On many levels, yesterday was one of the most frustrating days of my cryptocurrency “career” – dating all the way back to losses, and STRESS, I incurred holding (exactly one) Bitcoin at Mt Gox.
To start, the maddening Bitcoin price action – as the tail end of the completely healthy, historically normal cryptocurrency bear market met full force with the lunatic speculative crosscurrents ahead of Friday’s upcoming SEC ETF decision. Which in my view, has thoroughly discounted a NO result – even if, quite obviously, NOTHING can stop the inevitable approval of not one, but multiple cryptocurrency ETFs…of Bitcoin; Ethereum; and eventually, baskets of numerous altcoins – similar, for example, to the GDXJ for junior Precious Metal miners.
https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1026213955750879232
- Andy_Hoffman_CG
I’m pretty sure I’ve covered the topic of the SolidX/VanEck Bitcoin ETF ad nauseum – in countless articles and podcasts…
…which unquestionably, will catalyze an epic, historic, parabolic price surge if approved Friday, despite the low odds I see of this occurring…
https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1026247554772553728
- Andy_Hoffman_CG
…and fortunately, is not NEEDED for Bitcoin’s price to rise – though it would DRAMATICALLY speed the process…
https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1025342238610472960
- Andy_Hoffman_CG
That said, the manic Bitcoin price action – which in hindsight, may have yielded a capitulative event ultimately resulting in the HIGHER LOWS I highlighted last week as ALL Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency) bulls should care about, pales in comparison to the bad news I learned, of a fatal mistake a long-time client and friend made…in NOT securing his Bitcoin and Litecoin.
To wit, he was the victim of a phishing scam – in which, an official looking email from Trezor prompted him to click on a link to commence a regular (but unnecessary) firmware update. The problem being, it was a fake email sent to tens of thousands of people with the hope – no, guarantee – it would find its way into the inbox of actual Trezor owners.
In it, the “firmware” update claimed to require the inputting of recovery seed words – for purposes of “enhanced security.” Which, when he did – WITHOUT ASKING A CRYPTO EXPERT FIRST – was the equivalent of handing a thief one’s ATM card and pin. Consequently, when he opened his Trezor the next time – i.e., yesterday - he saw two transactions had appeared…one, sending all his Bitcoin to another address; and two, his Litecoin. Gone forever, stolen by a cyber thief.
The moral of the story, of course, is that you must SAFEGUARD YOUR PRIVATE KEYS, PASSWORDS, AND SEED WORDS WITH YOUR LIFE. Which means, to NEVER give out passwords, pins, or (especially) recovery seeds from any cryptocurrency wallet. Conversely, you should ALWAYS assume such requests are fake, and ALWAYS ask for help from a crypto expert when in doubt.