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The SEC Created Its Own Scammy ICO To Teach Investors a Lesson (theverge.com)
In its latest effort to fend off cryptocurrency scams, the Securities and Exchange Commission launched its own fake initial coin offering website today called the Howey Coin to warn people against fraudulent cryptocurrencies. From a report: The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Howey Test that the SEC uses to determine whether an investment is a security, which the Commission would therefore have legal jurisdiction over. Click 'Buy Coins Now' on the Howey Coins site and you'll be redirected to an SEC page that states: "We created the bogus HoweyCoins.com site as an educational tool to alert investors to possible fraud involving digital assets like crypto-currencies and coin offerings." It even has a white paper [PDF].
Site is hosed, Bro.
Where do I send my money?
Site is taking forever to load.
This guy's arm just came off!
And THAT'S why... you don't invest in fucking scam coins.
What work are you doing? Complaining on the internet using a computer that was made possible by other peoples' innovation, hard work and CAPITAL?
Perhaps you'd prefer the island paradise of Cuba or the lush mountains of North Korea.
This message brought to by the hundreds of millions of people murdered by communist regimes in the 20th century.
https://fee.org/
I nearly died laughing. That fake white paper is a nice touch, too.
This is going to result in clicks that aren't from people who bought into the site wanting to buy coins. That's a bunch of bogus data and hits artificially supporting the SEC's stand. Just watch, later they'll come out with numbers for how many people tried to buy coins from their bogus ICO site and almost all the hits will be from people rubbernecking after reading an article such as this.
Who does this appeal to?
The same people that bought CDOs from that other scam the SEC created: Goldman-Sachs.
Here's the thing - individually hand-crafted items are really expensive. You couldn't afford to buy even a fraction of the stuff you buy, if everything was still made the way it was made in the 18th century. Especially if it were carried on tiny little boats rather than huge container ships. Most of what you have, you can have only because of tools, factories, machines - stuff that increases productivity, expensive stuff. Multi-million dollar items like ships and factories are needed in order to produce your TV, your clothes, and everything you that a serf in 1818 didn't have. Foundries, fiber optic networks, etc are all the goose the lays the golden egg for society, the reason you don't pick cotton for $3 / day.
Shifting gears a little, when were young you may or may not have been taught that saving up is a really good idea, because shit happens. If you have a car, you'll have car problems. You can either scramble to come up with the money to fix it AFTER it breaks, maybe via a pawn shop, or you can put a $10 aside each paycheck BEFORE the car breaks and not get fucked over by a pawn shop. "I can't afford to save $10 of my paycheck", some say. But you CAN afford to pay a lot more than that to a pawn shop? Maybe when your car breaks down you'll use a pay day lender, because you can afford to pay back twice as much? If you're broke, you REALLY can't afford to not aside a few bucks for when shit happens.
You know what other kind of shit happens? If you keep living, you will get old. Really old. Putting a few dollars aside from each check so you have it when you're old is a really friggin good idea too.
So we have a need for really expensive things which produce other good stuff, expensive things like factories, power plants, steel mills, trains, ships etc. Those things are called "capital goods". In order for you to get cool shit, we need a bunch of money to buy capital goods (things like motorcycle factories). Also we have a bunch of people saving up money for when shit happens, and saving up more money for when they get old. Pretty much everyone who both a) isn't stupid and b) was raised by someone who had a clue, is saving some money aside. So there is a shitload of money sitting around being saved up.
Here's a great idea. Instead of having that saved money sitting around getting moldy until you retire in 30 years, why don't we use that saved money to build useful stuff like factories, trains, foundries, power plants, and other things that produce good stuff for everyone? That way everyone can get more good stuff, cheaper. Seem like *maybe* a good idea?
There are two alternatives to buying capital goods with savings. You can have a society without any capital goods, a primitive, tribal society. Or you can have a society in which very few very, very wealthy people can afford to personally buy ships, build factories, etc.
So I assume we don't want only Donald Trump getting any benefit from machinery and stuff, while the rest of us live as serfs, picking cotton buy hand. Okay, cool - give me the money you've saved so I can go build a factory. What? You don't want to hand over your money? But if you do, everybody, society as a whole, will be a lot better off. We can buy a $2 million combine harvester instead of all of us picking peanuts one-by-hand, by hand. Yeah, most people don't want to hand over their savings for the betterment of society.
Okay how about this. If you let us use the $500 you have saved, if you want it back a year from now we'll give you back $550. If you don't end up needing it until you retire, we'll pay you back $3,300. Sound better? You put in $500 now toward buying capital goods, you get $3,300 back later. That's a lot better deal for you, a deal that most people will take, if they've been saving at all.
That's investment, that's capitalism. Saving up for a rainy day like your grandma told you too, then pooling those savings to get useful stuff that makes life better for everyone. That's why we're not subsistence farmers in the US, because we invested and bought machines and other capital goods.
So, does this mean I can't buy any??
LOL Look at all the little butthurt capitalists replying to this thread. They all have one thing in common: lack of imagination and creativity. Repeating the same falacy again and again: that communism is the only alternative to capitalism.
Reality check: There ARE existing economic models that work better than capitalism. And they don't involve the government owning anything. Do your homework. But you wont. Cause none of you are interested in actually improving your world. All you care about is being right, proving me wrong, because you hate me.
Small people with small minds.
Are (any) fiat-currency and (any) cryptocurrency really equivalent, as cryptocurrency fans claim?
For example, US Dollar and Bitcoin are really equals?
Value/validity/authorization of US dollar is provided/guaranteed by US Government (and in-turn whole US Public)!
Also, not to mention, US Dollars in any US Bank is insured by US Government!
What authorization/guarantee/insurance is behind Bitcoin? Nothing!
Sorry but that is the end of discussion then!
Why do you think Satoshi Nakamoto is really hiding his identity, if Bitcoin is really such a great innovation?
He is just someone does not like media/fan attention?
Or, could it be really because Bitcoin (and all cryptocurrencies followed it) are actually Ponzi Schemes?
(So he knew very well that law enforcement would come after him sooner or later?!)
If so-called cryptocurrencies are really good innovation, why they attract so many criminals/criminal activity?
Could it really be because, all cryptocurrencies themselves are scams, and that is why they attract all kinds of criminals/criminal activity?
If so-called cryptocurrencies are really currency, why no company/store can use Bitcoin as currency anymore?
Because the price of Bitcoin proved to be extremely unstable to use as a currency?
Would the result be different, if Bitcoin replaced by any other "cryptocurrency"?
Aren't all work the same way?
If so-called cryptocurrencies are really money; isn't people issuing their own money, illegal already, in all countries?
If so then, why they are still not banned in all countries?
Or, they are not actually virtual currency but virtual investment?
But, if they are actually investment, why we need/want them?
What would happen to world economy, if people invested in virtual investments, instead of real investments?
Or, all so-called cryptocurrencies are actually just a modified (made decentralized and paying variable interest) Ponzi Schemes?
(Price of cryptocurrencies would keep increasing in the long term (by their design), so it is equivalent of paying variable interest to all long term investors.)
As more and more people invest in cryptocurrencies, it will become harder and harder to ban their trading everywhere!
All cryptocurrencies need to be banned globally before it is too late!
> Unfortunately the way that investments and capitalism work there is no way to actually guarantee that you will get money back on your investment.
Actually you *can* guarantee it. Most people don't completely guarantee it, because low-risk has much higher returns than no-risk.
> Essentially it is not saving but instead hedging a bet that you can pick the right technology that will benefit society at large and thus create a return on your initial investment.
You used the phrase "hedging a bet" as if it meant "placing a bet". "Hedging a bet" basically means guaranteeing a bet. Suppose the Broncos and the Panthers are playing in the Superbowl. Placing a bet would be putting $100 on the Broncos. Hedging that bet would be ALSO putting $100 on the Panthers. You would be guaranteeing your outcome. You're guaranteed to not lose (or make) any money, assuming even odds on both bets, and the same line.
Hedges can get much, much more complex, in order to guarantee whatever you want to guarantee, or select any level of risk you wish.
An SEC page? Doesn't sit right. Personally, I pronounce it "sehk", so "a SEC page". Tough one.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
No, it is your votes for them that do that.
Going to complain that YOU didnt vote for THE MAN? Well, I suspect you support one of the two, and they are both THE MAN, in case you had not realized.
Face it, people are too busy arguing about which minority is the most worthy or not to do anything about the people in power causing the real problems.
Do you think that is an accident? Interesting..
Your entire, fairly long, post seemed like it was going one way, then your final sentence or two made an unexpected turn.
As long as you end up doing the smart thing, saving and investing, I won argue with you about the other stuff.
Where I accidentally wrote "won argue with you", that should be "won't argue with you".
I can't help but think that people who fall for this are going to learn two lessons, and one of them is socially destructive.
I gotta be honest with you: you're stupid.
A fuck of a lot less than they have to spend investigating and prosecuting the various ICO frauds that are going on.
This could well come in as a net saving in government expenditure.
I'm sorry, do you think the SEC is making a profit somehow?
It gets no cut. You sound like a thief complaining about the police.
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