it because they need to deal with multiple fiat currencies. However Revolut will buy also and sell crypto for you. A number of people where I worked had accounts because their current account was with Lloyds*. Ideologically it's a better way to go as you can withdraw and hence spend bitcoin. I messed up my application so don't have an account hence no experience dealing with them.

Ideologically holding bitcoin with a custodian is wrong and it is certainly wrong if you can't actually spend it directly. Though if you can do so, you become a gullible fool because you are now a target! Apparently.

I sold the bitcoin that I had with Paypal and opened an account with a crypto exchange. This entailed the same sort of KYC that you would have to go through opening up any bank or broker account. I initially messed it up, but good customer services helped me correct that issue.

I deposited money and set buy at a limit orders (like trading shares, rather than investing in them). Using limit orders is considered "advanced", because most people have no share dealing experience.
Each time a purchase went through I withdrew the bitcoin. It's considered bad practice to leave bitcoin on an exchange in most cases. I'd also advise not leaving large amounts of fiat on the exchange, ensure to withdraw any significant sum of bitcoin or fiat within weeks.

Can I recommend that exchange, well FTX are no longer trading! See the point about not leaving stuff on the exchange.

I then went through the same process with Coinbase. They were around before FTX and are still around.

*Lloyds and a number of other banks have been prone to closing down your account if you have any dealings with crypto. A number of other banks place, not unreasonable, limits upon how much you can transfer a month to a crypto exchange. I recommend finding out if your bank is one of the ones who close accounts before getting involved.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/commen ... y_account/