Here is a sensational click bait but true take – platforms that support crypto can be a liability and could put you in financial ruins should you not be too careful.
You might be saying “what the hell are you talking about”? I am talking about any financial platform(s) that all the sudden not only support cryptocurrencies but also allow withdrawal of cryptocurrencies. For example, imagine a platform where you have put $200k of your saving, sure you have a decent password for it but you don’t care to two-factor authentication (2FA) it, or put various other security measures on it. (I think this is a fairly normal behavior for a lot of people….do you have 2FA on Chase, Citi, Amex, Robinhood, etc?) But when a financial institutes allow purchase and withdrawal of crypto, a bad player who has access to your login information can convert all of your money into crypto, withdraw it, and you will never see that money ever again.
And of course I will take this opportunity to blast a fintech bank OnJuno ($100 signup bonus by the way…..lol) which pivoted into crypto but still does not have any other form of 2FA but phone number. This type of stuff can and will eventually catch someone off guard big time.
Yes, people can still steal money off your bank but you can complain at the bank and they will make you whole. Some banks (and fintechs) even allow you to view credit/debit card numbers online but again you are protected against fraudulent charges there as well. Yes, there are still other non-crypto methods bad actors use to steal money from venerable people (we all know about IRS asking for debit cards from elderly people) but this is a new method where mere leak of your login credentials could lead to your financial ruin.
Of course platforms have gotten much better at recognizing logins from new devices (or not recognizing login from same device….cough Amex), prompting security question, prompting login code via email/text, but still it doesn’t hurt to take an extra step at protecting yourself. 2FA everything, periodically run virus scans, and don’t click on any links (beside the $100 signup link above) because…crypto.
