NOTE : I don't give financial advice to anyone (not even my own parents and other close relations). This post is not financial advice.
Here are some pictures I got from the Internet. Even if you don't read what I wrote, staring at these for a while will be a good enough takeaway.
The following are a series of opinions I've had over the years as I've observed the evolution of the crypto/Bitcoin universe and the response of the State. At the outset, I clearly state (as always) that all States, and the very premise of government itself, are immoral and illegitimate. I also observe that blockchains, in general, and perhaps proof-of-work blockchains, in particular and, among them, Bitcoin itself seems to possess many characteristics of sound money, which is an essential component of free markets and lawful (Stateless, libertarian) societies.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) -- an "official" "government-approved" "safe" crypto?
If someone referred to a nuclear bomb(ing) as "atomic energy" or "nuclear energy", would they be lying? In a purely technical sense, such a tragedy would certainly involve the production and release of atomic/nuclear energy -- but, calling it that misses the point, to say the least.
Likewise, it is well-known that governments all over the world have tried to "ban" Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency, because they sensed (correctly) that it presented a threat to their very existence and founding premise. Invariably, aside for the destruction of a few lives or livelihoods, these attempts have failed. The bought-and-paid-for corporate press see-sawed between mocking Bitcoin and demonizing Bitcoin in this era.
However, in places like Nigeria (cite) and India, this has only led to a surge in use and adoption! The more the State overplays its hand of oppressive tyrannical control, the more attractive Bitcoin (correctly) appears, for its main use-case of throwing off the fetters of the State! Of course, this expectedly makes the State lash out more, and this cycle seems necessary as we move from a Statist world to a Stateless world.
This has led the Malthusian Marxist globalist elites (like Gates and Schwab and their eromenoi at WEF and various governments around the world) to contemplate and construct an "official" "approved" alternative -- called Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) -- with the aim of herding the newly awakening and those seeking to exit the current debt-fiat-slavery systems of blood-backed false weight and measures, back into these same-old systems, but now with a new "branding" of being "crypto" or "blockchain"-based. In a purely technical sense, this description could be correct about the mechanics, but it would be like the metaphor stated earlier -- it would be like referring to a nuclear bomb(ing) as "atomic energy" or "nuclear energy". This new CBDC will touted to be "official", "safe", "secure", "terrorism-free", "money-laundering-free" and "over-the-table" and many will sadly be duped and will fall for it.
A while back, I wrote this about the Indian context :
"But, tragically, millions or hundreds of millions of the Indian middle class are about to walk straight into this trap, and that will create a tsunami through society. The groundwork propaganda has been laid for years. Here's how it goes : "Bitcoin is bad because Pakistani terrorists use it to launder money and create sectarian strife in what was otherwise an idyllic paradise of communal harmony in our blessed motherland India. The official government-approved CBDC by the Reserve Bank (India's Central Bank) is the one official cryptocurrency that's safe and secure to use and we Patriotic Indians will use it".
It's sad to know this is going to happen. It's sad to watch a train-wreck in slow motion."
When most libertarians and anarchists casually use the phrase "crypto", they mean the blockchain technology, and the underlying philosophy underpinning it, that provides a trustless means of guaranteeing sound money and just weights and measures, which is an essential plank to establishing liberty and bringing down the State. Some (many?) are Bitcoin purists, and some are proof-of-work purists, and some are open to other blockchain technologies, such as proof-of-stake, as well.
CBDC may use some blockchain tech in its underlying technology. However, it is intended to be a cashlessness and absolute surveillance psyop that the WEF elites are planning on foisting. Again, this is not advice against "investing" in it or "owning" it -- for reasons of expedience or coercion, many (most?) anarchists trade and use and save USD and other such central bank State fiat currencies. But, it is important to be at least eyes-wide-open!
What about derivatives and other like instruments?
There are many financial instruments, investment strategies, speculative strategies and technical analyses that are useful in a free market, and even in a captured Statist fiat market like ours. But, they are incidental and not fundamental to crypto -- they are simply actions in any market. They can include leverage, trading, derivatives, staking, technical analysis, etc.
Having said that, please, hear me clearly :
Leverage is not crypto.
Trading is not crypto.
Derivatives are not crypto.
Staking is not crypto.
Technical analysis is not crypto.
Granted, these activities will also exist in the cryptosphere -- but, any gains or risks or losses associated with them are not related to the merits or demerits, whatever they may be, of the philosophy of the blockchain. Instruments are a way to buy and sell the sentiments (fear or greed) of other market participants. You can do that on any underlying. If you do that on a crypto like Bitcoin, you are not primarily banking on (pun intended) the sound moneyness of Bitcoin as a store of value and medium of exchange -- rather, you are trading your speculations about other people regarding the same. Of course, you are free to do that, and I have no strong opinions about whether you should or shouldn't -- I just want you, dear reader, to be clear about what it is that you are doing.
So, you're saying that government is the only entity to be wary of, and that there's no other scams at all?
No, I never said it or implied it.
In the diverse world of cryptocurrencies numbering in the hundreds, there are a few outright privately-run scams (outside of "official" "government approved" Ponzis like CBDCs). Outside of those, there are also well-intentioned but technically unsound projects, doomed to fail from the start. Here is where the world of true crypto starts -- and, in this world, fundamental analysis of the underlying tech as well as an Austrain understanding of the moneyness of things can help people understand and make personal choices (based on their personal risk profiles) on which ones to buy into and hold on to, before the collapse of fiat. Must you hold on to it (or, HODL as we like to say)? No, you don't have to -- as indicated above, there are other legitimate financial actions you are free to engage in -- but, they are not related to, or are only incidentally related to, crypto as currency. But, the crypto philosophy, in its purest sense, consists of HODLing, or engaging in actual use (for buying and selling goods or services, or investing as capital in long-term projects) -- aka agorism. Among the various true crypto currencies out there, you will experience gains or risks or losses based on your personal portfolio -- all of these åre relative to each other and none of this means that crypto is dead.
What's the deal with XRP and QFS?
XRP seems to be becoming another Trojan Horse exit ramp designed to misdirect and redirect the newly curious out of sound cryptos (of which, Bitcoin is currently king) and into Fed CBDC. I recently researched XLM and QFS since some friends who are sadly into controlled oppo psyops touted that. That also seems to be the same thing. I made a meme once to bucket this phenomena together with USDT and USDC, but the latter two might at least serve other legitimate purposes (like liquidity).
Conclusion
Understand what sound money is. Try and move your life and economic actions toward that. Be careful.