By Herb Weisbaum, The Consumerman
Crypto currency companies are now going after mainstream customers. Commercials in the Super Bowl had a simple message: Don’t miss out on the next big thing.
“The one thing all those crypto commercials didn’t explain is what it is, how it works, and it certainly didn’t touch on the risks involved,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “There’s not a fundamental underlying value like there is with a stock that represents a business or a piece of real estate. If you’re afraid of investing in the stock market because you don’t like the volatility, then crypto is not for you.”
Crypto is unregulated. Some consider that a benefit. McBride sees it as a big negative.
‘Without regulation, it is literally the wild wild west,” he said. “You’ve got a risk of being hacked. There’s no backstop for you like there is if you’re with an FDIC insured bank, or you have an account with a brokerage firm that has SIPC protection. That doesn’t exist in the world of crypto.”
Herb Weisbaum, The ConsumerMan, is the consumer reporter at Northwest Newsradio, the founder of ConsumerMan.com, and host of the Consumerpedia podcast. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
