This very day brings yet another high-yield investment program (HYIP) to the forefront of Bitcoin news. Bitcoin Trader is a new type of Ponzi scheme that focuses on cryptocurrency rather than fiat currency.
Bitcoin Trader claims investors will earn an average of 1% per hour. A total of 50,000 BTC has already been invested in Bitcoin Trader, and it is believed at least 30,000 BTC is from one investor.
What makes Bitcoin Trader different from other HYIPs? It allows you to invest using Bitcoin or Litecoin as opposed to USD or Euros. This would make it harder for the authorities to track down those who choose this form of payment.
The first thing you need to do is read about current scams that have just happened or are happening right now—doing this will show you how NOT to invest and give you insight into new schemes that may seem legit but aren’t. The best way to read about these scams is through forums where actual investors can express their feelings about programs they think could be garbage.
Reading scam stories to make sure you don’t invest in them yourself sounds like common sense. However, many HYIP monitors cut corners when it comes time for due diligence (DD). Some monitors only read the official project announcement thread, which is like getting half of your information from a checking out recent hyip news article. Other HYIPs may choose only to monitor the program 24/7 and never revisit their DD practices to keep up with new projects that pop up. Whatever route you decide to go with, make sure you at least leave a trace so others can find out what you found if they come looking for it.
A great example of how important it is to research programs before throwing money into them is an incident involving AMC Invest. After only about four days into their 5th launch, they made off with 750BTC worth of investments due to people not doing proper DD.
2nd place was taken by GoldenGram, a bitcoin doubler program that pulled off a major scam with about 480BTC.
In closing, always do your DD. Don’t stop at the official announcements and take advantage of forums to read what other people have experienced while investing in these programs. If you learn from others’ mistakes, then you will never become a victim yourself.
