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Shitcoins: are pointless cryptocurrencies a scam or a gamble?

Shitcoins: are pointless cryptocurrencies a scam or a gamble?

Science Weekly vor 4 Jahren

Madeleine Finlay speaks to UK technology editor Alex Hern about how his identity was stolen to flog a doomed cryptocurrency, and what it revealed about scams, gambling and the culture of digital, decentralised coins

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When the Guardian’s UK technology editor Alex Hern was contacted on
Twitter to ask if he was involved in a new cryptocurrency called
Tsuka, he assumed they just wanted him to buy it. He ignored the
messages. But soon after Alex realised that, without knowing it, he
was already involved. What happened next reveals a lot about the
strange world of ‘shitcoins’ – cryptocurrencies with no reason for
existence beyond buying low and selling high. Madeleine Finlay
speaks to Alex Hern about his shitcoin saga, and how the lines can
get blurred between a gamble and a scam. Help support our
independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod