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Swipe, Click, Invest: Danger in the Crypto Era.

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AUTHOR: Mark Crothers on 7/13/2025

We welcomed guests to stay over at our holiday home yesterday. It was a lovely sunny day in the low 80’s and we spent our time at the beach. They’re a young couple we’re very close to who are getting married next week. We are looking forward to attending their wedding. They are a very sensible duo in their late twenties with good jobs, they also managed to get on the property ladder through their own hard work. I’m very proud of them; they have achieved a lot.

After our BBQ, I was chatting to the groom-to-be, and being who I am, I steered the conversation towards financial matters. I was surprised to learn they have a crypto position that had originally been a savings fund for a new car. They are now stuck with their current older car because of poor performance with the crypto asset. Some influencer was the catalyst for buying into this unregulated area he sheepishly admitted. I would consider this young couple “poster children” for their generation and if they’ve been impacted by the crypto social media vortex, what about others not as sensible?

As an observer of the financial world, I’m increasingly concerned watching the younger generation, smartphone in hand. It’s not just the social media; it’s how that tiny device dictates their financial lives, especially when combined with cryptocurrency’s allure. Thankfully for this young couple it’s only a temporary setback and a valuable lesson learned.

While I realise the financial landscape has drastically changed beyond recognition since I was that age. I do think financial decisions were more deliberate. We’d visit a bank or advisor, or read a newspaper, allowing time to reflect. Now, with smartphones ubiquitous, every moment can be a financial interaction. Banking apps, trading platforms, and social media feeds are a tap away, blurring leisure and financial action. This constant digital tether promotes the real possibility of short-sighted decisions, making it hard to commit to long-term goals like pension contributions or in this case saving for a car. Research even suggests smartphone financial choices are more impulsive.

This always-on connectivity makes my cautious approach to personal finance seem ancient. My thinking around pensions was akin to a marathon, a consistent drip-feed allowing compounding to work its slow magic. Today, that prudence is often drowned out by “finfluencers” – self-proclaimed gurus dominating social media. They flaunt luxury, subtly linking success to obscure digital assets like crypto, using intimate feeds to create false trust.

This narrative is dangerous. Crypto assets are highly volatile, largely unregulated, and you can lose everything. Yet, these influencers often downplay risks, or worse, promote “pump-and-dump” schemes. They hype a coin, watch its value surge as trusting followers buy in, then sell their own holdings, leaving their audience with losses. Social media algorithms, designed for engagement, prioritize sensational content – a crypto fortune story is far more “engaging” than sensible pension or savings advice.

What troubles me most is the impact on long-term financial planning. Why commit to regularly saving for a house deposit when an influencer promises tenfold returns on a new token in months, instantly visible on your phone? This shift from patience to instant, speculative gains could be catastrophic for a secure footing in life. Money meant for compounding and saving is exposed to extreme volatility, often disappearing.

Many young people don’t realize cryptoassets are largely unregulated, meaning protections from financial regulator’s is nonexistent . If an exchange collapses, there’s no safety net.

Previous generations before the digital age built retirement on prudence and in general a skepticism of “get rich quick” schemes. Many in this generation face constant digital temptation, amplified by the smartphone, to gamble their future. My earnest hope is that they develop the critical thinking to choose legitimate advice over social media’s siren song, protecting their money for the life they truly deserve.

With regards to my young, soon-to-be-wedded friends, after a long discussion over the evening pointing out the difference between investing and speculation and other wide-ranging aspects of finance, I’m very confident they’re on the right path to success due to their own sensible efforts and perhaps a little nudge from myself. I wish them well on the long road ahead.

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quan nguyen
1 month ago

Great story – but do spare us the suspense, Mark. Did the young groom-to-be cut his losses and coax more miles out of his faithful old car, or did he wait out the crypto storm and steer triumphantly into a brand-new ride?

Here’s hoping the lesson stuck, and that his financial path is guided by hard-won wisdom – and shared with love and intention.

Olin
1 month ago

Mark, this was a very interesting topic and hope your young guest absorbed the wisdom you shared.

bbbobbins
1 month ago

Nice work. The pain of losing out a newer car is probably a price worth paying for the lesson on “get rich slow” being probably a better lifetime approach.

Problem with crypto bros/meme stonking/ influencer pumping is that it’s largely oneway traffic. You’re a fool for sitting on your hands when people are doubling their money in 12 months or less and buying that new car out of the profits. Losses are brushed away. Except crypto is a zero sum game and if you’re not in a position to be moving the market you can quite possibly being the bigger sucker buying when the manipulators are derisking.

1PF
1 month ago
Reply to  bbbobbins

crypto is a zero sum game
I’m interested in this statement, which I haven’t seen before. Could you explain what you mean?

And do you think investing in stocks is also a zero sum game? Thanks.

1PF
1 month ago
Reply to  Mark Crothers

Thanks. If I’m understanding you correctly, the crux is that crypto is worth only what someone is willing to pay for it, whereas stocks are in companies that produce valuable goods or services. (To me, that’s regardless of whether investing short-term or long-term.)

That aligns with why I have no interest in investing in crypto or anything else (e.g., collectibles) that does not produce something of value.

Norman Retzke
1 month ago

Excellent advice and I commend you for giving it. Finances can be a very sensitive subject. I find it interesting that our society is so eager to listen to various gurus and influencers and to act upon the information provided.

It took a few failures for me to fully realize how fragile one’s financial well-being can be. Today crypto investing implies returns for which it has little history. 

My children are savers and cautious investors which is a good thing, but they don’t realize that it is relatively easy to invest to beat inflation and achieve 10% annual returns over long term periods (say 10+ years). Yet, that too can be disappointing. To achieve larger, consistent returns may require taking on additional risk and may be speculative. Financial education is mandatory. Yet, in a country of 350 million there will always be a few who do win the lottery. I’ve read that Generation Z is shelling out bucks for education in “adult living”, with an emphasis on personal finances. These are the things they never learned during their years of “formal” education.

Financial health is not supposed to be gambling or making “hail mary” passes. Very few succeed this way, but the media is rife with stories. One of the children spent some time during a college work-study program at a nuclear generating facility during a fuel change. It was conveniently located near a gambling casino. It was a good place for an inexpensive meal. While visiting him he remarked that he was making nearly as much at the blackjack tables as he was working and pursuing his engineering degree. I could see he was tempted by this. I asked him if he thought he could do well for the next 40 years at the gambling tables. He thought about this and said “no”. He went on and completed his education and is employed in the nuclear industry with all the financial and work perks.  (I also discussed with the children working in my business. They all decided “no” and the consensus was “Dad, you work too hard”. But that work funded their lives, paid for the education and provided them with an initial round of financial support upon graduating).

There are very few truly passive investments. That is, investments that are formulaic, set and forget and that will perform for decades. The stock market has done well very long term, but with the occasional “lost decade” and recessions. Real estate is “local” and may require far more involvement that one is willing to accommodate. Even one’s home can be a money pit.

There are lessons to be learned and with good advice there may be more productive outcomes with less disruption.

Last edited 1 month ago by Norman Retzke
David Lancaster
1 month ago

Well Mark the great advice you gave this couple is more valuable than any other wedding gift you could give them.

This site is the closest I get to social media. My saying is that other social media is not real life, it presents a curated picture of only the highlights/good times, while the comments oftentimes is a cesspool. I believe this combination is why so many of the younger generations are anxious, depressed…

Last edited 1 month ago by David Lancaster

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