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One risk that I have not seen mentioned yet in this thread is crypto. I'm convinced that the sector is awash in fraud. And what worries me about this is that I

One risk that I have not seen mentioned yet in this thread is crypto. I'm convinced that the sector is awash in fraud. And what worries me about this is that I'm not certain how deep the contagion goes. In 2008, I did everything I could to stay out of the US real estate market, and some genius investment advisor at my bank managed to sell me bonds issued by a hedge fund that turned out to be backed entirely by real estate derivatives.

Melatonic 5y ago
Crypto is of course extremely volatile but Monero is one of the much more stabler ones (and also one that you are not going to see crazy gains in). And it is also the most private/anonymous of the bunch. Probably not a bad idea to have a small piece of an emergency fund invested securely in it.
- kimbernator 5y ago
  I feel the need to point out the silliness of pushing one's preferred crypto in response to a comment about how crypto is full of fraud and is a risk to the entire economy. No, it's not a good idea to invest part of your emergency fund into a highly speculative asset like cryptocurrency. Money put into crypto should come from a fund much less essential to one's livelihood.
  - Melatonic 5y ago
    If you are highly worried about the US market / currency crashing or devaluing then I think it does have some value to talk about. I don't have any benefit at all from anyone investing in Monero. Personally I think gold/silver are a more reliable "alternative" investment if you want to keep assets out of the US banking system (or stocks) since they are fairly universally valued and you can physically transport as needed.
axg11 5y ago
I share your concern, although I'm more generally worried about volatility. Crypto is awash in fraud, but there are also thousands of porto-projects that are close to gaining product market fit. Eventually, one of these use cases will explode and give crypto a better footing. My main worry is whether this happens before a "crypto winter" induced by fraud concerns.

Melatonic 5y ago

Crypto is of course extremely volatile but Monero is one of the much more stabler ones (and also one that you are not going to see crazy gains in). And it is also the most private/anonymous of the bunch. Probably not a bad idea to have a small piece of an emergency fund invested securely in it.

kimbernator 5y ago
I feel the need to point out the silliness of pushing one's preferred crypto in response to a comment about how crypto is full of fraud and is a risk to the entire economy. No, it's not a good idea to invest part of your emergency fund into a highly speculative asset like cryptocurrency. Money put into crypto should come from a fund much less essential to one's livelihood.
- Melatonic 5y ago
  If you are highly worried about the US market / currency crashing or devaluing then I think it does have some value to talk about. I don't have any benefit at all from anyone investing in Monero. Personally I think gold/silver are a more reliable "alternative" investment if you want to keep assets out of the US banking system (or stocks) since they are fairly universally valued and you can physically transport as needed.

axg11 5y ago

I share your concern, although I'm more generally worried about volatility. Crypto is awash in fraud, but there are also thousands of porto-projects that are close to gaining product market fit. Eventually, one of these use cases will explode and give crypto a better footing. My main worry is whether this happens before a "crypto winter" induced by fraud concerns.