3 ms·

> The red flags were clear enough for me-- and other people I know... This seems glaringly obvious to me as well. A basic scrutiny of how the money is made re

> The red flags were clear enough for me-- and other people I know... This seems glaringly obvious to me as well. A basic scrutiny of how the money is made reveals deep flaws. It should be clear to anyone who has money to invest that there is a reason why one investment vehicle pays 8% versus another which pays 2% (CD's). I don't believe they should lose their money without recourse, but people shouldn't have zero responsibility for their financial decisions. Some risk and educational foundation must be assumed by the individual. It would be nice if regulators and journalists gave a clear picture, but everyone should remember, they likely have no financial stake on their findings.

nullc 4y ago
It's a hard situation: the relative safety of standard investments contributes to bad judgement when people end up in a red in tooth and claw unregulated market. Similar people used to theme parks going to a national park and falling to their death in a waterfall or being gored by buffalo. Not that I think the safety rails are bad... if you had to be maximally cynical you'd never even bother taking an investment with only 2% yield, it just wouldn't be worth the meta-risk (the risk you misunderstood the risk!). Probably one of the worst things about the FTX press puffery is the implication that FTX was more regulated or pro-regulation, ... probably causing people to think it was a part of the relatively safe major markets where the risks are usually reasonable and the asset returns tends to be fair relative to the risk. I filed complaints with the government over the Gemini earn program because they were heavily marketing to retail users with comparisons to savings accounts while, AFAICT, actually consisting of effectively unsecured investments in ponzi schemes ('yield programs') whos risks weren't meaningfully disclosed. Never heard back, now that it's imploded perhaps I should try FOIA-ing any communication resulting from my complaints.

nullc 4y ago

It's a hard situation: the relative safety of standard investments contributes to bad judgement when people end up in a red in tooth and claw unregulated market. Similar people used to theme parks going to a national park and falling to their death in a waterfall or being gored by buffalo. Not that I think the safety rails are bad... if you had to be maximally cynical you'd never even bother taking an investment with only 2% yield, it just wouldn't be worth the meta-risk (the risk you misunderstood the risk!). Probably one of the worst things about the FTX press puffery is the implication that FTX was more regulated or pro-regulation, ... probably causing people to think it was a part of the relatively safe major markets where the risks are usually reasonable and the asset returns tends to be fair relative to the risk. I filed complaints with the government over the Gemini earn program because they were heavily marketing to retail users with comparisons to savings accounts while, AFAICT, actually consisting of effectively unsecured investments in ponzi schemes ('yield programs') whos risks weren't meaningfully disclosed. Never heard back, now that it's imploded perhaps I should try FOIA-ing any communication resulting from my complaints.