Vitalik Buterin is one of the most prominent names when it comes to the world of cryptocurrencies. The young Russian entrepreneur who co-founded Ethereum has been one of the most vocal voices in the world of cryptocurrencies. Vitalik Buterin has often raised his concerns about the way cryptocurrencies are being treated by investors. His latest statement comes as a warning as he states that there’s a chance that most cryptocurrencies may one day crash to zero.
24-year-old Buterin is known as one of the smartest minds in cryptocurrency. He has warned investors to put their money in traditional assets and has asked them to invest only the amount that they can afford to lose. This is a common tip which most investors are given. However, due to the massive rise in cryptocurrency prices over the past few months, many investors are risking to invest more than what they can afford to lose - incurring huge losses when markets collapse.
‘Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time. Don't put in more money than you can afford to lose. If you're trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.’ Buterin wrote on Twitter.
The basic thing that everyone knows about Cryptocurrencies, regardless of them having invested in them or not, is the fact that they are very volatile. Cryptocurrency prices tend to flicker a lot. Take Vitalik’s own creation, Ethereum for example. The currency was priced in at $13 last year - and is currently priced in at $950. The currency had peaked at a price of over $1300 earlier this year.
Buterin has been a constant critic of people who invest into cryptocurrencies because of their prices. Time and again, he has spoken out that it is, in fact, the underlying technology that makes or breaks the currency’s long-term success and not the price of the currency in itself. He has been a vocal critic of those investing to make a quick profit. This opinion that the blockchain technology is the future while cryptocurrencies are a momentary success has been believed by a number of cryptocurrency experts.
The volatility of the cryptocurrency markets came to light over the past couple of weeks where as much as $100 Billion was lost in a day! However, the markets have since recovered and at the time of this writing, Bitcoin is trading above the $11,500 mark. Markets are unpredictable - but opinions do matter. While Vitalik Buterin’s statements cannot be considered as the gospel truth, the fact that someone as influential as Buterin believes in cryptocurrencies crashing to zero should give many investors sleepless nights!
Buterin also commented on the latest cryptocurrency-scam which has been getting increasingly common on Twitter. This is where scammers use Buterin’s name and profile picture in the comments and ask users to donate a small amount of Ethereum to a particular wallet address, assuring them that they will get double in return. Buterin tweeted: “DON'T TRUST ANYONE ASKING FOR OR OFFERING MONEY ON TWITTER.”