You can go into just about any Bitcoin related Facebook Group and you will see numerous posts promoting various HYIP programs. People, for whatever reason, want to believe they can get something for nothing, and that returns of 20% PER DAY are actually possible because, hey, this is cryptocurrency and the rules of the real world no longer apply! Right? Wrong. Dead wrong! And lot of people are about to discover the ugly truth.
What is a HYIP?
HYIP stands for "High Yield Investment Program." Various websites offer spectacular returns, sometimes 10%, 20% even 50%, not per year or per month ... but PER DAY! They come up with some lame explanation that they are taking the money you're giving them and using it to get even higher returns by loaning it out thru pay day loan companies at 100% interest per day, for example. It sounds legit enough, only it isn't. They don't loan the money out at all, they have other nefarious plans for your money.
In the back office of a HYIP program, you will see your investment rapidly gaining in value! You might withdraw a small amount to test and make sure you can really withdraw your money. Once you've satisfied yourself that the program is "real," then the greed kicks in!
You put in more money, dreaming about being able to quit your job, buying that nice house, getting that exotic sports car you've always wanted, being able to do something nice for the people you love. Your plan is to keep your money growing within the program until you have so much, you can start to withdraw it without killing the Goose that's laying the Golden Eggs.
The problem is ... HYIPs are all fake. If you Google HYIP you'll come across a Wikipedia article that explains HYIPs are nothing more than an internet based Ponzi scheme.
The way it works is simple: You put your money in, watch your investment grow, tell all your friends about it, all the while leaving your money in the Ponzi so it can continue to grow. Your friends tell their friends, and so on and so on, and everyone appears to be making money. Then, some of the people who got in at the beginning start to take money out, as do others, and others, until eventually there is more money going out than coming it. When this happens, the Ponzi is no longer sustainable, and it crashes.
In the case of a HYIP, the owners of the website INTEND for it to crash, and will crash it themselves so they get to leave with the lion's share of the money that was deposited. What do they do next? Start another one so they can find more suckers to steal from. The internet is a very big place.
When you're dealing with Bitcoin based HYIPs, you're chances of getting any of your money back after a HYIP fails is slim to none. It's more difficult to determine who the perpetrators are and track them down. Then it's difficult for prosecutors to confiscate the stolen bitcoin. And let's say you were one of the lucky ones who actually got their money out, and even made a "profit," before the HYIP crashed? Guess what, you're still not safe, because of something called CLAWBACK that allows prosecutors to seize your assets, because you benefited from an illegal enterprise!
Everything I've written up to this point us just your standard, run of the mill knowledge about HYIPs, how they work and why they always fail. Now I'm about to share why a LOT of HYIPS are going to crash in the VERY near future!
Bitcoin is about to go through not one, but two Hard Forks over the next couple of months. On October 25, BitcoinGold will fork from Bitcoin, and then, sometime in November, BitcoinSegwit2X will fork. What this means is, anyone who has Bitcoin in their own private wallet before these forks occur, will automatically receive an equal amount of FREE BitcoinGold and FREE BitcoinSegwit2X. But if you keep your Bitcoin in the HYIP, you won't get any of these free Bitcoins.
This means, people who have Bitcoin held in a HYIP will want to withdraw some or all of it before these Hard Forks take place and massive withdrawls will cause the majority of HYIPs to fail, sooner than they might have otherwise.
It's best to stay away from any program that offers a guaranteed return on your Bitcoin investment. There are no guarantees in life. In the crypto space, it's important for you to act like an adult, and don't blame anyone else for your misfortune. You need to own your decisions, both good and bad. And if you get burned, learn from it, and don't make the same mistake twice.
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