The cryptocurrency industry is not yet seeing a ray of light, and last week, it was revealed that its 'Fear and Greed Index' saw poor numbers at 22 percent, saying that it was in "extreme fear," leading this week's edition of CryptoWatch. Moreover, there was also the US FTC's revelation of the $114 million losses in Bitcoin ATM scams last year.
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Lastly, Trump supports also express their sentiments over Donald Trump and his family's latest crypto ventures, saying that it is a "mistake."
Crypto is in 'Extreme Fear,' BTC Claimed to Drop Below $50,000
Towards the end of the week, it was revealed that the cryptocurrency industry's Fear & Greed Index showed a significantly low score of 22 out of 100, entering the "extreme fear" category. This index is a representation of forecasts, market trends, and sentiments of the people in the industry including analysts, investors, and experts.
It was unveiled in the daily analysis of Alternative last Friday, September 6, amidst the industry's ongoing poor performance which has started since early July.
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Not only that, BitMEX's co-founder Arthur Hayes made a bold claim amidst this struggle, saying that Bitcoin is on-track to crash below $50,000, a currently feared event in the market.
FTC: Bitcoin ATM Scams Worth $114M Happened in 2023
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that 2023's Bitcoin ATM (BTM) faced record-breaking scams, reaching up to $114 million accumulated losses through these machines. Bad actors stole money through these means, using different kinds of tactics as scammers were able to gain significant access to these systems.
According to the FTC, people lost money on BTMs by simply using the machines, but other tactics also include business and government impersonation and tech support scams which target wallet owners.
This is ten times more than what was recorded from 2020 to 2023. It was also noted by the FTC that this year is already catching up to 2023's numbers, as in the first half of 2024, BTM scams already accumulated over $65 million.
Trump Allies Think Their Crypto Ventures are a Mistake
There are already numerous crypto ventures started by Donald J. Trump and his family, but despite many expressing their support and enthusiasm, several allies of the Presidential aspirant are skeptical about it. Among the Trump family's crypto ventures include 'The DeFiant Ones' decentralized finance (DeFi) platform and World Liberty Financial.
In a report by Politico, Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and founding partner of Castle Island Ventures, a crypto venture capital, said that these recent ventures are "a huge mistake." Carter went as far as to call the Trump family's moves as "naive."
World Liberty Financial is a new crypto startup managed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. It has since seen a bad reputation for leading users to fake websites in the links it shared.
