WHENEVER colonialists set their beady little eyes on a booming, potentially profitable industry in another land which is still in its infancy. They will always find cunning ways to install themselves there, vie for absolute control and garner all the profits for themselves.

This is achieved through deception – they prey on the desperation of people – and promise an all-too-good opportunity they simply cannot refuse. With the people primed for exploitation, they initiate their ploys until the people have been sufficiently taken advantage of – leaving the perpetrators’ pockets full. Just like that, a once promising space is left destitute.

Malaysia’s cryptocurrency scene is one that has shown promising returns and exponential growth – while it is still very much in its infancy – Malaysians must beware of “crypto colonialists” who recognise the potential for profit by exploitation and thus vie for influence, preying on the desperate by making outlandish promises of financial freedom through crypto-themed scams as some fall victim and are conned out of their hard-earned money.

There has been a significant paradigm shift towards cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology in global trends – inspiring an entire wave of never-before-seen ventures – and its popularity among people has only appeared to surge.

It is precisely due to its nascent and mainstream appeal that have prompted Malaysians to hop onto the fashionable crypto craze with the hope of harvesting from this goldmine.

The prospect of a product causing a disruption in the traditional banking sector is bound to invite immediate attention as it is an industry that has virtually remained unchallenged ever since its modern integration.

Blockchain technology, if widely accepted, is speculated to outright replace the way in which money is transacted and transactions are verified and recorded, and would prove to be a valuable digital asset because of its manifold uses. 

This over-aggrandising gossip surrounding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology in general led to the over-excitation of the senses in the global community as there was growing assumption that the technology would inevitably be adopted or that there was no doubt as to its profitability.

This is of course a rather premature conclusion. People absolutely hate the feeling of missing out on trends, which compels them to mindlessly partake in the hype – however dangerously crowded the space may be – to lay claim as the one who “made it the first”, effectively entitling them to bragging rights and the rumoured pot of crypto gold.

It is this tendency of some to be very easily enticed by global trends that makes them the perfect prey for financial fraudsters and predators who, in recognising their gullibility or naivete, exploit their desperation in order to gain profit.

Those who do very little research into blockchain technology and decide to financially nosedive right into this space must be wary as this entire enterprise is still very much in its early development stages.

People ought to be cautious as despite young blockchain technology is – there are many who continue to advocate for it with absolute certainty, creating and promoting blockchain schemes urging people to recognise its value and to make immediate investments.

What is concerning is that many of those who have designed these schemes have malicious intentions as they are aware of just how poorly understood and risky the technology actually is.

There is absolutely no guarantee as to its value.

This isn’t so much of a concern for these individuals as their focus is to just artificially drive the value of blockchain, causing a buying frenzy, especially by promoting it to places where the technology has yet to be integrated and accepted by advertising scam block chain products as new lucrative investment opportunities – scamming the masses through false exaggerations – and when enough people have been duped into putting their money into these products, the perpetrators run away with the profits, effectively leaving people with products that amount to nothing in value.

Malaysia’s crypto scene is indeed promising, it certainly is a revolutionary technology, but more time must be taken to understand it. It must be approached with caution.

We must allow the authorities to continue to review and monitor the technology in order to form policies that better regulate it, the onus is also on us to do thorough research and to be familiar with updates about the technology before jumping to conclusions about the product which allows us to have more-informed views – making us less prone to being conned.

Malaysia has already seen numerous cryptocurrency scams deceive many in the country, causing monumental losses. They must be vigilant as there are many who continue to try to exploit Malaysia’s infant cryptocurrency space, aggressively mining the space so it be turned into their cash cow, in order to prey on vulnerable, uninformed Malaysians by seducing them them to partake in lucrative-sounding cryptocurrency schemes by advertising the promise of great returns under false pretences, which financially defraud the people.

Beware of crypto colonialists. – January 4, 2023.

* Pravin Periasamy reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.