The United States has two market regulators closely involved with cryptocurrency: the SEC and the CFTC, but there is ongoing confusion over jurisdiction. While the CFTC claims that most altcoins are commodities, the SEC asserts the opposite. However, today’s topic is the latest warning issued by the CFTC. What are the details of these important warnings for crypto investors?
CFTC’s Statement on Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency investors have seen a rise in the popularity of AI trade bots, especially after the November 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Although AI has areas where it outperforms humans, it can yield worse outcomes in trading. More importantly, these algorithms are often presented to investors as the invention of the century.
The CFTC has also warned investors about AI trade bots. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) reiterates that artificial intelligence cannot predict the future, just as humans cannot.
In a new advisory titled “Customer Advisory: Public Cautioned Against Artificial Intelligence Fraud,” the agency warns that AI crypto trade products expected to increase this year could lead investors to significant losses.
“The prevalence of social media platforms and ‘influencers’ makes it even easier for scammers to spread misinformation.”
Artificial Intelligence Crypto Trade Bot
Melanie Devoe, the director of the CFTC’s customer education and outreach office, emphasized the need for investors to be “cautious of deception,” discussing the existence of malicious actors. Scammers can deceive people with non-existent trading structures, and by blending AI with crypto, they can present much more convincing stories.
Especially during this period of rising markets, new investors to crypto, who are not yet well-informed, can be lured into their “traps.” In April 2023, several US state observers filed a lawsuit against an AI trade bot that claimed to be able to generate returns of up to 2.2% per day by leveraging artificial intelligence.
Frankly, if a bot could consistently achieve daily returns of 2% or even 1%, there would be no need to market it to people if you could develop such an algorithm. In a few months, you could achieve unimaginable amounts of money starting with just $10. So why would the developers of these bots, which could potentially make them billionaires in a few months through compound interest, spend time selling bot subscriptions monthly?
Moreover, we also know that crypto does not always exhibit logical, data-driven price performance. Even if there were bots that could accurately analyze data, it would not be possible for them to predict speculative sales or develop strategies based on news flow.
