Today as I’m write this blog post in Feb 2025, the state of cryptocurrency today is a far cry from its original promise of revolutionizing finance and providing freedom from middlemen. The majority of the space has become a hotbed of scams, rug pulls, and unchecked greed, with people losing millions to fraudulent projects and manipulated token schemes every day. The lack of accountability is staggering, and it’s clear that something needs to change. Hawk Tuah anyone? Donald Trump coin? Now even Dave Portnoy has his own token. This is getting out of hand.

So, how did we get here? The answer lies in the perfect storm of crypto’s lack of regulation, anonymity, and the get-rich-quick mentality that pervades the space. With no real accountability, scammers can launch projects anonymously, reap the benefits, and then disappear without consequences. Governments are only now starting to take crypto fraud seriously, but enforcement is still weak, and the lack of investor education has created a breeding ground for bad actors to exploit greed.

The numbers are alarming – in 2024 alone, investors lost approximately $2 billion to scams, with 58 rug pulls reported, costing investors $106 million. Phishing scams, impersonation, and deepfake scams are also on the rise, with fraudsters using AI-generated videos and voice clones to impersonate trusted figures and convince victims to send them money. The $Trump memecoin fiasco is a perfect example of how scammers can flood the market with fake tokens to exploit investors.

To stay safe in crypto, it’s essential to do your research before investing, be skeptical of hype, and verify everything. This means reading the project’s whitepaper, investigating the development team, and looking at the roadmap and tokenomics. It’s also crucial to use secure wallets and exchanges, enable strong security measures, and stay informed about the latest developments in the space.

But fixing crypto won’t be easy – it requires a fundamental shift in the way the industry operates. Smarter regulation is needed, one that protects investors without stifling innovation. The crypto community needs to stop enabling bad actors and start calling out suspicious projects.

I wish I knew the answer to fix the space but at the very least we need better user education and any legitimate projects should prioritize transparency, publicly verifying their teams, audits, and token allocations. And finally, the industry needs to shift its focus from speculative gambling to real use cases, such as decentralized finance, blockchain-based identity verification, and supply chain transparency, just to name a few.