That’s So Crypto: How this Lawyer Went from an Easy $200 Gain to a 5x Loss

-Clara J, 23.

I heard about crypto in 2021 on Twitter, and I didn’t really pay much attention to it because I didn’t trust it. However, as time passed, I encountered more people who explained it to me better. I finally understood it in April 2023 when I learned about it in my fintech course during my Master’s.  

I have made a little money from crypto, about $200, but I've lost way more, but that’s because of a scam, not the crypto itself.

I got contacted in May 2023 that I could work on an app that paid me in crypto. The job was too easy, and I was suspicious at first, but it was a little money, so I didn’t really mind.

Anyway, I did it for a week and was getting paid up to $50 daily until the day my money got tied up. What happened was that I was told I needed to clear up a negative charge before getting my money back.

Given that I had done it previously with smaller amounts, I believed them, but I ended up losing nearly $1000. I fell to my knees and nearly killed myself, and because it was crypto, there was no way to recall or trace the transactions.

Scam aside and my fresh emotional, financial, and mental wounds aside, I think Crypto is an interesting innovation.  As a lawyer, I am excited at the regulatory system in place and in the works because it needs to be regulated. The decentralised nature of the currency is its strongest quality but also its most dangerous.