If you started “investing” in the cryptocurrency mania a few years ago, chances are you made a lot of money.
If you started buying them a few weeks ago, you might have lost a lot of money in what are also known as cyber coins.
The volatility is incredible. So is the danger.
Just check out the movement on a down day May 21 of some of the coins followed by Coinbase at the top of the page.
It’s like playing in a casino.
Now check out volatility of Ethereum Classic over a one month period. The coin has a market cap of $7.4 billion dollars with 116 million of the coins in circulation. And I have personal knowledge because I opened up an account on Coinbase a couple of months ago and as you can see below, I have $71.96 cents invested in the coin.
And now over the last year.
Cryptocurrency is HUGE.
“Cryptocurrencies as of May 7 were worth $2.4 trillion, according to CoinDesk, an information service, more than all U.S. dollars in circulation” wrote the Wall Street Journal this month.
And more people are pilling in to join the mania.
Yahoo Finance says 14 percent of America is playing.
Many of them use Coinbase, the largest trader in cryptocurrencies. It has a valuation of $48 billion dollars, almost identical to Ford’s valuation.
The internet is filled with stories about how wonderful it is to buy cryptocurrencies with few stories about how you can lose your shirt.
The Better Business Bureau has a few issues with Coinbase:
Pattern of Complaint:
Coinbase came to BBB’s attention in September 2013. A review of the company’s complaints was completed in March 2021.Based on BBB files this company has a pattern of complaints from consumers who state they are locked out of their accounts, even after providing required information or updates. Consumer’s also state they have difficulty reaching the company.
On January 15, 2021, Coinbase provided a statement on their website, https://blog.coinbase.com/committing-to-better-customer-service-during-this-time-of-heightened-interest-in-the-cryptoeconomy-5dc2637c4fa7, which addressed the customer service issues.
A letter was sent to the company requesting they address the above issues as well as advise if the changes noted on their website had been implemented and what if any improvements the company is seeing from these changes.
To date, BBB has not received a response.
Of course Bitcoin is the best known cryptocurrency and it too gyrates in value. One month ago it was selling for $55,000 each. It was selling at $36,000 midday on May 21.
There are daily news reports that contribute to its volatility. On May 21 the latest news was that China reiterated its call for a crackdown on mining and trading.
