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Re:SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO by djsumdog on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @01:56PM (#20097531)
> Who even bought this stuff?

A buddy of mine from my home town called me up and needed a developer to work on his "crypto-currency hedge fund." This guy has always been a bit dodgy on looking for the least amount of resistance to the most money.

I tried tell tell him all the reasons it was a bad idea. He claims he had done all the research (guy is not a programmer, couldn't pass Anatomy I the two times he took it in an attempt to start his career as a radiologist .. for the money -- sure as hell couldn't do the maths).

He told me investments would be a minimum of $250k and he was promising (yes promising) 120% returns. ... I told him he needed to be careful, because with that type of pitch, he would most likely end up in a ditch somewhere two to to the head .. or jail .. and he should hope for jail.

Besides telling him it was a bad idea, I told him he couldn't afford me. He told me he'd pay more than whatever I was making. I told him what I made .. and that I wouldn't take anything in crypto currency. That ended that.

He had several tens of thousands in different crypto currencies (before the BTC bubble broke in 2018). So in response to your question: this kind of person.

Re:SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO by harryh on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @02:11PM (#20097662)
It's important to note that while this person seems, you know, not very smart, the laws against unlicensed securities exist precisely to protect this kind of person from getting themselves in trouble.

I'm no lawyer, but it certainly seems like Kik worked to circumvent these laws in order to raise a bunch of money to keep their business alive. I look forward to seeing where the SEC investigation/trial goes.

Re:SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO by mamon on Wednesday June 05, 2019 @03:14AM (#20102162)
>> It's important to note that while this person seems, you know, not very smart, the laws against unlicensed securities exist precisely to protect this kind of person from getting themselves in trouble.

Which is counterproductive, really. Natural selection is the only effective cure for stupidity known to the mankind. Stupid people should be allowed to make stupid mistakes and suffer all the consequences.

Re:SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO by xwolfi on Wednesday June 05, 2019 @04:15AM (#20102415)
When the poor get poorer because of their stupidity, they don't die. They regroup, kill the rich, and take the money.
Re:SEC Charges Kik With Conducting $100M Unregistered ICO by burtonator on Tuesday June 04, 2019 @03:17PM (#20098263)
I think it was Buffet who said that the stock market was a giant machine for taking money from the impatient and giving it to the patient.