Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • It's probably happened to you by now. A friend  or family member with no previous interest  

  • in the markets has asked for  your opinion on buying crypto

  • Definitely, I get a lot of  people asking me, 'Finn, what shouldbuy?'

  • 'What's the next thing  that's going to go up?'

  • It's not just you. A survey of 1,000 adults in  the United Kingdom revealed that nearly half  

  • of people aged between 18 and 29 made their  first ever investment in cryptocurrencies.  

  • The risk is a lot of people making their  first investment and then getting burnt

  • Now even the International Monetary  Fund is sounding the alarm, saying the crypto  

  • boom could threaten financial stability.    

  • The cryptocurrency market is worth trillionsIn  November 2021, its total market cap reached  

  • $3 trillion for the first timeIt's no wonder  it's capturing so many people's attention

  • Sowhat should you know before you get  involvedAnd why is the IMF so worried

  • My name is Finn Juddell. I am 22 years old. I actually work as an investment banker and  

  • lead the crypto division at a small, little  boutique investment bank. I also manage a small  

  • funds management business called FJ Syndicates.    

  • I have a funny story for you actually – I got  into Bitcoin, that was all fun, I had a bit in my wallet.

  • It went up in value. I was like, 'This is pretty cool.'

  • My first stint into doing research and  finding crypto was actuallyscamso I learned  

  • the hard way pretty quickly of what to look for  and what not to look for in a crypto project

  • Finn's experience is a common oneWhile more  

  • than 16,000 tokens have been listed on various  exchangesonly around 9,000 remain today

  • What happened to the other 7,000 or  soWell, some developers have walked away.  

  • Some tokens just aren't getting tradedAnd, the IMF says, some were set up  

  • purely for speculative purposesor like  Finn encounteredwere just an outright scam.

  • Not a lot of young people, I believe, understand the  risk of cryptocurrency investments.

  • It is simply too volatile for many people.

  • Myron Jobson was a part of the team  at investment platform Interactive Investor

  • that published the survey we  mentioned at the beginning of this video:  

  • the one about 45% of young people making  their first investment in cryptocurrencies.  

  •   They also found that a number of  

  • these transactions were made using credit cardsstudent loans and other means of borrowing.

  •   For example, 56% of respondents who  

  • invested in either bitcoin or dogecoin turned  to debt to fund their investments.

  • You can't get away from cryptocurrencyyou really can't. You can go on the  

  • London underground and see adverts about  cryptocurrencymissed out on Bitcoin,  

  • well, invest in this space of cryptocurrency  — which I think is wholly irresponsible.

  • And also on social media there is an association  with the high life, living the grand lifestyle  

  • that a lot of influencers put out there because  cryptocurrencies are often advertised next to  

  • these posts exploring this glamourous lifestyle.  I think that association is very dangerous.

  • This is a concern shared by the U.K.'s financial  watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority or FCA.  

  • Its survey of 1,000 young investors in high-risk  products (aged between 18 and 40) found that they  

  • are driven by competition and influenced by hype.    

  • In fact, 58% of respondents said that constantly  hearing about a certain investment on the news,

  • on social media and from other people encouraged  them to purchase specific investments.

  • I don't think it is right to say that people  can make money or if you missed out on bitcoin,  

  • this is the next big thing, I don't think that's responsible advertising.

  • So I think policy  makers should definitely have looked at that.

  • Yesyou could make money from investing  

  • in cryptocurrenciesbut the  volatility of cryptocurrency  

  • it just doesn't work for many everyday investors  and that needs to be made clearer

  • The IMF is calling for tougher regulations as  wellIn a recent paper, its authors touted  

  • thenew world of opportunities” a  flourishing crypto ecosystem opens up.

  • But it's the fact that crypto  assets are becoming so mainstream  

  • that could put the financial stability at risk

  • The crypto ecosystem has grown significantly, it  keeps growing very quickly in the last few years.  

  • The process shows remarkable resilience  but there have also been some interesting  

  • stress tests.    

  • Evan Papageorgiouone of the paper's  authors, walked me through some of them.  

  •   First, there's the rollercoaster ride  

  • these assets have been on. Sure, you could makelot of money, but you can also lose it all.

  • There are the customers who had their funds stolen by  hackers. The lack of oversight also creates data  

  • gaps, which can open doors for tax evasionmoney  laundering and even terrorist financing

  • There has to be a trade off with the  innovation associated with crypto  

  • and potential risks. It is not  just young people, there's a  

  • broader segment of the population that is  involved more and more, with different motivations

  • As more people begin to use crypto assets  instead of their local currency  

  • – a process the IMF described as cryptoization – this can undermine

  • the effectiveness of central bank policies.    

  • This is especially true in emerging  and developing economies,  

  • the same countries the IMF says are leading the  way in cryptocurrency adoption. 

 

  • Digital currencies appear to be here to stay  – so if you do want to get involved,  

  • what do you need to know before  you part with your money

  • It is really important to look for strong  development communities in a crypto project,  

  • because that really is where the heart of it liesSo really looking into fundamentals of what are  

  • they building, where is the value they are adding  to the world and where is the market for that

  • So you are suggesting that  people should do some research  

  • before putting their money  into cryptocurrencies?  

  • Definitely. Before you make  any financial decisions,

  • make sure you understand what you are investing  inthat's definitely the number one rule

  • Finn recommends asking yourself three questions:  

  • Does the founding team hold a large proportion of the tokens,

  • and are they barred from selling them all at once?

  • Is the project trying to raise too much money  by overestimating the value of its tokens?

  • What does the project do? Does  it add any real-world value

  • Don't invest it all on cryptocurrency. Yes  it's okay to dabble. If you want to do it,  

  • make sure it is a very, very  tiny fraction of your overall

  • portfolio, your investment  portfolio should be diverse.

  • Like many young people that want  to get on the housing ladder,  

  • you have to consider how your investments  could help you get on the property ladder.  

  • Cryptocurrency investments is simply too volatile.

It's probably happened to you by now. A friend  or family member with no previous interest  

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it