Crypto plunge is cautionary tale for public pension funds

[dalton99a]

https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-technology-blockchain-government-and-politics-bb0b28c277f078dc34d5bf90e36f91f7

Crypto plunge is cautionary tale for public pension funds
By STEVE KARNOWSKI

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When the Houston Firefighters Relief and Retirement Fund bought $25 million in cryptocurrencies, with the fund’s chief investment officer touting their potential, retired fire Capt. Russell Harris was concerned.

Harris, 62, has attended the funerals of 34 firefighters killed in the line of duty. He was already worried about his pension after an overhaul by state and city officials cut payments as they grappled with the ability to pay out benefits. He didn’t see crypto, unproven in his eyes, as an answer.

“I don’t like it,” Harris said. “There’s too many pyramid schemes that everybody gets wrapped up in. That’s the way I see this cryptocurrency at this time. ... There might be a place for it, but it’s still new and nobody understands it.”

The plunge in prices for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in recent weeks provides a cautionary tale for the handful of public pension funds that have dipped their toes in the crypto pool over the past few years. Most have done it indirectly through stocks or investment funds that serve as proxies for the larger crypto market. A lack of transparency makes it difficult to tell whether they’ve made or lost money, let alone how much, and for the most part fund officials won’t say.

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[onecaliberal]

1. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. About what it is, isn't it? So spotty, so iffy. I wouldn't touch w/ a 10' pole. NT

[onecaliberal]

10. Hell no and definitely not with retirement funds. The stupidity of people never ceases to amaze.

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I've always been nervous about these so-called uncontrolled currencies that basically, we don't

really know how the values are calculated / make up (other than supply and demand like other things), but being so secretive, these crypto currencies are so prone to manipulation (IMHO). Perhaps some like bitcoin aren't so easily manipulated but still...

I'd rather own directly a piece of silver or gold (the coins) in my hands.

[empedocles]

5. Or when a whole crypto player corporation will - dissapear.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Wow. How scary. Can you imagine an investor who just plugged $10K of their money

in such a company and then, BANG, the entire company is defunct, gone, poof!

[empedocles]

3. Perhaps a successful crypto gambit, gives the fund manager some bragging claims.

The losses, get covered up in the big pension fund pile.

[MichMan]

7. Why should they care? Taxpayers will just have to make up for it.

They always do.

[Yonnie3]

8. $15 million in what was then a $5.5 billion portfolio

Around 1/4 of one percent.

If crypto went to zero you would hardly notice it in this portfolio with the S and P 500 down 18% YTD

[Thunderbeast]

9. The crypto-sharks exploited many un-informed minority investors

They pushed a narrative saying that black and brown people have been left out of the economy (true) for generations. Crypto was FINALLY an opportunity to grab the "fatted calf".

Sadly, many did. Bitcoin is the tulip bulb, the beany baby, the Florida swamp land of our day. Maybe the crash will shut down mining operations that are consuming a growing percentage of global electricity production that is fueled by gas and coal.

It is a wildly irresponsible enterprise fueled by greed and a fantasy of "prepper-life" independence from sovereign currencies.

Many, who could least afford it, have lost big bets.

[Midnight Writer]

11. Old timer told me once to never invest in anything you don't understand.

I don't understand crypto, even after researching it and talking to other people who claim they do understand it and have invested in it.

"Crypto" means hidden, secret. I assume the obscure nature of it is part of its design.