Monday, September 3, 2018

Life is Not Fair, Part 3 - the Pump and Dump

The August 6, 2018 print edition of the Wall Street Journal had an article, Crypto 'Pump and Dumps' Distort Trading by Paul Vigna and Shane Shifflett on page B1.  The article described how groups of people on the internet drive up the price of various cryptocurrencies in order to sell quickly for quick profit.  The authors described the operation of an internet group called Big Pump Signal.  The article printed charts showing the price over a day of four cryptocurrencies.  You could see the price spike up and then drop.  Occasionally the profitable time for selling is very short.  A person who is lucky in timing trades during a pump and dump can make money if he gets out before the price crashes.

This was an informative and valuable article, but the WSJ did not put it into its electronic edition.  You really must get the paper edition to understand what is happening in the economy because valuable information is cut from the digital version.  Remember that this paper is in many libraries.

You can google Big Pump Signal to find more information.  I found a video on YouTube:
"Big Pump Signal" Crypto Group Review - WARNING: VERY RISKY!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lv9w5B5kVk

Variations of "pump and dump" happen outside of cryptocurrencies, so this is an investment pitfall your children should know about. You can google "pump and dump" to learn more.

Robert