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389 points JumpCrisscross | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.52s | source
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ve55 ◴[] No.16164829[source]
For those unaware, Bitconnect was a Bitcoin-based ponzi-scheme that had operated 'successfully' for quite some time. I don't say 'ponzi' as an insult in the way some do for cryptocurrencies, it was quite literally just a bare-bones ponzi scheme, where you deposit your money (Bitcoin) on their website, buy their token, 'lock' your funds for some amount of time, and you are promised very high interest rates while encouraged to re-invest your returns.

What has happened today is Bitconnect has closed the exchange on their website, and so users flocked to some of the only other exchanges (of dubious reputation, since no reputable exchange wanted to list the BitConnect coin) in order to sell their now-worthless tokens, resulting in losses of around 90% today: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitconnect/

Many famous Youtubers and other individuals with influence convinced hundreds of people to put their money into BitConnect in order to profit off of referrals, leading to a lot of unfortunate losses and a lot of delusion and misinformation among devoted investors. The general sentiment towards those that lost money due to BitConnect has been a mocking attitude in the cryptocurrency investment communities, as BitConnect has been referred to by many as a blatant ponzi scheme for months.

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StavrosK ◴[] No.16165220[source]
I know a few people who fell for this, despite my warnings. When you tell someone "these returns are astronomical, teams of PhDs in hedge funds cannot come anywhere close, do you think they're so dumb that they wouldn't put billions in this if it were legitimate" and they reply "yes, I do", there's no helping them.
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1. zimpenfish ◴[] No.16168765[source]
Not that the "teams of PhDs in hedge funds" are all that, mind - http://www.aei.org/publication/warren-buffett-wins-1m-bet-ma...
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2. StavrosK ◴[] No.16168884[source]
Yes, but I was afraid that saying "even a basket of the 500 top securities can't come close to that, do you think the basket is so dumb that it wouldn't just put its money into BitConnect" wouldn't have the same impact :P