Reasons why you should NOT trade cryptocurrencies

What to watch out for

Cryptocurrencies are not without their pitfalls and you will need to be careful when handling your digital currency.

Research

Before jumping into cryptocurrencies, do your research. No single guide will ever be able to cover everything you need to know about all cryptocurrencies. There are too many to cover in one document and each cryptocoin brings its own pros and cons. Additionally, you will need to understand how exchanges and wallets work. So before you do anything, make sure you read as many guides as you can, find reviews and try everything out with small, disposable amounts of money.

Stay safe

There is no safety net when working with cryptocurrencies. There are no police to make a report to if your money gets stolen; there is no bank to protect your money. With the freedom to do whatever you want with your own money anonymously comes a lot of responsibility. Here are a few tips:
> Before you send cryptocoins to someone, always double check their wallet address.
> Never hand over products or services before the transaction on the blockchain is verified. This might take up to ten minutes on some blockchains.
> Always keep the computer on which your wallet is installed safe and clean from viruses and malware.
> Never lose your wallet password. You might not be able to get it back and every cryptocoin you own will be lost.

Unpredictable value

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general often suffer from sudden dips in value. Whenever purchasing cryptocoins – or investing in them – always be aware that the value of your holdings can fall.

Of course this could work in your favour if it goes the other way. Always be aware that the cryptocurrency market is extremely volatile and past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Watch Out for These Cryptocurrency Scams (December 20, 2017)
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/306347

Nearly 150 Strains of Malware Are After Your Bitcoins (Feb 27, 2014)
https://www.coindesk.com/nearly-150-strains-malware-bitcoins/

Bitcoin Gold Wallet Scam Nets $3 Million in Illicit Earnings (Nov 22, 2017)
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-gold-wallet-scam-nets-3-million-illicit-earnings/

Apple Removes Fake MyEtherWallet Which Hit No. 3 on App Store (DEC 13, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/apple-removes-fake-myetherwallet-which-hit-no-3-on-app-store

SegWit2x Version 2.0 - a Farce? (Jan 1, 2018)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/segwit2x-version-20-a-farce

$225 Million Lost As Cryptocurrency Investors Get Hooked by Phishing Scams (AUG 26, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/225-million-lost-as-cryptocurrency-investors-get-hooked-by-phishing-scams

South Korean Government Concerned With Scams in Bitcoin Market, Fake Exchanges (DEC 25, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-government-concerned-with-scams-in-bitcoin-market-fake-exchanges

North Korea Accused of Hacking South Korean Bitcoin Exchange Youbit (DEC 21, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/north-korea-accused-of-hacking-south-korean-bitcoin-exchange-youbit

South Korea: Five Local Bitcoin Exchanges Fail Security Test, Hacked With ‘Basic Tools’ (DEC 21, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korea-five-local-bitcoin-exchanges-fail-security-test-hacked-with-basic-tools

Major Wallet Vulnerability Revealed As User Barely Reclaims 9 BTC (DEC 04, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-wallet-vulnerability-revealed-as-user-barely-reclaims-9-btc

Confido ICO Raises $340K, Vanishes (NOV 22, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/confido-ico-raises-340k-vanishes

Breaking: Tether Allegedly Hacked For $30 Mln (NOV 21, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/breaking-tether-allegedly-hacked-for-30-mln

Major Risk For Mobile Android Wallet Users (NOV 20, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/major-risk-for-mobile-android-wallet-users

According to Key European Regulator, ICOs Could be Derivative Activities (NOV 16, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/according-to-key-european-regulator-icos-could-be-derivative-activities

Buyer Beware: Cryptocurrency ‘Pump and Dump’ Schemes Coordinated In Telegram (NOV 15, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/buyer-beware-cryptocurrency-pump-and-dump-schemes-coordinated-in-telegram

Fake ICOs, Common Crypto Scams and How to Avoid Them (NOV 03, 2017)
https://cointelegraph.com/news/fake-icos-common-crypto-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them

Press Release - SEC Emergency Action Halts ICO Scam FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2017-219
https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2017-219

US Government to Sell Off $10 Million in Seized Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (Dec 15, 2017)
https://www.coindesk.com/us-government-to-sell-off-10-million-in-seized-bitcoin-and-bitcoin-cash/

Prosecutors File Charges in Alleged $250 Million Crypto Mining Fraud (Dec 21, 2017)
https://www.coindesk.com/prosecutors-file-charges-alleged-250-million-crypto-mining-fraud/

Why Bitcoin Is the MySpace of Cryptocurrencies, But the Blockchain Is Here to Stay (November 22, 2017)
Why blockchain, not bitcoin, is the real treasure of cryptocurrency.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/304134

https://www.myfxbook.com/files/BluePanther/Clipboard01_iA.jpg

Can cryptos can cause bankruptcy for brokers? (DEC 24, 2017)
https://www.forexcrunch.com/can-cryptos-can-cause-bankruptcy-brokers/

FBI implicates several FX brokerages in BTC-e investigation. Here is why cryptocurrency is a sure fire way to destroy your brokerage (December 27, 2017)
https://financefeeds.com/fbi-implicates-several-fx-brokerages-btc-e-investigation-cryptocurrency-sure-fire-way-destroy-brokerage/

ICO = Insidious CON offering (October 18, 2017)
https://financefeeds.com/ico-insidious-con-offering/

Some brokers lost a fortune on crypto currency trading yet have remained silent. Our advice: Stay away (December 19, 2017)
"...Brokerages offering unrestricted Bitcoin trading are suffering tremendous losses which in some cases have caused large firms to stop paying their affiliates. The sooner this ‘crypto mania’ is over, the better for everyone, brokers, providers and traders alike."

https://financefeeds.com/some-brokers-lost-a-fortune-on-crypto-currency-trading-yet-have-remained-silent-our-advice-stay-away/

"Airware – sarcastic software industry terminology used in the late 1990s for a non-existent product – could be an appropriate label for the latest buzzword that is proliferating the internet, that being ICO."

Binary options ‘ban’ is pure hysteria. The bandits will carry on as normal (October 24, 2017)
https://financefeeds.com/binary-options-ban-pure-hysteria-bandits-will-carry-normal/

"Israel Securities Authority chairman Professor Shmuel Hauser states that binary options fraudsters are moving to cryptocurrency and ICO fraud, highlighting FinanceFeeds’ perspective on this matter. Here is the full insight"
"This is a perfect vehicle which binary options fraudsters can adapt the very same binary options platforms and use the same marketing/hard sales model to gain deposits as they did with binary options, except with even less recourse for investors, because, unlike binary options, they cannot make a claim that they were wrongfully sold a trade on a financial instrument, as the item they are investing in does not exist, neither does the currency to buy it – which is known by the investor from the outset, hence the scammers can just simply steal it, and they say that the item never came to fruition and because cryptocurrency is distributed, there is no central system to intervene."

We were right: Israeli official Professor Shmuel Hauser shares our view on fraudulent ICO and crypto mania (November 15, 2017)
https://financefeeds.com/right-israeli-official-professor-shmuel-hauser-shares-view-fraudulent-ico-crypto-mania/

"Since the failure of the State of Israel to have addressed the massive and largely fraudulent binary options underworld that has permeated the public arena and created tremendous discourse over recent years, the United States has begun to pick up the baton."

SpotOption helped fraudster Lee Elbaz to make clients lose money, witnesses tell FBI (September 27, 2017)
https://financefeeds.com/spotoption-helped-fraudster-lee-elbaz-to-make-clients-lose-money-witnesses-tell-fbi/

Britain’s FCA takes a very dim view of cryptocurrency CFDs and views them as insidious as binary options – which is about right, given that most of the ICO and crypto platforms are being hawked by the very same fraudsters who peddled binary options

Exactly as FinanceFeeds predicted, FCA lumps cryptocurrency investment into same category as binary options fraud
https://financefeeds.com/pr/exactly-financefeeds-predicted-fca-lumps-cryptocurrency-investment-category-binary-options-fraud/

“Could we see another global crisis of this type in the future? The bursting of a bubble would have to lead to a sufficiently large wealth loss. An obvious candidate is the bond bubble; and another - perhaps in the future if the corresponding bubble continues to grow - is the Bitcoin.”

Global crises are linked to wealth destruction in many countries – Natixis (Jan 2, 2018)
https://www.fxstreet.com/news/global-crises-are-linked-to-wealth-destruction-in-many-countries-natixis-201801020524

Australian banks freeze accounts tied to cryptocurrencies (Jan 2, 2018)
https://www.fxstreet.com/news/australian-banks-freeze-accounts-tied-to-cryptocurrencies-201801020213

... A bubble or not?
The Bitcoin debate goes on and on. Some claim it's a bubble. Others say it isn't. Still, others say it can never be a bubble.

The theory of money thesis implies that everyone will want to own bitcoins. At best, that's quite a leap of faith. We've heard the same argument regarding gold countless times. The argument is along the lines of "If people just put 2% of their assets in gold, it will hit $10,000." Bitcoin supposedly will hit $1,000,000 when everyone gets in.

So what? Is Bitcoin a commodity? The answer is yes. It has value if for no other reason that people attribute a value to it. Is Bitcoin money or does it function as money?

What happens at every bubble peak is the true believers come out with a cornucopia of reasons why things are not a bubble. So please don't say that Bitcoin cannot be a bubble simply because it has commodity value or because convoluted interpretations of a theory by George Soros say so. The main uses of Bitcoin are undoubtedly speculation, capital flight out of China, and money laundering. Remember the dotcom bubble when speculators were clamoring for leap options on a company called JDSU. The day those options became available marked the top. The fact that Bitcoin futures and ETFs are in the works are more signs of a speculative mania.

Bitcoin Debate: It's a Bubble! No, It's Not, It Cannot Be a Bubble! (Nov 06 2017)
https://www.fxstreet.com/analysis/bitcoin-debate-its-a-bubble-no-its-not-it-cannot-be-a-bubble-201711061442

Bitcoin rises as Ripple’s surge pauses after exchange says it’s not adding the assets yet (Jan 5, 2018)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/bitcoin-rises-as-ripples-surge-pauses-after-exchange-says-its-not-adding-the-assets-yet-2018-01-05

CFTC chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo: "reminded investors that virtual currencies technology is very new and introduced risks such as the “operational risks of unregulated and unsupervised trading platforms; cybersecurity risks of hackable trading platforms and virtual currency wallets; speculative risks of extremely volatile price moves; and fraud and manipulation risks through traditional market abuses of pump and dump schemes, insider trading, false disclosure, Ponzi schemes and other forms of investor fraud and market manipulation.” "

SEC, CFTC warn of risk of virtual currencies and initial coin offerings (Jan 4, 2018)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sec-cftc-warn-of-risk-of-virtual-currencies-and-initial-coin-offerings-2018-01-04

Here’s how the U.S. and the world regulate bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (Dec 28, 2017)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-the-us-and-the-world-are-regulating-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrency-2017-12-18

After bringing ICO case, SEC’s Clayton promises more cryptocurrency enforcement (Dec 4, 2017)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/secs-clayton-promises-more-cryptocurrency-enforcement-2017-12-04

Bank of England Has 'No Plans' to Launch Cryptocurrency (Jan 5, 2018)
https://www.coindesk.com/bank-of-england-has-no-plans-to-launch-cryptocurrency/