Wednesday, March 17, 2021
Exponential Sucker Filters
The incomparable Wolf has been tracking and CLEARLY describing two massively idiotic new forms of fraud. SPACs and NFTs.
Both serve to securitize the buzz surrounding a celebrity.
SPACs are companies sponsored by a celebrity, for the specific purpose of doing nothing. The SPAC pretends to offer the potential possibility that it might buy something. Supposedly it might acquire a startup, sparing the startup from going through the normal red tape of SEC approval. The SPAC doesn't promise to buy something, so it's not a 'future' or an 'option' in any meaningful way. It's just a money-laundering tool that might or might not be used for money-laundering. Fools rush in to get in on the ground floor of money-laundering.
NFTs would be prima facie illegal if we had laws. The 'non-fungible token' consists of a stolen artwork or image or something or other, sometimes with permission of the celebrity and sometimes not. The stolen piece of something or other is written into a PDF, perhaps contained in a thumb drive, and this forged copy is given a serial number that relates somehow to Bitcoin. Fools bid up the price of the forgery, eagerly seeking the privilege of "owning" a forgery with a fake signature.
Hmm. Come to think of it, this type of appeal is not new. Most of the scams and frauds described in the old cop shows of the '40s made the same pitch. "Why is this such a good deal? Because we're operating just outside the law. But you and I know how to get around such limitations, don't we? (wink wink)"
The sucker, believing that his participation is illegal, isn't going to call the cops when he ends up broke. If he believed that the scammer stole his money while engaged in normal business activity, he'd call the cops.
Labels: infinite STUPID, Sucker Filter
¶ 1:18 AM
