vinced to download the Pnecoin app and deposit cryptocurrency into the account,” the DFPI said in a November 2022 press release.output: title: 39 Ways to Lose Money in Crypto

Those in the crypto ecosystem have witnessed an extraordinary level of wealth creation since Satoshi Nakamoto first introduced Bitcoin in 2009

was convinced to open an account, deposit $250,000, and begin trading bitcoin (BTC) and shiba inu (SHIB) on the platform,” according to the DFPI. “After several months of trading and seeing large profits, the victim was ready to withdraw some of their earnings but was told they needed to pay an income tax on the profits.” The victim paid an additional $150,000 in taxes before realizing they were being scammed. 

23. Ponzi Schemes

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors. A hallmark of many crypto scams is the promise of high returns on investments, an enticement that could lead to devastating losses. One example is the Mirror Trading International (MTI) scheme, which lured investors with promises of returns as high as 10% per month from a forex trading bot. After collecting roughly $1.7 billion from investors, the scheme collapsed in 2022.output

There are countless ways to lose money in crypto. Some of the most common include:

- Being scammed by a fraudulent project or exchange

- Losing your private keys or seed phrase

- Sending your crypto to the wrong address

- Falling victim to a phishing attack

- Being hacked

- Making a bad trade

- Holding a stablecoin that loses its peg

- Getting liquidated on a trading platform

- Incurring penalties from the SEC or CFTC

- Lending your crypto to an untrustworthy firm

- Losing your assets in a bridge hack

- Transacting based on compromised social accounts

- Having your private keys compromised

- Falling victim to a pig butchering scam

- Investing in a Ponzi scheme