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Friday Market Musings | 12 | 2023

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Look who got scammed?

It could just be another movie. Look who got scammed?. The most scammed generation in crypto is the most tech savvy Gen Z.

That's a surprise, isn't it? At least, for me it is. The generation I thought would benefit the most. Perhaps it will now become clear that being glued to your phone 24/7 is not so great. Apparently it doesn't make you smarter, and it doesn't make you immune to the dangers within the crypto world.

Kaspersky's research showed that those born in the late 1990s to early 2000s, Gen Z, are the most ripped off of all crypto investing generations. And that is remarkable. Precisely the generation that you expect to be fully aware of online safety. Are they just lazy about it? Or do they not see the point of it? Are they too trusting? Or are they just being reckless about it? Frankly, I can't imagine that. Sounds strange to me to be honest. But of course it could also be related to the fact that precisely because of their technical knowledge, this could be the generation most represented among crypto investors.

In any case, the research shows that almost half of 18-24 year olds who own crypto have also been scammed. And that in contrast to Generation X. The group of people over 55, of this group, only 8% say they have ever been scammed. Wisdom really comes with age? Or is this group just much less present, and do they invest more cautiously, and in crypto that is less easy to scam?

Anyway, it's an interesting read, and in any case I want to congratulate you if you are a Gen Z investor, then you are now officially part of the wild crypto stats. And also congratulations if you belong to a different generation. Then you are officially not cool enough to be scammed, although you can always have the misfortune of drawing the wrong lot. That is also part of your crypto journey!

Coinbase taking the wrath of the SEC

A week will go by where the SEC doesn't speak up, that would be a miracle in itself. This time it is Coinbase that is taking the wrath of the SEC. You could compare Gary Gensler and his SEC to that kid at school who never got invited to parties, and has therefore decided to become a supervisor. And right now, Coinbase is the lucky one to be picked out.

Brian Armstrong, who is quite important to Coinbase, says he is convinced that Coinbase has not acted unlawfully. But there is a difference between his conviction and that of Gary Gensler. And probably Brian Armstrong is also saying this with the idea in mind that he wants to avoid further panic in the markets. Which is not even surprising when you consider that the Coinbase share has already fallen considerably. Also, the claim that Coinbase is in the right is certainly more sensible as "We're screwed, folks!"

Either way, Coinbase is going to court! Next in line. Ripple's (XRP) lawsuit I don't think is settled yet, but Coinbase will be next! And then we can draw a conclusion, the SEC will not leave it at that. And that, in all seriousness, is a big problem for crypto. Crypto is getting too big! We're playing along with the big boys now, and yes, then it makes sense that we also end up on the radar of the SEC. Maybe Gary Gensler has never written a line of code, but he will definitely do his best to regulate the entire crypto world! And Coinbase gets to defend itself next, whether they like it or not.

It's going to be exciting times again, for the umpteenth time! The only consolation I can offer is, "We're all in this together."

Sun going down

What many people on Hive have known for a long time has now become clear to the SEC. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, turns out not to be the honest citizen they all thought he was. The SEC has been harsh, accusing Sun of offering unregistered crypto asset sales and manipulating the market to inflate the price of Tron and other related tokens.

He has been charged with various charges, including coordinating a wash trading scheme that manipulated TRX's trading volume. He has also been accused of selling a large portion of his personal TRX assets on the secondary market. That has generated him $31 million in illegal proceeds, according to the SEC. The last charge he has been charged with is using celebs to promote his products, not mentioning, of course, that they were being paid to tweet. So, have you ever seen tweets from Jake Paul, Lindsay Lohan, and Soulja Boy, among others, praising one of Sun's projects? Chances are it was a tweet paid for by Sun.

It is clear that this has consequences for the tokens related to Sun. Many are down nearly 10%. But according to Sun, no one needs to worry and everything will be fine again. This is just a minor bump in the road, and while the SEC frets over these petty trifles, Sun says he will continue to build his crypto empire.

Am I hearing someone say "STEEM on Sun" somewhere?