Letter to Editor
WHENEVER colonialists set their beady little eyes on a booming, potentially profitable industry in another land which is still in its infancy, they will always find cunning ways to install themselves there, vie for absolute control and garner all the profits for themselves.
This is achieved through deception – they prey on the desperation of people – and promise an all-too-good opportunity they simply cannot refuse.
With the people primed for exploitation, they initiate their ploys until the people have been sufficiently taken advantage of, leaving with their pockets full. Just like that a once-promising space is left destitute.
Malaysia’s cryptocurrency scene is one that has shown promising returns and exponential growth. However, Malaysians must beware of “crypto colonialists” who prey on the desperate by making outlandish promises of financial freedom through crypto-themed scams.
There has been a significant paradigm shift towards cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology in the global trends and its popularity among people has only appeared to surge.
It is precisely due to its nascent and mainstream appeal that have prompted Malaysians to hop onto the fashionable crypto craze with the hope of harvesting from this goldmine.
The prospect of a product causing a disruption in the traditional banking sector is bound to invite immediate attention as it is an industry that has virtually remained unchallenged ever since its modern integration.
Blockchain technology, if widely accepted, is speculated to outright replace the way in which money is transacted, how transactions are verified and recorded and would prove to be a valuable digital asset because of its manifold uses.
This over-aggrandising gossip surrounding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in general led to the over-exciting of the senses in the global community as there was the growing assumption that the technology would inevitably be adopted or that there was no doubt to its profitability.
This is of course a rather premature conclusion. People absolutely hate the feeling of missing out on trends which compels them to mindlessly partake in the hype train however dangerously crowded the passage may be.
This is in order to lay claim to the one who “made it the first”, effectively entitling them to bragging rights in their eyes and to the rumoured pot of crypto gold.
It is this tendency by some to be very easily enticed by global trends that makes them the perfect prey for financial fraudsters and predators who, in recognising their gullibility or naiveté, exploit their desperation in order to gain profit.
Those who do very little research into blockchain technology and decide to financially nosedive right into this space must be wary as this entire enterprise is still very much in its early development stages.
People ought to be cautious as in spite of how much in its infancy blockchain is, there are many who continue to advocate for it with absolute certainty, create and promote blockchain schemes urging people to recognise its value and to make immediate investments.
What is concerning is that many of those who have designed these schemes have malicious intentions as they are aware of just how poorly-understood and risky the technology actually is. There is absolutely no guarantee as to its value.
This isn’t so much of a concern for these individuals as their focus is to just artificially drive the value of blockchain, causing a buying frenzy, especially by promoting it to places where the technology has yet to be integrated and accepted.
When enough people have been duped into putting their money into these products, the perpetrators run away with the profits effectively leaving people with products that didn’t amount to anything in value.
Malaysia’s crypto scene is indeed promising; it certainly is a revolutionary technology but more time must be taken to understand it.
However, it must be approached with caution. We must allow the authorities to continue to review and monitor the technology in order to form policies that better regulate it.
The onus is also on us to do thorough research and to be familiar with updates about the technology before jumping to conclusions about the product which allows us to have more-informed views, making us less prone to being conned.
Malaysia has already seen numerous cryptocurrency scams deceive many in the country, causing monumental losses.
Malaysians must be vigilant as there are many who continue to try to exploit Malaysia’s infant cryptocurrency space, aggressively mining the space to prey on vulnerable, uninformed Malaysians by seducing them to partake in lucrative-sounding cryptocurrency schemes. – Jan 4, 2023
Pravin Periasamy is a FocusM reader.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Main pic credit: Security Bitcoin News
