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FTX was hacked, resulting in the theft of 45.000 Bitcoins by the Russian blackmarket mafia. Or at least, supposedly according to rumors.
Rumors can be dangerous
They can hurt friendships, relationships and worst of all, crypto prices. Being able to detect both bullshit & false information is important. In this age we are constantly being fed information and we generally stop to verify if any of them are true.
An example of this was a post made by Litecoin on twitter (supposedly) stating that Walmart will add LTC payment support. Both parties later denied this, but that wasn't until the price for Litecoin had spiked, later followed by a dip. This type of trend can easily be abused if you are aware of how it works, jump in while the fake information is spreading and be ready to get out before or just when it gets verified.
How can I spot false information?
You generally can't, at least very easily it is kind of hard. It is similar to be able to tell if your groceries are going bad, enough bad experience or general common sense will help you here. Whenever you see information or news, ask yourself who is to gain from this? The FUD surrounding the supposed FTX hack would be a perfect opportunity for the price to drop so large bag holders & whales can get back in. So if the information could benefit form being false, take it with a grain of salt or preferably verify it. Especially be careful when you are being fed news/info on social medias and public platforms, that's where Karens grow.
Another harmful post with false information (or the post not fact checking a language they probably didn't understand), was spread around Reddit. The post stated now that Bitcoin is a legal tender, Sweden will drop taxes on crypto/Bitcoin. This was false. They had linked a ruling where a person sold Bitcoin and the court ruled it as an asset. With Bitcoin now technically being considered a fiat/currency this rule won't be valid anymore, so no taxes, right? Fiat/currency exchange tax rate is exactly the same as selling assets, profits are taxed at 30%, so no dice.
How can I fact check?
Easiest way is to go to different news sources or check deeper than the initial tweet. Check to see if the tweet/post was made by a verified account. Look at different news sources that support different narratives or lean the other way politically. What I do if I see an odd looking article from FOX news, I head on over and check CNN to see if they are reporting similar facts. A fun example was when the Nobel Prize winners were announced, I double checked to be sure. One winner was a study that found orgasms just as effective as nose sprays, when it comes to removing clogged noses.
If you learned anything I hope you did fact check that last statement. They don't announce winners until November. The study does exist, however, it was for an alternative comedy Nobel prize where fun studies are given awards. And regarding the FTX hack, it may very well be true. The company isn't saying much so only time will tell.
Never fully trust anything or anyone on the internet. If everyone did that, you could possibly make up your losses in crypto (or increase your gains, I am no expert).
