This short post will explain to you how to avoid Bitcoin scams once and for all. It is a short 3 minute read that will educate you enough in the subject so you can feel comfortable moving forward in your cryptocurrency investing journey.
The topic is very hot right now, and will (most likely) continue to be in the coming months and years. And it is also the industry that is absolutely most flooded with scams so I feel this post is an important read.
Ok, let´s get started!
First – Biggest Mistake Crypto Investors Are Making
The (without a doubt) biggest mistake crypto investors are performing right now is that they fall for the scam coins out there. It is easy to see why! Aas people get bombarded constantly with “new coins” and hear how many great things the new coin can do. Including the earning potential and so on. This creates FOMO (fear of missing out).
I know, and I absolutely understand that it can be very tempting to invest in a new, super cheap coin… especially after listening to a rant (from the con artist) on how good of a future the coin has ahead of it.
They relly in their victims with their “tech talk” that you (most likely) do not understand a fraction about. He (or she) use words like ICO, Blockchain and other crypto related words that you might have heard a few times in your crypto journey.
You nood your head and agree, mostly to not look stupid, right?
And… you want to believe that what he said is true. I mean, who do not want to find an opportunity to become very wealthy, right?
Many times they say things like: “you missed the Bitcoin train. But… with this new coin (whatever the name is) there is still time to jump on the train.
You might start to think about the Bitcoin millionaire kid you saw on the news… and then you put your disbeliefs aside…
Then… you end up giving your hard earned money (that you never see again) to the scammer and his fake coin.
You will never see your money again… I know how that feels. I have been scammed myself on different occasions in the past.
The scam artist know exactly what he is doing. This is a classic scam tactic that has been around for a very long time. The obvious reason it still exists is that it works.
They (the scammers) might sound very smart to the uneducated (in the subject) person, but in reality… they are VERY stupid.
The scammers will ALWAYS take advantage of a new exploding market like cryptocurrency is. Subsequently, you also need to know is that the sad truth is that around 95%-99% of the crypto coins out there are scams.
Avoid Bitcoin Scams – This is how
As mentioned above, the scam artists always going to thrive in every new great market. It happened in the dot.com boom, and now it is happening in the crypto boom.
Everywhere you look online there is a new coin to mine, or a new product to invest in that promise you SKY HIGH returns. You better understand (and fast) that pretty much ALL of them are scams. Their only purpose is to make the con artist rich, and trust me they will be rich. That is also a very sad truth.
Now you see them, now you don´t
Trust me on this one, most of the coins you see today won´t exist in a couple of years. Most people cannot see this. The other week in my local grocery store, the guy who works there told me he had invested in a new great coin. He even wanted me to invest in them, buying from him or “under him” as he called it. I knew at that exact moment (when he said under me) that he had been scammed into a so-called Ponzi scheme (pyramid scam).
This stuff is everywhere and just waiting for someone to fall into the trap that they in reality are. Unfortunately, most people cannot see through those traps. This is also the reason why I write this post today. I am really really tired to see people getting scammed over and over again. Good people, even friends and people I know and like (like the grocery store guy for example).
Here is a general rule of thumb you want to stick to before even considering investing in a new coin:
- If it started (or starts) with a BIG pre-mine (Like DASH) then you (most likely) want to stay away
- If it is exclusively mined by a central authority (Like STEEM) then be careful
- If it doesn´t solve any problem in the real (offline) world then it is not even worth looking at
- If it claims to solve A LOT of problems, then it is (most likely) very hyped
- If it does not have a strong community on social media, then it will probably never be worth anything also
IMPORTANT TO MENTION:
The absolute #1 rule of them all that you should follow is: Avoid ALL of the new coins you come across until you are sure what you are dealing with. ALWAYS.
P.S.
Some bad news: Cryptocurrency is a very complicated subject and to be able to 100% know if a coin is legit or not is to read the actual software code that created it.
Some good news: Unlike the dollar, the software is available for anyone to read
What coins are best to invest in then?
I will try to give you a short and simple answer to this. First of all, as mentioned above, avoid ALL of them. At least until you are educated enough to know what to look out for and understand how to spot the warning signs.
Please do NOT invest a single dollar if you aren´t sure.
However, this shouldn´t scare you from thinking that you will never find a new coin that got the potential to rise and explode in value because I strongly believe more such coins will be created. But trying to find them without knowledge is going to be like “finding a needle in a pile of hay”.
What characteristics do LEGIT profitable coins ALWAYS have?
- ALWAYS have a limited supply
- ALWAYS follows the main philosophy: Secure (if I send money to you, you get it first and in first hand), decentralized (no geographical boundaries), anonymous (no one needs to know), forgery-proof (no duplicate money is possible)
- ALWAYS solves a problem in the real world that bitcoin isn´t already solving
IMPORTANT: If the coin you come across doesn´t fit in at least the criteria below then run the other direction
So, in short:
My advice is that you buy the ones that we know are legit, such as the most well-known Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoi, etc. At least until you are educated enough to go for new coins.
Where can you start?
It is very easy to get started to buy Bitcoins and other cryptos, you can do it in minutes with a credit card for example. What I would say is the most important thing is that you need to store it off-line?! At least if it is an amount that you cannot afford to lose. I suggest you keep your coins that you plan to use (for example for trading, or buying stuff) on different online wallets. However, if you plan to just invest and sit on your investment (hodl) then you should keep it offline as it then becomes hacker proof.
==> Here is my #1 recommended place if you plan to invest $10,000+ (worlds safest storing)
==> If you plan to invest less then you can have a look at the $1,000 + or – investing page
I hope you found this short post on how to avoid bitcoin scams to be helpful. In view of having a better understanding now on how to do just that. Also how to find opportunities among the endless scams out there. If you have experienced being scammed on a “new coin” please share your experience in the comment section below as it can help others. Also, if you got any other questions about this I will be more than happy to answer them below!
Also, please, if you want to be part of the solution make sure to share this by using the share buttons below (Facebook, Twitter, etc)
I wish you success
Michael
Founder of: Gold Retired
Hi Michael,
Last November, right after BitCoin prices skyrocketed I got caught up in all the hype and almost bought in to a currency myself. My co-worker was completely tore up because he had a friend contact him a day or two before it happened and advised him to buy in to BitCoin but he didn’t.
Since then I check in to coinmarketcap sometimes to see what prices are looking like. The currency I had thought about buying into isn’t even on that list anymore so I clearly need to do more research about the types of coins out there.
Do you recommend any websites that can provide legitimate information about what each specific coin is used for?
Hi there,
first of all, thank you for your comment and question, it is highly appreciated.
Yeah, many coins will (most likely) disapear in a near future,
about your question, the site you name yourself, Coinmarketcap is a good place as it provides info on the coins listed, with website, source code, techniqual documentation, and so on.
Hope that helps!
Thanks again for your comment,
/All the best
Back in 2008, I pulled all of my money out of real estate and put in into CD’s. I just had a bad feeling. Two weeks later, the bottom fell out. When I look at Bitcoin and the like, I get that same feeling. Thank you for such a comprehensive look at Bitcoin, and explaining it so thoroughly. Because of your website, I have a much better understanding of what its all about.
Clay
Thank you for sharing Clay,
makes me happy to hear that you found the post helpful and informative,
Thanks again for your comment,
/All the best
I’ve come across tons of these scams in the past year, ever since bitcoin blew up at the beginning of the year thats when the scammers decided to make their moves. All at the same time somehow.
one of the most popular i’ve seen are the ones asking people to put down an investment into a mining operation of bitcoin, and whatever is mined, the investors will see a profit of that.
Even if it were true, lets say they magically mined one bitcoin, and lets say it was worth $19k. You have no idea how many people have put their money into the same scam so now the scammer is making hundreds of thousands while you’re losing money and getting pennies back.
Yes, they are literally everywhere.
Sounds to me like what you describe is so-called HYIP and PONZI schemes and they are probably a majority of the Bitcoin and Crypto scams out there, so I agree on that fully.
/Stay safe
Hi,
I don’t know much about cryptocurrency and don’t really understand it. However, you explain all of these scams so well that I feel like I would be able to avoid being scammed if I were to start investing in cryptocurrency. Thank you very much for sharing, I’m sure you will be helping a lot of people out with this post!
Thank you! Really appreciate those words from you.
I absolutely think you should start invest into it, keep in mind that you can start small. We have great alternatives on my different “budget menus”
/All the best
Thank you for sharing with us this great post on avoiding Bitcoin Scams.I was not interested in Bitcoin before starting my online business.This world of bitcoin is full of scams and many innocent people are losing their money to those scams.It is very important to have full of information about Bitcoin and how to avoid those scams.
Best regards
Well said! The “Bitcoin world” is probably the space that is filled with most scams, every new blooming market is a hot target for scammers so it is not strange really.
Best way to avoid them is to inform yourself.
/Stay safe
Love this website and this post was awesome!
Thank you!
Thank you! Makes us happy to hear that!
/All the best
Thank you for this! It actually made most things clear and am now more confident in this new Bitcoin subject!
Ok great!
Happy to hear you found this useful!
Thank you for your comment!
Great article! Learned a lot from this! Love your website overall! Thank you!
/Mike
Happy to hear that!
/Thank you for your comment
This article was a real eye opener for me, thank you! Have shared this on Facebook!
/George
First of all, thank you or your comment!
Happy to hear you found value from the article and that it was an eye opener!
Thank you again!
/Best
Can you help me with some information? I was contacted by a person named Wayne Saunders to to an investment in bitgo promising a ten fold increase in less than a week. So minimum 500 brings 5000 and no fees. Is this legit or can you tell me how to research this if not?
I have already been scammed in 5 other platforms promising similar returns such as fxluxoptions.com fx-bitcomtrade.com and on down the list. Their fees are endless so you never see your “promised” return. Thanks for any help you can provide.
First of all, thank you for your comment.
If someone promise you a fixed return, and especially also in a fixed amount of time you can ALWAYS know that they are either lying to you, or have no idea what they talk about.
So, as a rule of thumb, if someone promises you returns then run the other way around.
Hope that make sense?
Thank you again for your comment!
,sincerely