I Believe Social Media Gossip is Why Some Enter into Cryptocurrency

-

It would be interesting to think about how people got into cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. I watched the documentary Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King on Netflix, (read the review here). The documentary really showed this one fact--social media gossipers make poor financial advisors (read here). The trend to join stuff like the Quadriga-CX scam or how Ruja Ignatova (who's still missing and probably still alive) got a huge following. 

BBC News also shows how Ignatova's Bitcoin following was developed by social media gossip:

Why have so many people continued to believe in OneCoin, despite all the evidence? 

Investors often told us that what drew them in initially was the fear that they would miss out on the next big thing. They'd read, with envy, the stories of people striking gold with Bitcoin and thought OneCoin was a second chance. Many were struck by the personality and persuasiveness of the "visionary" Dr Ruja. Investors might not have understood the technology, but they could see her talking to huge audiences, or at the Economist conference. They were shown photographs of her numerous degrees, and copies of Forbes magazine with her portrait on the front cover. 

I really felt that I might've fallen for cryptocurrency if it wasn't for one thing--it's too good to be true. The promise of instant riches, the hype, and so on spread through gossip. The gossip can either be personal or through social media. People will buy the hype of how crypto works. It can start with gossip that, "I just invested X amount and I got Y amount." It's pretty much how gossip can help a Ponzi scheme move. I'd call cryptocurrency as a digital Ponzi scheme--only a few people ever get the fast returns promised. I even heard that cryptocurrency ends up robbing X to pay Y. 

This is why social media gossip is your most unreliable source. Sometimes, a review can be so convincing but ask yourself, "Is it too good to be true?" The same goes for those incredibly annoying play-to-earn ads. I decided to install one of them and found out that it's ad-intensified. It's all about fooling people into downloading it to give the developer the ad revenues. That's why play-to-earn games are too good to be true (read here). The same goes for cryptocurrency--it's too good to be true so why even start with it? 

References

Documentaries

"Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King", Directed by Luke Seewell, Distributed by Netflix 

Websites

"Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished" (November 24, 2019)
https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50435014 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Does Kabataan Partylist Understand How International Marketing Works?

-
Image
I'm amazed (but not surprised) at Kabataan Partylist's economic illiteracy . The group seems to be stuck in the pre-Doi Moi days of Vietnam. Do they believe that Vietnam actually got rich through national industrialization? Thankfully, the Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page (old one) collapsed like the Berlin Wall. However, I decided to look at Kabataan Partylist's Facebook page and found another idiotic statement. Yes, it's by Atty. Renee Co. Right now, with the Philippine justice system being so weak (just remember how the Vizconde Massacre and the Chiong Sisters Case are both, case unclosed ), I'm no longer too beholden to lawyers. There are good lawyers but I don't think Renee is one of them! Anyway, to translate Renee's statements in English, it would be like: The real reason behind the oil price hike is deregulation. The government is no longer in control and they're allowing the oil businessmen to increase prices, whenever they wish. Eve...
Read more

Mahathir Mohamad's Quote on "Never Stop Learning" is Why I Support Economic and Political Charter Change

-
Image
Inspirational Quotes Back when I was in high school, I often felt I "never lived up" to the "legacy" of my family. It's an often bad habit by boomers to put their children under their shadow, brag about how "great" they are, and even talk and talk about the "good old days". Newsflash! An old man had something that would offend boomers. This old man is former Malaysian Prime Minister  Mahathir Mohamad . To avoid the Duterte vs. Aquino dichotomy--I often put the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III under scrutiny. More likely, put the presidential system under scrutiny! I'll admit Noynoy had his ups, but he too had his downs.  Now, for Mahathir's words that reflect on how surprisingly updated this old man is, compared to stubborn boomers: He said education today was not only about learning history or literature, but more about learning new sciences that are revolutionising the world. “ Even business is now affected by ne...
Read more

#SahodItaasPresyoIbaba Economics May Be Confusing Profits for Revenues

-
Image
A really disastrous decision! As I read through Facebook, the amazing foolishness and economic illiteracy are there. What do you expect from a nation that's driven by an education system where economics was only taught in either the  third year or fourth year , under K+10? What do you expect from a nation where mathematics education focuses too much on theory rather than the wonderful application of the subject? I'm going to write about those who talk about FDIs, that only they will get rich because they will run away with the profits, etc. It's because I'm afraid there's really a lack of understanding of what profit really is.  Most people in the Philippines may be operating with the typical merkado mindset. I remember reading through the arguments of someone who quotes CTTO Merkado. Who in the world is Merkado CTTO (read here )? As I was thinking about it, I heard about how people running businesses in the merkado or marketplace, whether it's the wet market or...
Read more

GrabFood vs. FoodPanda--How Foreign Delivery Services Help Grow Filipino Businesses

-
Image
Moneymax I could remember the pandemic when ordering from GrabFood and Foodpanda became the thing. The COVID-19 pandemic would've totally stifled the restaurant and food businesses, especially before the vaccinations. Right now, I've had my three Pfizer shots in total. As restaurants began to re-open, dine-in was still strictly not allowed until a certain percentage of Cebu City was vaccinated. I began to order some food whenever I need to (or want to) even with such limited choices. This had me thinking about how imported services can help local businesses.  Whether those "nationalists" want to admit it or not--neither GrabFood nor Foodpanda are founded by Filipinos. Instead, GrabFood is founded in Singapore and Foodpanda is founded in Berlin, Germany. If it wasn't for the fall of the Berlin Wall--there would be no Foopanda. Back then, I remembered dining in my favorite local restaurants. However, the delivery service came and there were times I felt too lazy to ...
Read more

Using Vietnam to Justify No to Economic Reform is Rooted on ECONOMIC IGNORANCE

-
Image
VNUA Some time ago, I remember the   now-defunct  Philippine Anti-Fascist League Facebook page. One of its administrators (and I heard that it's actually run by a group of Gen-Z brats) berated the CoRRECT Movement. I'll put a screenshot of that statement made by one of the administrators (and I heard one of them was just a 13-year-old brat at that time). For the sake of non-Tagalog speakers (although the Philippines is my default target readers), I will translate what this prick of an administrator wrote on their  now-defunct  Facebook page. Although it's already been taken down, I believe the need to continue refuting their past arguments along with other similar pages. Refute them using common sense and research data from economists from  first-world countries ! The translation goes like this: Vietnam won the revolution, and they had a national industrialization and agrarian reform. What Vietnam's "Open FDI" means that the koriktor (a mockery of Corrector) a...
Read more

Why I Don't Intend (or Even Recommend to Anyone) to Invest in Cryptocurrencies

-
Image
I remembered the time when I started to do some monetary investments (bonds, mutual funds), got scammed by a bad customer who hasn't paid me back until now, and how the journey of personal finance is no easy task. I feel like it's time to talk about another Ponzi scheme called cryptocurrency. First, we need to define it before I will state why I don't even intend to invest in it.   Cryptocurrency is defined by Investopedia as follows: A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation . A clear lack of regulation and extreme volatility make it very dangero...
Read more

Should Noynoy Aquino be a Valid Excuse to Reject Econ Cha Cha?

-
Image
Philippine Star   This may be a touchy post. Politics is often a source of fights during parties. That's why we're told not to talk about politics during parties. Unfortunately, some people on Facebook are now using the late Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino Jr. as an excuse not to execute even economic charter change. Never mind that blatant supporter of Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo, Andrew James Masigan, supports economic charter change . The late Charles Edward P. Celdran was also an anti-Duterte critic. As I looked at some okay boomer posts, I'm not surprised at people who still use Noynoy as an excuse to shout with all their might, "No to economic charter change!" Somebody posted on Facebook the following. As always, I won't publicly shame anyone. If possible, I will only refer to them by codenames or use the name Anonymous. I want to remain as professional as possible. This person said that under Noynoy there was no econom...
Read more

Losing Much Money in Stocks Via Impatience

-
Image
The year is almost over and I guess I'll write a few more Season's Beatings huh? Right now, I'm keeping an eye on the PSEi score is around 6,500+ as of late. I could remember the time when the stock market went bloody red and this never left my mind... I could remember all the sarcastic "YEHEY?" from the toxic world of Twitter. There's also such stupidity on Facebook. I could remember arguing with some people who ended up using Ad Homimens in regard to the red stock market scores. Yet, what Warren Buffett says is, "Buy when there's blood on the streets." (read here ) As Buffett would also say, "Be fearful when others are greedy. Be greedy when others are fearful." That's if one talks about market timing . Still, I believe in timing the market and time in the market. It's like if I decide to cost-average during low-tier days and add more money when the value is low. In my case, I prefer to use an index fund (in my case the Philip...
Read more

Does Hilario G. Davide Jr. Know How to Make the Philippines Rise Up in the Asian Century?

-
Image
As talks for constitutional reform is on, Hilario G. Davide Jr.'s quotes on the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines are posted on Facebook. It's an irony that Davide Jr. was once a  UN  diplomat. Again,  UN  as in  United Nations . Then he has the nerve to say that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is the "only constitution" that he knows that is pro-God, pro-Filipino, pro-people, pro-poor, pro-life, pro-family, pro-marriage, pro-human rights, pro-women, pro-environment among others. That alone made me laugh because the moment I heard it, I said, "Huh? Has he even bothered to read other constitutions?" The only pro-environment constitution? Please, Singapore has had better environmental laws. Don't tell me that other countries aren't pro-life or what? I wonder what even led him to say that statement? It's at that point that made me ask, "Does Davide Jr. know how to bring the Philippines into the emerging Asian century?" People a...
Read more

Red Lizard: Wrestling With Your Taste Buds With Delicious Mexican Food

-
Image
During the late 2010s, I remember one of the greatest things I got into was Mexican food. I remembered a delicious Mexican restaurant opened in I.T. Park Cebu but it was later closed down. From what I heard, the owner closed it down out of grief and I don't blame the person for it. Years later, there was El Taquito at SSY which I also enjoyed. However, El Taquito is now located on Governor M. Roa Avenue in Cebu City. I would like to talk about the Red Lizard--Taqueria which has branches in SM Cyberzone, IT Park (where I usually get my deliveries), and Ayala Center Cebu.  I had quite a wild imagination thinking the restaurant was founded by a retired wrestler. I thought Red Lizard was a real luchador or Mexican wrestler. On the contrary, the character of Red Lizard is as fictitious as Jollibee's mascot, an anthropomorphic bee named Jollibee. Further research showed that Red Lizard belongs to the Abaca Group of Companies founded by Jason Hyatt and his Chinese wife Anna (whom he m...
Read more