If you are thinking of becoming involved in  Crypto,  I suggest you read this link.........It's kind of a long article but I think it is important.



https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/12/asia/chinese-scam-operations-american-victims-intl-hnk-dst/


Here is another one

https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/12/22/myanmar-pig-butchering-scams-watson-pkg-intl-ldn-vpx.cnn

Thx 8OR9, good links.

Even if one isn't involved with cryptos or crypto sites I encourage all to have an advanced cyber security company monitoring your home internet/ cell phone (A company that will actually see the perpetrators get prosecuted/ not just block the attack).

The following link re: crypto scams is a good read.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninabambysheva/2022/12/28/over-3-billion-stolen-in-crypto-heists-here-are-the-eight-biggest/?sh=14995c07699f

5 Myths about crypto

How Many Cryptocurrencies Are There?

Key passages from the following link at the very bottom:


*There are more than 23,000 cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap. That's a far cry from a decade ago, when there were just seven.

However, that astonishing growth rate isn't entirely good news. Many new cryptocurrencies have little purpose other than making money for their developers.


**Why are there so many different cryptocurrencies?
The biggest reason there are so many different cryptocurrencies is that there's practically no barrier to entry. Anyone who wants to create a cryptocurrency can do it. Even if you have zero technical know-how, you could hire someone on Fiverr (FVRR 1.36%), say, to make a cryptocurrency for less than $20.


    I actually had a passing thought about creating my own crypto: BacBit. 
A group of professional bac players could all pool verifiable/liquidable assets of say 100K each (Gold bars, cash, land, stock shares,real estate,...etc). BacBit would be formed with verifiable assets(Great sales pitch).
They (Bacbit owners) could draw on it for front money at a casino and every profitable session or day they would contribute 2.5% of wins back to BacBit(Net proceeds paid out once a year back to BacBit owners). Of course the first goal after each winning session would be to buy our own shares back so our share price would constantly be on the rise.

Of course our real profits would be from getting other (outsiders) to buy our stock (because it had increasingly increased since inception). We would then offer small rewards(small % of another BacBit coin) for the early investors to then recruit other "new" investors. Therefore, we would need to hire a PR firm to constantly talk about how successful the  bac players at BacBit were because we never lost,...etc. We would be fine as long as "ALL" investors never wanted to redeem their stocks at once.

This is how I perceive many of the earlier cryptos were formed---just a group of friends setting around kicking ideas around. It is almost comical when I read how many of the meme/altcoins were formed and how they immediately had millions of dollars being invested in a Non verifiable Ponzi-like crypto coin.





https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/financials/cryptocurrency-stocks/how-many-cryptocurrencies-are-there/

Looks like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will authorize and regulate a Bitcoin ETF ( Exchange Traded Fund),  which means if you are thinking about starting your own crypto currency, you will have to register with the SEC and hire securities lawyers to complete the blizzard/tsunami of required  paperwork,,,,,,,,,,which means mucho much mucho mucho $$$$$$$ lawyer fees.

That's why Bitcoin recently went up to about $ 45,000 since a regulated ETF will attract many traders ( mandatory segregation of trader funds etc etc ) versus the gang of crooks currently in operation.

Another interesting crypto adventure:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/crypto-trader-110-million-manipulation-193526849.html

Hi 8OR9
Good read. I had not heard of this one. I suspect we will eventually see more/more of these (FTX) type scenarios exposed. The media (in the U.S. ) seems to only give these stories a brief mention.


I saw this story a few days ago:

"...SLERF developer wipes out 50% of token supply
SLERF's developer announced on Monday that he accidentally burnt nearly 50% of the token's supply, losing $10 million in funds belonging to presale participants..."

 
What do you tell your investors (i.e., presale participants): "Whoops my bad"

It will be interesting to see if any consequences(restitution/ prison time) will be doled out eventually.



Continued Success,