Okay, sure, let’s run with that. Alternate headline, “fees” variant: “Software engineer loses life savings during Bitcoin fee evasion scheme” The point being

Okay, sure, let’s run with that. Alternate headline, “fees” variant: “Software engineer loses life savings during Bitcoin fee evasion scheme” The point being, he consciously traded a safe thing (losing a percentage of his money doing the transfer in insured ways) for a high-risk thing (no percentage taken, but not insured). He lost his bet due to a black swan event. I’m not inclined to sugarcoat this; he had every opportunity to know the risks, and earns no sympathy from me for losing his gamble. Whether it’s taxes or forex fees he’s avoiding, the point remains: Safety comes with a price, and refusing to pay that price carries a risk of loss.