![Local Bitcoin Money-Laundering Scheme Finally Comes to an End](http://townsquare.media/site/43/files/2022/02/attachment-geek-group.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Local Bitcoin Money-Laundering Scheme Finally Comes to an End
The Grand Rapids Tech Organization formerly known as the Geek Group closed over 2 years ago, and now its leader is behind bars.
The Geek Group was originally raided by authorities back in December 2018. Then less than two weeks later, The Geek Group posted that it was closing for good.
The perceived inception of the Geek group was to provide hands-on educational opportunities. It provided access to high-tech equipment and facilities to inventors, students, and others.
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On Friday the former head of the Geek Group, Christopher Boden, was sentenced to 30 months of prison with three years of supervised release following the incarceration.
Boden had earlier agreed to a plea and confessed that he and two co-defendants operated an unlicensed money transmitting business. Boden would sell Bitcoin to customers and supervised and directed others at The Greek Group to illegally sell it.
Cryptocurrency Cation
It's situations like the one from the Geek Group that makes me cautious about Cryptocurrency. It can lead to cryptocurrency fraud. Essentially the circumstance from the Geek Group event was a pump-and-dump. Where crypto promoters “pump” up the price of an asset by creating speculation, then “dump” some of their stock at inflated high prices.
An article from Recode lists some crypto fallacies that those interested should take into consideration. Listed below are their common cryptocurrency claims along with their advice against it.
1. Crypto's are the future of payment.
Bitcoins are accepted almost nowhere, and some cryptocurrencies nowhere at all. Even where accepted, a currency whose value can swing 10 percent or more in a single day is useless as a means of payment.
2. Crypto keeps its value.
Extreme price volatility also makes bitcoin undesirable as a store of value. And the storehouses — the cryptocurrency trading exchanges — are far less reliable and trustworthy than ordinary banks and brokers.
3. Crypto itself is valuable.
A bitcoin has no intrinsic value. It only has value if people think other people will buy it for a higher price.
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