Crypto: The rich and the criminals are getting richer

Cryptocurrencies help to get rich, professional investors and criminals. Anyone who does not fall into one of these two categories can easily play their money that played on crypto.

A good case study is the cryptocurrency coin of $ Trump. After New York TimesThe Trump family and their business partners deserve around 100 million US dollars (and count) fees from the Meme Crypto Coin. A wealthy investor who bought the coin worth around 1 million US dollars Less than two minutes after the releasemade $ 109 million after the coins were sold within two days. This investor may have received insider information about when the $ Trump coin coin was released. Many other experienced investors who knew when they were supposed to throw the coins could also earn millions. On the other hand, over 800,000 other investors lost over $ 2 billion to pursue this latest Krypto-Rich-Quick program.

The story was mostly the same for the $ Melania (Trump) Meme Crypto Coin. At the time of this letter, $ Trump coin decreased by 82 percent compared to its climax. The Melania coin fell by 94 percent. The way to earn most of the money for the Melania coin was to buy it immediately because it was published and then sold it a day later. Apparently some wealthy professional investors were not fast enough to buy and drop the coin. An investor lost $ 14 million on Melania and another around 4 million US dollars.

Buying a cryptocurrency and then throwing it off a day later is of course not invested – it is gambling – and the winners can take the money of the losers. But it's not a fair game. Wealthy investors who can exceed cryptocurrencies and spend the resources that are needed to know the right time to dispose of them can make a major profit for less experienced investors. The crypto game is tilted to steer money for the richer players.

Criminals ❤️ Crypto

The Federal Trade Commission reports that cryptocurrency fraud today is one of the leading types of financial crimes. The criminal activities in connection with cryptocurrencies are growing rapidly. The Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis company, overlaps the value of a wide range of criminal activities in which cryptocurrencies are involved. This includes ransomware, in which payment in crypto, people who act illegal drugs and other illegals against crypto, the theft of crypto, crypto fraud and other crimes. The chain estimates that criminals received cryptocurrencies from illegal activities of 11 billion US dollars in 2020. Your estimate for 2024 is 51 billion US dollars. So far, 2025 looks like it could exceed 2024. In February, 1.5 billion US dollars worth 1.5 billion US dollars were stolen in cryptocurrencies. This is the greatest theft of cryptocurrency.

The chain also finds that the types of criminals who use crypto and the types of criminal activities in which they are involved will continue to expand. In addition to ransomware and theft of personal crypto, the chain skin reports that “that” “[a]N Array of illegal actors, including cross-border groups for organized crime, are increasingly using cryptocurrency for traditional types of crime such as drug trafficking, gambling, theft of intellectual property, money laundering, human and wildlife trade and violent crimes. “It is also more common to find hate groups, including the white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups, with cryptocurrencies being used to finance their activities.

Although cryptocurrencies have a growing presence in financial exploitation and victimization of the public, the Trump administration weakens consumer protection. Elon Musk has badly weakened the consumer financial protection office, which used to process thousands of cryptocurrency complaints per year. Musk also flows the Federal Trade Commission, which also reacts to crypto complaints.

There are clear conflicts of interest between the Trump government and the regulation of the crypto industry. Elon Musk was one of the wealthy investors who inflate Doge's cryptocurrency into the amount of the value. Musk obsesses Doge and other cryptocurrencies. His Department of Government Efficiency, also known as Doge, is clearly an allusion to this crypto.

Donald Trump received tens of million dollars for his 2024 presidential campaign in the crypto industry and his family profits financially from the industry. In view of these facts, it may not be surprising that the Trump government not only restricts the police work of the crypto industry, but also passes guidelines such as the creation of a “strategic Bitcoin reserve” that would strengthen the industry and profits of its and family.

This first appeared at CEPR.