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You could ask the same thing about day-trading stocks, and the answer is also yes.

The article mentions day-trading penny stocks specifically, but I think that's too narrow.

This is not a new concept at all, just a new asset class.

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/07/943768902/former-day-trader-w...

Yeah, after lurking in r/wallstreetbets, the crypto stuff seems safe and sound in comparison.
Ross Ulbricht is dying in a cage because he got me and others addicted to Bitcoin like crack. I need another hit of CashApp to microdose on Bitcoin all day...
I once watched an interview with yanis varoufakis. He was interwied by two "traders" and they asked him in which currency he would invest.

He tells them:

"Noone should invest in currency unless they have a lot of money." "Everyone who invests in currency with little money is a fool. A dangerous fool."

I think that is true for crypto also, unless you are one of the early adopters who is able to see the technical benefit before it is (was) publicly known.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDGGFodQxc8

minute 34

It's not 'at risk', it's been that way for years.

There are also ways to make it a relatively safe long-term investment (DCA into only a handful of coins that aren't going away anytime soon).

But it's definitely a terrible place for people prone to gambling addiction and probably helping to create new gamblers, sure.

Just taking myself as an example, I never used to consider myself a gambler until I got into this space, and I eventually realized I've made much bigger and dumber bets in crypto than I've ever made in a casino (which I've only been when my friends or parents wanted to go, and usually don't spend more than $50). Thankfully in my case my bad habits in crypto are fairly small compared to my good habits (DCA).

There's something devilishly gamified about the instant feedback of some cryptocurrency platforms. Some of the "investment" vehicles have little counters that go up in real time. Dopamine hacking abounds.