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Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by ev1 on Saturday December 05, 2020 @01:13PM (#25316787)
Scamming people, running a pyramid or ponzi, selling shovels.

edit: I'm only semi-joking, the official Bitcoin forums quite literally has pyramid and ponzi and straight up fraud schemes that people happily sign up to and refer each other to. There is no attempt to hide them or look legitimate. You'll find ridiculous-to-outsiders threads asking "hey anyone know a good ponzi i can sign up for will use your referral"

The marketplace subforum is nearly totally populated with stolen/hacked accounts, subscriptions using fraudulent/stolen credit cards, it's pretty much a fraud forum.

Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by spurdoman77 on Saturday December 05, 2020 @01:37PM (#25317006)
Thats sad, it was great when I started years ago but I quickly moved elsewhere.
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by Scoundreller on Saturday December 05, 2020 @03:09PM (#25317834)
Yeah, I read a recent article where the opening was “it can be hard to believe, but the Bitcoin.org/.it forums used to function effectively”.

It’s nice that all the original stuff is still there instead of buried on Twitter or Reddit.

Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by ev1 on Saturday December 05, 2020 @03:32PM (#25318038)
Since I can't edit this anymore, I'm going to clarify that I know there is no "official" forum, but I am referencing the largest one that used to be on the bitcoin.org domain, but is now bitcointalk.
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by anoncake on Saturday December 05, 2020 @02:19PM (#25317428)
How does a "straight up fraud scheme" work? Can I tell people on Bitcoin forums that I'm pretending to be a Nigerian prince and they'll give me money? If so, where can I find these forums?
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by TrackerFF on Saturday December 05, 2020 @04:05PM (#25318346)
There are communities which explicitly state their intentions.

A bit related - I've seen forums etc. where the community pumps stocks, crypto currencies, and what not.

Everyone knows what happening, and they're all in on it.

One typical way is that some "stock guru" is selling spots for private chats / rooms, where they'll regularly announce "signals" - i.e hyping up some penny stock. The group members will obviously start purchasing shares / pumping the stock, and exit as soon as outside buyers enter the cycle.

Sometimes they just flat-out announce public pumping schemes on forums / user groups.

Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by netsharc on Saturday December 05, 2020 @06:05PM (#25319305)
> Everyone knows what happening, and they're all in on it.

The thing with Hertz' stock going crazy even though they declared bankruptcy was insane... people were buying the stock because they're betting there'll be another idiot wanting to buy the stocks off them for a higher price. Which is the entire principle of crypto, IMO.

Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by ev1 on Saturday December 05, 2020 @02:49PM (#25317686)
You have your choice: there is a subforum specifically for "Gambling and all "investments" that are so risky they might as well be gambling (HYIPs, pyramid schemes, etc.)", or you can just buy hacked PayPal accounts and cards in the "Digital Goods" subforum.
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by anoncake on Sunday December 06, 2020 @06:17AM (#25322761)
I thought you meant that people willingly sign up to be defrauded with their knowledge and consent.
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by duxup on Sunday December 06, 2020 @10:45PM (#25329148)
Sometimes I think Bitcoin is the best way for us to learn why we have rules and the systems we have.
Re:Ask HN: How do people make money in the cryptocurrency in... by notadog on Saturday December 05, 2020 @10:40PM (#25320813)
You make a good point, but there is no "official Bitcoin forum." That's the equivalent of calling HN the "official hacker forum."