Now that’s what I call hacking.
I wonder if Farage’s pals are impacted.
North Korea has form on this. BBC Sounds - Cyber Hack - Available Episodes
I dabbled in crypto a bit around ten years ago, after hearing folks in one of my business networking groups enthusing about it. I had a few hundred quid invested for a few years but got rid of it all eventually.
Yes some people get rich with it just as they do playing the stock market, but it all seemed way too volatile and risky for me, and with such a small investment it was never going to make me a fortune. 
As for the Binance hack, they say they will cover any losses to customers. But eventually one of these exchanges is going to curl up its toes in a big way, I would imagine.
Hasn’t the orange baby got his own crypto? Be great if that could be hacked (stolen)
1 Like
From what I’ve read about crypto, they probably cashed in as MAGA followers bought into the funds.
I think it’s gambling, plain and simple. At least in the stock market you can just invest in a tracker. Which BTW, over time outperforms the more active traders.
1 Like
Climbs on soapbox…
Shares should be held by anyone for a minimum period. Lightning trades should be banned.
Shares were created to enable investors to limit their risk in financing companies that produce widgets or provide services.
Buying and selling shares does not benefit society as a whole, it creates bubbles. It makes long term planning by companies wanting to invest in buildings or personnel difficult.
When I get elec…
1 Like
Every investor needs liquidity in their portfolio, there should be long term, short term and cash. Companies have myriad ways of raising capital, though less easy in Europe than the US for sure.
This is the crypto story that has always stuck in my mind… I’ve watched it develop over the years.
It must be hard to get over loosing the guts of a billion dollars by accident.
What would be the minimum period?
Stock markets only work because of liquidity.
There are reports he is a a Walter Mitty type character and the story just ran and ran.
I think the 8,000 “missing” bitcoins have been verified through blockchain entries. Though I’d say it’s doubtful the disk in the PC is even readable at this stage.
Interesting question.
You are saying they work at the moment?
Work at what? Work in what way? Work towards what end?
What is their purpose do you think?
My point is that rapid trading does not help with financing companies. Company shares should be for financing companies, not for the rapid trading which unsettles company finances.
Trading shares should not be a means to gamble with the capital a company needs to function.
How long should shares be held before being traded? I am not sure.
(You can tell I’m not a politician because I haven’t got a firm answer to give with confidence.)
Maybe a week? What would that do to company financing?
Would no one invest in Rolls-Royce engines anymore? Would Fred’s Widgets Ltd get a new lathe?
Why not? Doesn’t sound too bad to me.
It is not going to happen. The genie is out of the bottle, and no stock market will change now.
But that does not mean that fast trades when fortunes can be won or lost, is a good idea.
So I buy shares on a Friday, but some bad news happens on the Monday, but I can’t sell until Friday, and I am left holding my shares as everybody else can exit….
You see the issue..
Yes. Fair point.
Investment is a risky business.
No proof he is the actual owner though.
Short selling is perhaps one area that goes unchecked.
People will say it stops inflated valuations running unchecked, and also means money can be made in a falling market.
However, many companies can just be targeted as part of a campaign and have billions wiped of valuations with no underlying issues. The markets take is, “true value will always win” eventually, and it creates further opportunity.
Ultimately though retail investors are just passengers.
Although the Gamstop shirt squeeze was one time when retail investors gave the institutions a bloody nose and it actually killed one of them off.
Agreed.
So, one company is wiped out, for no good reason? Nothing to do with the quality of their widgets. And those who really did understand the quality of that company are wiped out.
Yes, I am pointing to the worst case, but it is not unknown.
That sounds suspiciously like “the invisible hand”.
Or like saying people will always choose the best option for themselves. (Optimise utility)
No one has sufficient information to always choose the best path.
And even if they could they are still human.
Classic economics is flawed. It’s hypotheses are provably wrong.
Yes, we in the west are well off as a whole. We probably would not be here under a different system. I am a beneficiary of all of the things I have mentioned.
But that does not mean the system we have now will be the best option for the future.
We have only had limited liability companies for a century and a half or so. Share trading especially rapid trading is, in the grand scheme of things very new.
Systems change. They always have and always will.
It is time to get a change now.
(Well…now-ish…)
The planet does not need the accelerating strains of increasing consumption.
The current arc is towards more uneven distribution of resources.
That will not end well.
Not for anyone. No winners.
No, the point is that if the widget company is selling a lot of widgets, and making a profit, or its future outlook is that it will, then ultimately somebody will see the share price is too low and start buying and a fair price will return.
Price is temporary, value is permanent.