When crypto goes bad… and very bad

Cryptocurrency is a new and exciting asset class but it is also a risky one. There are many risks including the loss of assets due to lost keys hacking scams and other factors.

This article were it a hurriedly produced Christmas video would be called When Crypto Goes Bad!

As such it ‘ain’t’ the most positive of articles.

But in every storm cloud there is a silver lining. Even if it’s a little bit thin and scuffed.

This article will discuss the following:

• lost keys;
• rug pulls;
• hacking and scams; and
• liquidations of platforms (such as Celsius or FTX).

Note we’ve assumed there are no trading activities and that any gains or losses would be within capital gains tax.

Loss of private key

The most common way to lose cryptocurrency is to lose the private key meaning an...