BostonCoin Update February to March 2024. Weirdest and Strangest Newsletter Ever
This is the weirdest and strangest newsletter I have written in some 9 years, and not just
because I am typing this sitting on a transnational train, journeying some 1000km through Vietnam
I have been adjusting to the schedule of losing 10-15 hours in transit
adapting to the time zone and internet, and finding myself in a strange city
filled with adventure, culture, mystery, tradition and wonder. Apparently, whilst my devices were in flight mode, the crypto markets have been going off
like fireworks at Chinese New Year. Okay, so we had seen some indicators that markets were moving
with the entry of Wall Street into crypto back in January, but this was a known quantity
Whilst the entry of Wall Street was forecast as an inevitability, we did not have a firm January
kick-off, and the SEC basically crumbled in November last year. Those who have been in crypto for more than 5 years will know about the halvening that occurs
with Bitcoin every 4 years, and how the halving of new Bitcoin supply usually results in the
price more than doubling. We have seen this several times in the past 15 years
What seems to be weird and strange this time around is the level of maturity in the market
and in the market players. Crypto has long been a club for young boys, and mean coins that did not
involve dogs often revolved around techno-jargon, or juvenile jokes about body parts or bodily
functions. In 2024, not so much. Leading up to the previous halving in 2020, we had celebrities
finfluencers and charismatic cult leaders, alongside bobbleheads on TikTok and YouTube, promising people the world for a small fee. Fortunately, the swamp seems to have been
drained of these parasites. Kim Kardashian was fined more than double the amount she received
for promoting a scam coin. Schemes, scams, that once flourished like weeds, such as BitConnect
Crypto MLM and Ponzi's N Pyramid seem to have died down to a mere handful
We have witnessed the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried for his embezzling from FTX
and Interpol chasing down Duquan for his Terra, Luna collapse. Alex Mashinsky has been forced to
give up funds taken from Celsius and investors have received almost half their money back
Celebrity YouTube influencer BitBoy Ben Armstrong had a very public meltdown, and the guy who made
a living from showing off his expensive toys was reduced to begging for money to pay his lawyers
Call it karma or call it schadenfreude, we are happy to see the dishonest players taken down
The surprising thing about it, is the vacuum does not seem to have been filled
Any good historian knows that when a king is killed, the killer becomes king
Now that the corrupt kings and queens of crypto influencing have been almost wiped out
who will take their place? It feels weird. I'm guessing that there may be historical
precedence for the uneasy feeling of restrained relaxation that one has when the old villain is
gone, and you are unsure when or if the next will appear. Were citizens uneasy after the death of
Billy the Kid or Bonnie and Clyde? If most of the big name celebrity thieves are gone, what happens
next? I'm hoping that once bitten now wiser investors are reasonably gun-shy of celebrities
particularly those who have almost zero experience with crypto or investing. Perhaps the power vacuum can in fact be filled by the people, who do not really need kings or queens
as we can all be capitalists, communally. Perhaps instead of blindly following the
celebrity into a scam, we can all learn to do our own research. Meanwhile, look out for the
AI scams that do not just copy celebrities, but can copy friends, family and workmates
Be alert but not alarmed. Just as banks and crypto exchanges insist on two-factor authentication
two-fop, feel free to use another authentication method if you seem to receive a message from a
friend or loved one who needs you to send money. If you receive a text message, make a phone call
Double check and be smart, because even video calls can be faked, just not very well. Is this
the world's best scam? Scene, a large multinational company with HQ in Europe and a trading desk in
Hong Kong. An email from the boss in Europe to the representative in Hong Kong, urgent, please pay
this supplier 25 million dollars, top secret. The Hong Kong representative thinks there is a chance
that the boss may have had their email hacked, so they email back and say, hey, do you mind jumping
on a quick video call? The boss agrees. Five people are on the video call, including the boss
the Hong Kong rep, the company treasurer and two other higher-ups. The boss on the Zoom call says
to pay the supplier and keep it secret. The Hong Kong representative is now satisfied and makes the
25 million dollars transfer to the scammers. Not only was the email hacked, but the scammers had
been secretly recording the company's video calls. They used ours