Why I Fell Victim to the Bitconnect Ponzi Scheme

As everyone knows by now Bitconnect was recently revealed to be what many had already suspected it to be for some time, a Ponzi Scheme.

So why did I too fall victim to this? The answer is simple, inexperience and laziness.

I had been in the crypto game for all of one month and was only three weeks into my first loan on Bitconnect when the system came crashing down and I lost nearly all of my initial investment. Thankfully I did not come into this with that much maybe, a few grand at best, which was really all that I could spare.

I had started out learning what I could about the cryptocurrency world by watching YouTube videos at night on my television for maybe a half hour or so after I had put my daughter to bed.

I stumbled onto the likes of some really great YouTubes like David Hay one of my personal favorite as well as Doug Polk, Jerry Banfield, Crypto Bobby and Altcoin Buzz. All of these guys I love watching and learn a ton from but the problem was that most often when a commercial on YouTube would come up it would generally be someone promoting Bitconnect.

This is where I went wrong immediately...

I then started checking out the videos from these guys pumping Bitconnect like Trevon James and Ryan Hildreth. I never did see any of CryptoNick's videos but I know a lot of others were following him for some reason I can't really explain?

All of this because I didn't want to take the time to research the technologies, learn about the markets, and most of all be patient. I came into this with a full head of steem (no pun intended) to make a quick buck and I admittedly took the lazy route and jumped on the Bitconnect bandwagon thinking I could get some daily returns until I could figure out what to do with all my money once I got my initial investment back.

WRONG...

When the system came to a screeching halt I managed to walk away with only a little over $200.

I held it aside for a few days until I could decide what to do. The markets came tumbling down shortly thereafter and I had researched a crypto I liked and bought back in at a pretty low price to this time hold for the long haul, which is what I should have been doing all along.

So the biggest lessons learned here:

1.) Don't fall victim to the "easy wins" or "sure things" because if it sounds too good to be true then they usually are.

2.) Do your homework and buy into something because you believe in the technology and not because it's what everyone else is doing.

3.) Look for smart investments and never go all in on a single investment, hold some cash aside for when the markets drop so you can buy low and dollar cost average your investments

4.) Find reliable information sources with strong backgrounds and not just some fly by night YouTuber

5.) Never invest anything you aren't willing and able to lose without it severely impacting your life

I hope you all found my story useful and can take something away from this. I sure know that I did!