The Influencer Scam Wave
Youtubers have a long history of scamming there viewers, and cryptocurrency is the current viable avenue for this behaviour...
For some of the more senior readers (people older than 21, don't get offended please) you may not be aware of the latest influencer scam wave that has been doing the rounds on YouTube recently. Names like Faze, Logan Paul, Ricegum and Sommer Ray may mean nothing to you, but they are the destination of hundreds of millions of viewers on a monthly basis.
'Youtubers' have a long history of scamming there viewers. Whether this is by advertising their gambling sites to their young audiences, misrepresenting their conventions' capacity and true value, and most recently, cryptocurrency pump & dump schemes.
The Save the Kids token scandal was the major revelation that opened the eyes of many. Branded as a redistributive token to reward smaller long-term holders. Many influencers were brought together and presented as long-term holders of the token. There were programs built into the token that prohibited large sell-offs of the cryptocurrency.
However, upon its launch its value plummeted. The dumping prohibiting mechanism was altered and the big holders sold it immediately. While the full facts of these events haven't been fully uncovered (especially when assigning blame), it shined a light on a series of pump & dump schemes some of the influencers in the video had undertaken.
One is currently taking place today as Logan Paul, a youtuber with over 23 million subscribers, promotes a token called Dink Doink (not a typo). The reason? Because he loves how sh*t it is. The ease of fraud and unethical practice when it comes to cryptocurrency and the murky morals of the influencing world have made a perfect marriage it seems. But what it has done is illuminate the need for caution from investors in this space with a number of solutions in the pipeline.
Government Regulation
I won't harp on this for too long because it has been well covered by myself and many others. The overall point is that there seems to be widespread recognition that if left untouched, the world of cryptocurrency is here to stay, and will have many benefits for people who adopt it with caution.
These Countries Banned Cryptocurrencies, Here's Why
Self Regulation
On the first edition of Crypto World (click here), one of the functions I pointed out is Uniswap's creation of ERC-20 token lists which act as a stamp of approval for cryptocurrency projects built on the Ethereum network.
There is a tendency to disregard cryptocurrency as a libertarian fantasy which can be equated to the 'Wild West' of finance, but there are developers in the industry who have undergone steps to self-regulate. For investors with a long-term time horizon, this is especially encouraging, as it curbs the risk of unnecessary government regulation which can do more harm than good in a world where regulators have a limited understanding of the industry.
Exploring Crypto World #1 - Uniswap
Takeaways
There is a strong culture of scamming and fraud in the world of cryptocurrency, as well as influencing
Both governments and blockchain developers are developing strategies to eliminate this behaviour
Coming Soon...
A Bubble Ready to Pop?
Exploring Crypto World #3