alt Hacker News> without ever actually seeing any real returns.
I am sure he "saw" real returns on a very real looking app or website. As we transition to a cashless society we are all getting use to the numbers on our computers and phones representing real money.
My paystub is digital, it goes into my bank account directly and the numbers on my computer go up. I spend money by taping a computer chip onto another computer chip and then the numbers in my bank account drop. I can also digitally transfer those numbers to a brokerage account and click a few buttons and then the numbers go up and down depending on how people are feeling about the stock market. In the past few years, seemingly always up, which I think is priming young or naive investors to believe investments never fail.
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There is a difference between seeing numbers go up on an app, and getting money into an actual bank that you know to be real.
The fact that you're even arguing this point shows how easy it is for people to fall for this crap.
Anyone can make a real looking app that makes it look like you're making money when they've already stolen all your money and spent it on hookers and coke on yachts.
Not anyone can start a real bank in the US, and if they can, you generally have protections in place to not need to worry the bank is that egregiously fraudulent.
I think younger investors know and understand that the market can fall, but this is still different than having lived through the market falling and how dramatic that can be.
> I think is priming young or naive investors to believe investments never fail.
Investments fail, there are plenty in the news. Broad market indices, however, don’t fail. There have been numerous bailouts over the previous decades. Why would one assume any future government wouldn’t continue bailouts if all the previous ones did?
> I am sure he "saw" real returns on a very real looking app or website.
Exactly: "Hanes told Mitchell a confusing story. Not long ago, Hanes explained, he started investing in cryptocurrencies with the help of some people he met online. First, he and his partners deposited money on a reputable U.S. platform for buying and selling crypto. The profits were enormous, he said: He took out his phone to show Mitchell his account balance, which seemed to indicate that the investment was worth $40 million."