That sad-sounding email may not be on the level…getty
Financial trickery is an ongoing problem, and it’s amazing how successful it often is.Rick Kahler, president of Kahler Financial Group in Rapid City, S. D., has an eagle eye for such frauds. Here are his tips to avoid being gulled.
Larry Light: Ours is a cynical age. You’d think people would be more wise to attempted cons.
Rick Kahler: Financial scams and con artists have probably been around at least as long as people have been using money. In the past when I read stories about scams, I often wondered how people could be so gullible. I assumed that the victims of fraud were the vulnerable elderly or less educated, had suffered a recent loss of a loved one, or were isolated. This is not necessarily the case.
While some data suggests that one in five of those over age 65 have been targeted by email scammers, being scammed can happen to anyone. Nobody is immune to fraud, and sometimes people simply fall for scams due to the psychological techniques employed by fraudsters. Often, their strategies are meant to take advantage of our desire to give.
Light: What are some of the most widely used scams?
Kahler: Shipping and mailing is a big one. If you’re sending gifts, be suspicious if you get an email or text message that appears to be from UPS, FedEx or the U.S. post office. One scam involves sending messages that you need to pay a fee for a missed delivery, which is an attempt to lure you to a fake website that asks for your credit or debit card information.
Hang onto receipts that include tracking numbers in case you need to find a misdelivered package. It’s also a good idea to let recipients know the tracking number and the expected date of delivery to help them guard against packages being stolen by porch pirates.
Mail checks or gift cards at the post office or a drop box rather than putting them in your home mailbox. A friend of mine had thieves steal a check out of her mailbox, alter the payee and amount, and try to cash it at her bank. Fortunately, an alert teller refused the transaction and also called the police with information about the thieves’ car, and they were caught. Stolen checks can also be used for identity theft or sold on the dark web.
Light: Yikes. What else?
Kahler: Then there’s the family-member-in-need scam. A standard phone scam targeting grandparents is the call from someone claiming to be “your oldest grandson,” who is in trouble and needs money urgently. A related method sends random text messages pretending to be a family member who has lost their phone. If a parent responds to a text saying “this is my new number,” the scammer then asks for money because of some problem related to losing their phone.
In cases like this, you want to be like one of my clients who got the “grandma, I’m in trouble” phone call. Her oldest grandson has a distinctive voice, so she knew immediately that the call was phony. Instead of responding with the grandson’s name, which is what the scammer hopes for, she just said, “Oh?” and waited. “I won,” she later said proudly, “The scammer hung up on me!”
Light: That’s good to hear. Emotions are great weapons for these crooks.
Kahler: Charitable giving scams depend on that. Scammers may pose as well-known legitimate charities or use fake names similar to those of real organizations. They might also take advantage of our desire to help by inventing stories of children with acute illnesses or using current events like the war in Ukraine or natural disasters.
Be alert for charities with unfamiliar names, websites that don’t look quite right and texts or emails from unverified sources. Instead of responding to an unsolicited message asking for donations, do your own search for a legitimate charity’s website and initiate your donation there.
Where scammers are concerned, suspicion is a good idea.
No matter what you do to protect your business from hackers, cybersecurity will always be a moving target. Increasingly sophisticated hacking techniques mean CEOs always have to stay one step ahead of the latest ploys. A November Inc. survey of CEOs and other senior executives from more than 150 Inc. 5000 companies asked respondents about their level of confidence in the security of both their company and personal data.
The results: 53 percent of respondents said they feel more confident about the security of their company’s data now compared to five years ago, while just 28 percent said the same about their personal data. Matt Singley, founder of Chicago real estate firm Pinnacle Furnished Suites, is concerned about new methods being used by hackers, but feels confident in his company’s defenses against them.
One way the company minimizes the potential impact of a breach is by storing customer information only when necessary. Pinnacle also performs regular audits to purge its system of data it doesn’t need. “The only way to be completely secure with your data,” he says, “is to not store it.”
John Kailunas II, CEO of wealth management firm Regal Financial Group, says that the external threats his company faces have increased in both quantity and complexity. The company has countered this by adding required security awareness training for every employee and hiring cybersecurity consultants to recommend changes.
Kailunas says cybersecurity is an issue that requires constant examination. “Still,” he adds, “we have seen a significant improvement in our ability to identify potential threats.” Advances in hacking practices aren’t the only factor that have made security more challenging. “More and more, people are working from different devices that companies own,” says Shana Cosgrove, CEO of cloud software firm Nyla Technology Solutions, which provides software and cybersecurity services to the Department of Defense. “It’s a lot harder to handle security when you don’t own the entire platform.”
Jack Wight, CEO of device rebate company Buyback Boss, says his company is under near-constant attack from hackers trying to access bank account information. Scammers will spoof the company’s vendors over email and ask for wire payments, so Buyback Boss has implemented a policy of always calling vendors before sending payments.
“Five years ago there just wasn’t as much of this going on,” he says. “Now we’re dealing with scammers almost on a daily basis.” Claude Burns used to work in data security for the U.S. Navy before founding corporate beverage service Office Libations. He says his knowledge of the cybersecurity field has led him to be constantly on guard.
“I don’t think any information is safe or secure,” he says. “Your personal information is out there. Companies whose whole job is to protect it, like Equifax, are getting breached and hacked repeatedly.” Burns compares being hacked to getting in a car accident: Drive enough miles, and it’s going to happen eventually.
For him, the key is making sure that if something does look weird, his team can detect it quickly. “That way,” he says, “when something does happen, you’re able to mitigate the damage from it. In other words, wear your seat belt.”
We’re all targeted by scam calls and spam emails, but one virtual vigilante decided to turn the tables by hacking the hackers. Jim Browning is not his real name, rather a secret identity. Working in IT by day, by night he’s a virtual vigilante hunting cyber criminals.
In response to endless spam emails and robocalls telling us we’re experiencing difficulties with an online banking or shopping account, Browning decided fight back. He lets himself be scammed then turns the tables.
If they’ve hacked into his machine, he can hack into theirs; find out where they’re from, call them by their real name – even have pictures of them displayed as his desktop background to give them a shock when they try to take control of his computer.
Browning makes videos of his crime fighting exploits and has hundreds of thousands of followers on YouTube. They are bizarrely gripping. The scams are often ingenious, easy to see why anyone could fall victim. Then just as a scammer thinks they’ve gotten away with a con, the power shifts as Browning has them on the ropes.
Cybercrime has escalated through the pandemic now that people, tech savvy or not, have to rely on the internet for almost everything. In 2021, 45 million people were targeted by scam calls and texts. Which? reported a 33 per cent rise in incidents with consumers conned out of £2.3 billion during that (largely locked down) year.
So The Big Issue meets Browning on Zoom, to delve into the dark world of cybercrime to understand how we can protect ourselves.
The Big Issue: Just who are you?
Jim Browning: I do have a proper day job. It’s in IT as you can probably imagine. I know about computers and networks and so on. My night time job is going after scammers and I put YouTube videos online about my exploits.
What’s the what’s the origin story of this superhero?
So unfortunately, it’s not like a Batman type story. I find scams fascinating, full stop. I work from home a fair bit, particularly over the last couple of years like a lot of people. I was getting of scam phone calls. The advice is usually, ignore them and hang up. But I thought with my background in IT, surely I could do something about these calls. They do have a weakness, which is the fact that they will try to connect to my computer. And when they do I can find out who these people are.
Do you get excited when you come across a new scam?Oh yeah, for sure. A lot of this scams are very scripted. So anytime I come across something new it’s definitely fascinating. I like different sorts of scams. I’m looking at a couple at the moment. You know, those letters you get from people who say you’ve won a fortune. It’s rare to get an insight into those types of scams, because normally, someone does all of this offline.
How long does it take to break a scam? How many hours does each video represent?
A lot of my evenings are taken up with this. In some ways, I’m fortunate because a lot of the scams are aimed at people in the USA, and their daytime is when they’re targeted so that is our evening. I probably spend too much time. But it’s a hobby so for me it’s time well spent.
Some scammers I’ve been watching for at least six months before I would put a video out about them. Whenever I do find relevant details about who’s running scams, I pass information to police in the hope that they will do something. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. All in all, it can take months and months of work to even get a video live.
Why is it difficult for police to take any action?
Most of the scams I uncover are from outside the UK. A lot of these call centres are based in India, there’s very little happens in that country. Anytime I do report it, it seems to be swept under the carpet. It can be quite frustrating.
The scams and the people behind them are clearly very intelligent, what sense do you have of perpetrators?
You get the odd one or two who will be open and honest with you. If you ask, look why are you doing this, it’s a scam, they will give you loads of different reasons. The main one is, India’s a poor country, high unemployment, low wages. If you get into a scam call centre, compared a legitimate business, you will be paid so much more. Now, you maybe get a fraction of what you scam but you earn an awful lot of money very quickly. And you can convince yourself that you’re stealing money from a very rich western country, I can see people doing that.
Everybody has their own story about why they got into it. But at the end of the day, it is really just greed. I can see what they do on their computers and there’s very few people who seem to be on the breadline.
What affect has the pandemic had on scams as more older and vulnerable people are using the internet with little experience?
Certainly older people are the prime target for most of these scam calls. I’ve seen scammers take lists and filter them for people over 60. That’s because they are the demographic most likely to fall for it. It is really just a numbers game for them. The vast majority of the day is people hanging up on them. But they will eventually get someone who’s vulnerable.
In the UK and US people are so used to receiving these calls, they know just to hang up immediately. Scammers are moving to other countries. I’m monitoring a group at the moment who are targeting the Czech Republic and Norway. And although they can’t speak Czech or Norwegian, they are still attempting the same scam in English in the hope that they can get people who are unaware.
The biggest scam call seems to be from people impersonating Amazon. Why can’t one of the richest companies do anything?
It used to be Microsoft a few years ago, now it is Amazon. They’re so prevalent. And I’m a little surprised Amazon aren’t trying the legal route to try and do something. I hear these phone calls all the time. Even if [a victim] doesn’t use Amazon what they’ll immediately say is, well someone has registered an Amazon account in your name using your details. Eventually they’ll want access to your computer.
You were recently victim of a scam yourself, does that show it really can happen to anyone?
Anyone can be scammed, the circumstances have to be right. Someone tried to take over my YouTube channel, basically to steal the revenue that you get. What this particular person did was impersonate Google, who own YouTube, and they were quite convincing. They’d found was a flaw in the chat services that Google offer and were able to make it look like a legitimate email. So initially, I did fall for this.
So the person was just trying to steal money, they weren’t someone out for revenge?
They didn’t even know who I was. I sent them a couple of links when I figured out it was a scam, said could you click on this and they did. I was able to find out where the scammer was based, in Turkey, but when he figured out that he wasn’t getting any money out of me, he disappeared.
Are you quite famous within this scammer community? In some videos you disguise your voice to sound like an old woman.
Yeah, I have to use that because scammers do recognize me. I can get access to scammers’ computers, see what they’re looking at on their screen, what they’re typing and some of them have been watching my videos. I have to change my voice. As the scammer is concerned, I’ll sound like an old woman. That helps me out quite a bit.
You’re taking part in a new BBC One show, Scam Interceptors.
I find it difficult to get the message through to the right people. I’ve been working with the BBC and there’s an organisation called the American Association of Retired People. For me, it’s never good enough to say do this, don’t do this. I think you actually have to see the scams running. And this programme shows it in intricate detail. You can see and hear the language that they use, the techniques they use, what people typically say and how the scammers respond. When you see it first-hand, it’s far more likely to sink in. The scams themselves will change over time but if something triggers in the back of your head, at least gives you a bit of doubt, it can only be a good thing.
If in doubt…?
That’s it. If you’re in any way doubtful, a real organisation will have no problem assuring you that they are who they say they are. They have to be able to tell you more than your name, address and phone number because that’ll be on the screen of every scammer. If they can’t give you a customer ID or a recent transaction I would always treat it with a lot of scepticism. If they want to keep you on the phone for any reason or if there’s a sense of urgency, it’s almost bound to be a scam. The best thing to do is hang up.
Could you have been hacking this computer as we were speaking?
I’m not as good as people could make out. Honestly, the only way that I can really get access to scammers is if they connect to my computer. Without that I’m just no good at all.
In recent years, apps that enable cryptocurrency fraud have popped up on Apple’s App Store and on Google Play. In some cases, they’re meant to spoof legitimate apps and trick users into giving up their login credentials, while others provide a medium to false exchange platforms. In either case, real people are getting their crypto stolen.
On Thursday, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee sent nearly identical letters to Apple and Google, seeking explanations as to how these tech giants are evaluating and ultimately allowing these types of trading apps that seemingly enable cryptocurrency fraud. The letters came hours before the committee held a hearing on “scams and risks in crypto and securities markets.”
Neither Apple nor Google immediately responded to a request for comment, but both companies do not allow apps to impersonate bona fide apps or to engage in illegal or fraudulent activity. However, last month, Apple said it stopped nearly $1.5 billion in fraudulent transactions in 2021, and noted that its App Store is the “safest place to find and download apps.”
Chairman Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who authored the letters, noted that it is “imperative” that app stores have “proper safeguards” to mitigate fraud. The companies have until August 10 to respond.One such app, known as Metatrader 5, which is still available on both companies’ app stores, has been linked to alleged cryptocurrency scams.
Often, a scammer will begin to lure a victim through an unsolicited text message or a message on LinkedIn. Sometimes they start messaging a victim on a dating app. After engaging the person in conversation for a time, the scammer will usually direct their victim to buy cryptocurrency from a legitimate company, like Coinbase, and then instruct the victim to send it to a purported exchange mediated through an app like Metatrader.
There, the attacker can lure the victim into believing that they have made profits. However, when the victim tries to withdraw their money, they will ultimately find that they cannot do so. One California-based victim, whose identity Forbes is withholding at his request, said that after he lost $1.2 million late last year via a scam and purported trades made on Metatrader, he had suicidal thoughts.
“On my way to my parents’ house in San Francisco, I had this thought of ramming the car into a barrier and just let that be and let God decide whether I would live through this or I would die,” he told Forbes. Metatrader’s website lists no phone number for any of its offices around the globe. Forbes left a message on what appears to be its Cypriot headquarters voicemail and sent emails to multiple email addresses linked to the company. The company did not immediately respond.
Earlier this month, the FBI issued a formal warning to the public, noting that at least 244 victims had collectively lost $42.7 million through such fake apps. According to the Federal Trade Commission, related losses from romance scams, many carried out using online dating sites, have “skyrocketed” recently. Last year, reported losses reached an all-time high of $547 million. A subset of these romance scams involve cryptocurrency, and are sometimes known as “pig butchering” scams, in which victims are enticed to put in more and more money into a fraudulent crypto app—fattening them up—before the scammers abscond with vast sums of cryptocurrency.
The FTC also reported that in 2021, crypto payments to scammers jumped five-fold—reaching $139 million—between 2020 and 2021. Last month, the Global Anti-Scam Organization, an advocacy group, told Forbes that it is extremely rare for victims to be able to recover their lost funds. “I’ve talked to 50 people in the last six months,” said Arlo Kipfer, a Seattle attorney who has also consulted with scam victims on how to move forward. “The most heartbreaking thing is they bleed the victims dry—the odds of recovery are still low.”
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has issued a public warning about fraudulent cryptocurrency applications, which have swindled U.S. investors out of an estimated $42.7 million so far. According to an advisory published on Monday by the securities and intelligence agency, cybercriminals have created apps using the same logos and identifying information as legitimate crypto companies to defraud investors. The FBI noted that 244 people had already fallen victim to these fake apps.
One case saw cyber criminals convincing victims to download an app that used the same logo as an actual U.S. financial institution, encouraging them to deposit cryptocurrency into wallets purportedly related to their accounts. When victims attempted to withdraw from the app, they would be asked to pay taxes on their withdrawals. However, this was just another ruse to part more funds from victims, as even if they made the payments, the withdrawals would continue to be unavailable.
Around $3.7 million was defrauded from 28 victims between December 2021 and May 2022, said the FBI. Another similar operation saw cybercriminals operating under the company name “YiBit,” defrauding at least four victims of around $5.5 million between October 2021 and May 2022, using a similar method of deceit. A third case involved criminals operating under the name “Supay” in November 2021. They defrauded two victims by encouraging them to deposit cryptocurrency into their wallets on the app, which would then be frozen unless more funds were deposited.
Warnings about fraudulent apps have also made the rounds on Crypto Twitter. One user said a friend recently fell victim to a scam that started on the online messenger service WhatsApp, which encouraged the victim to download a fake crypto app and load funds into the app’s wallet. A week later, the crypto app vanished.
Another user says they have fallen victim to a fake Ledger Live crypto wallet app, reportedly called “Ledger Live Plus,” in the Microsoft app store. The user claims the fraudulent app has already stolen $20,000 from him. Earlier this year, cybersecurity firm ESET uncovered a “sophisticated scheme” that would distribute Trojan applications disguised as popular cryptocurrency wallets. These applications would then attempt to steal crypto assets from their victims.
Last year, a scam cryptocurrency app dressed up as a mobile Trezor app on Apple’s App Store reportedly led to one user losing $600,000 in Bitcoin (BTC) at the time. A report from the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in June 2022 found that as much as $1 billion in crypto has been lost to scammers since 2021, with nearly half of all crypto-related scams originating from social media platforms.
The FBI has recommended crypto investors be wary of unsolicited requests to download investment apps, verify an app (and the company) is legitimate, and treat apps with limited and/or broken functionality “with skepticism.”
Like millions of people, Michelle Milkowski bought Bitcoin and other digital currencies as the crypto industry spent millions of dollars on marketing. For Michelle Milkowski, who lives in Renton, Washington, one thing led to another.
Because her son’s daycare closed in the early days of the pandemic, she had some extra cash. So, like millions of other people, Milkowski downloaded the Robinhood trading app. Back then, the stock market was at the beginning of what would become a record-setting run, and Milkowski’s new pastime became profitable.
She kept trading shares, but in early 2021, something else caught her eye: Milkowski noticed the value of Bitcoin had reached $60,000. “I just couldn’t believe it,” she says, noting she first heard of the popular cryptocurrency in 2016, when its price was less than a hundredth of that. “I felt like I’d just missed the boat, because I could have bought it before it skyrocketed.”Last spring, Milkowski took another look at Bitcoin, and she took a leap. “Better late than never,” she remembers thinking.
First, Milkowski bought $500. Then, $10,000. By the end of last year, Milkowski estimates, she had spent close to $30,000 on crypto. In hindsight, the timing was terrible. Like many first-time investors, Milkowski bought digital currencies as they were approaching all-time highs, and as companies were spending tens of millions of dollars on marketing to broaden crypto’s appeal.
Quarterback Tom Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bündchen, starred in an ad for FTX, and a commercial for Crypto.com featured Academy Award-winning actor Matt Damon. These were designed to appeal to a potential investor’s fear of missing out. “Fortune favors the brave,” Damon says. The ads included little-to-no explanation of crypto, and how risky the unregulated asset is.
So far this year, Bitcoin has lost half its value. About two weeks after that Crypto.com ad debuted, Bitcoin set a new record: $68,990. Today, it’s less than a third of that. Although its backers long claimed it would be a hedge against high inflation, that hasn’t proven to be the case. As inflation has surged, Bitcoin has fallen in tandem with high-growth tech stocks. Rising interest rates have made speculative assets less appealing, and cryptocurrencies are no exception.
Milkowski, who is a manager for a large insurance company, says those ads and the “crazy exuberance that surrounded crypto” appealed to her. “You know, that gives it some sort of approval that not just scammers are using it,” she says. “Then, I felt safe to try it out, to put my money in there.”
Milkowski ended up branching out from Bitcoin, into Ethereum, Shiba Inu, and Luna, a so-called “stablecoin” that collapsed quickly and catastrophically in May. Early on, Milkowski resolved not to risk more than she could afford to lose, and Ramiro Flores set the same ground rules when he bought Bitcoin for the first time in 2018.
“I like gambling. I go to Vegas quite a lot,” he says. “So, I was like, ‘Hey, you know what? Like, this is just like a little trip to the casino.'” Flores, who used to be a firefighter in Edinburg, Texas, remembers talking about cryptocurrency in the firehouse. After he did some research, he bought $2,000 worth of Bitcoin.
At its peak, the total value of cryptocurrencies worldwide was about $3 trillion. Today, it is about $1 trillion.Flores calls the downturn heartbreaking, but it hasn’t shaken his resolve. “It’s totally a bummer,” he says. “But I have faith.” Flores has continued to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, and he says he believes they will bounce back. Eventually.
He is also optimistic wider adoption of digital currencies will lead to changes to banking and the economy. “Right now, I’m down some money, but I’m like, ‘Hey, if I don’t sell, I don’t lose out.’ I don’t lose that money, technically,” he says. “So, I’m just going to keep on riding this little roller coaster that we’re on.” At the beginning of the pandemic, Michelle Milkowski started investing in penny stocks. A few months later, she bought cryptocurrency for the first time.
For Milkowski, the ups and downs — well, especially the downs — got to be too much, and she decided to get off. “There’s definitely peace that comes with just selling off such a volatile asset,” she says. “I don’t have to worry, ‘Am I losing $500, $1,000 today?'” In May, Milkowski cashed out completely. She decided to cut her losses, which ended up being around $8,000.
Among those reeling from the billions of dollars lost in the cryptocurrency crash, no company has taken a greater beating than Coinbase. The nation’s largest and first publicly traded crypto exchange, Coinbase has seen its stock price plunge 81% this year, and has recently announced plans to shed one-fifth of its staff.
With Coinbase reporting a $430 million first-quarter loss, some hedge funds are starting to short the stock, meaning Wall Street is betting on Coinbase’s value dropping even further. But all is not lost for the exchange, according to analysts, who see more bounce to the crypto bubble than the current crash suggests. Despite its recent struggles, they predict Coinbase will make it through this crypto market slump and ultimately thrive. That’s because the company has learned how to survive such downturns, analysts say.
Coinbase, founded in 2012, established itself years before the cryptocurrency craze or the current “crypto winter” hit the U.S. It has now captured a $13.8 billion market cap with about 5,000 employees and $256 billion in assets on the platform. “Coinbase has been through a few crypto winters and, each time, they obviously have survived,” said John Todaro, a crypto asset researcher for Needham & Co. “The winter would have to get progressively worse for Coinbase to be in any real danger.”
Coinbase’s $6 billion in reserves bolster his confidence. That money is “a pretty solid cushion” to help Coinbase get through turbulent times, Todaro said.
Profits based on number of transactions
Coinbase didn’t respond to a request for comment on how the crypto market has impacted business. CEO Brian Armstrong said during an earnings call in May that Coinbase officials “tend to do our best work in a down period.” Still, one of the reasons Coinbase is struggling now is because there are fewer people on the platform making transactions. Coinbase makes a majority of its revenue by charging a 1% fee on every crypto transaction, but company officials said in May that the volume of transactions has slowed.
The number of Coinbase monthly users has dropped 19% since the end of last year, the company said. The drop in transactions makes Coinbase’s $6 billion war chest even more important, said Devin Ryan, an equity research analyst at JMP Securities. “They are one of the best capitalized firms,” Ryan told CBS MoneyWatch. “And even though they have a business model today that’s based off transactions, they’re building one of the most diversified businesses in the (crypto) industry.”
Crypto downturn is exacerbated by soaring inflation
Not only is Coinbase seeing fewer transactions, but crypto prices have dropped to their lowest levels this year. The price of bitcoin, ethereum and other major tokens started falling this spring as rising inflation tightened its grip on the U.S. economy. With the cost of everyday items like gas and groceries increasing, investors began pulling their money out of investments they deemed risky, including cryptocurrencies. As investors sold off their digital assets, the price of crypto fell further.
Stablecoins losing their pegs to the U.S. dollar also played a role in investors’ departure from crypto in recent months. Individuals who had grown dependent on stablecoins like luna and terraUSD to shield their money from the wild swings typical of many cryptocurrencies, were stunned to see both those coins fall under $1 in May — something that was never supposed to happen. The price drop of the two benchmark stablecoins further eroded investors’ faith in the crypto market.
Meanwhile, bitcoin’s price, which peaked last November at around $68,000, is down 56% since the beginning of this year, trading at around $20,250 as of Wednesday. Ripple has fallen 61% to around 30 cents and ethereum is down nearly 70% to $1,140. Ryan believes the recent price slumps won’t last forever and that investors will return to crypto. Once they do, they will likely use Coinbase, according to Ryan.
“We expect them to gain even more market share after this, but no doubt we’re in a difficult moment right now in the market,” he said.
As the crypto market goes, so goes Coinbase
Coinbase is a real-time case study of what happens to a crypto company when the price of bitcoin and tokens fall, analysts say. Coinbase’s future hinges on prices growing stronger, as do the futures of other major crypto platforms like FTX and Kraken, analysts said. The crypto landscape is much broader and richer now than it was in April 2021 when Coinbase went public and its shares were trading at almost $400 a piece.
Competitors like Binance and Crypto.com have captured investors’ attention, while crypto scams and hacks have grown more lucrative, leading federal lawmakers to push for more regulation around digital assets. All that activity, analysts said, has created an even greater divide between pro-crypto investors and skeptics. How quickly Coinbase rebounds depends on how many investors “believe there’s a big future for digital assets,” Ryan said.
“If you have a positive view on the future of the crypto economy and you’re bullish on where it can get to, then that should be your same view on Coinbase,” he said.
That sad-sounding email may not be on the level…getty
