4 BTC in 1 week? This is the “next” Bitcoin? It’s common to see such outrageous claims of “investment”. So are they real and how do you differentiate one? Well for starters, there is NO investment scheme out there will give you returns of 10x or 100x in weeks. The next time you run into such claims, it best for you to run the opposite direction and save your assets! Here are a few tips and trick to identify one.
The safest way to Invest in crypto is still to be a hoDler. However, it’s not applicable for any asset per say. You will far better of just to buy and hold the top market capped currency like Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) to start with.
One of the most dreaded form of Scams is via Initial Coin Offering or better known as ICO. Scammers love it. Selling an idea is easy to some, and buying an idea is easier!. The easiest step is to make sure they have a proper registered entity and make sure to go through their white paper to gauge the ideation. Make sure they have a significant media followings and always lookout for key indication of scams such as promised returns and very high gains. It is important to check the team behind the ICO and always safe to run a simple google check on forums or ICO review websites. Also be sure of checking out the launch platforms. The latest trend of IEO’s (Initial exchange offerings) might just be tat bit safer to participate for one. IEO are ICO’s that are being launched on a particular exchange (ex. Binance Launch Pad, BitMax Launchpad or Houbi Prime). IEO’s will have to go through some strict regulations and rules set by these exchanges thus eliminating those with the intention to scam. Always remember, not all ICO’s will take you to the moon. Read, Research and then Risk your investment carefully.
Another famous scam schemes are related to mining based investment. For starters, mining is either you own a mining machine or you can purchase hashrates and let a 3rd party mining company do it for you. (etc. genesis-mining.com). If the market is kind to you, this would generate a significant investment returns. However, there are also many mining company out there claiming to provide you such services. It’s advisable to do a simple google search on their company name, facility location and compare their rate of return to the proven ones out there. If they tend to be giving out way more — approach with care. You may use one of the many BTC mining calculator available online to verify their promised rate. Its good to note that there is NO WAY a particular mining company can be dishing our way more profits than the norm. Promises of tripling or more of your investment is always an indication of a scam. Also important to know that the mining process requires alot cost especially for energy. Huge mining facilities are normaly located in colder climate locations to minimize the cost of electricity. Imagine having a farm in Malaysia with our weather and electricity tariff!! next to impossible probably.
Multi-Level marketing is another method used by scammers to capture their pray. Users might be misguided as their actual “returns” is generated from the marketing pay out rather than the investment itself and once they start overpaying or the network stalls, the game ends, together with your investment of course. Although MLM per say is a proven method of marketing, one should always move with caution in the crypto scene if a crypto product is driven via a MLM as it might as well be a very deliberate Ponzi scheme. www.behindmlm.com is one easy way to have a system gauged with plenty of reviews and research done of a particular MLM.
Lastly…coins. The term coin has been very much abused in this industry with every tom, dick and harry seems to be creating their own “coin”. There are hundreds if not thousands of marketers walking out there promoting their coins. Firstly, one should know that most of these “coins” out there are actually tokens. An easy way to put it is they are equivalent to the shares of the company releasing them. So would you buy shares in a company that you have no idea of their business? Think about it. Make sure to gather all information on them and their project before you make any decision. Plenty of them out there are just blatantly creating there so called coins out of thin air just to sell them off for profits and then absconding.
Always remember, investment in cryptocurrency can make you or break you. Be sure to always risk what you can afford and invest with care.
Vimal Selvamany
