TAKE A CLOSE (EDD) LOOK AT THE BACKGROUND OF THE LEADER OF THAT CRYPTO COMPANY; ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN

                          

In my more than a decade on the wrong side of the law, laundering the proceeds of crime for a number of individuals. I learned a lot of things that they don't teach in law school. Although I encountered people engaged in all varieties of white collar crimes, I also frequently ran into businessmen working legitimate, but also emerging, controversial, or unusual fields, and I often observed that such individuals, though currently engaged in legitimate activities, had beneath the surface, certain prior activities that would case anyone dealing with them to question the wisdom of that decision, and probably break contact forthwith, with good reason.

This little bit of hard-earned wisdom, which I gleaned from my dark experience, is that many who enter edgy, including emerging, fields, often have things in their background that render them either high risk, or even unacceptable, to any prudent person, including white collar criminals, as I was at that time. I found, for example, that such people were attracted to new and marginally legitimate, or grey areas, because they had previous experience in illegal enterprises, which they artfully chose to conceal to the best of their ability. Is your potential customer in a dodgy field a former pornographer under criminal investigation who got out for something cleaner perhaps?

In plain English, if you were wondering why there are so many crypto fraudsters, it is true in part because individuals engaged in other, less lucrative pursuits have moved over to that emerging industry, and their moral compasses are less than adequate to protect all who comes in contact with them. I strongly recommend that compliance officers at financial institutions with cryptocurrency clients not approve such customers, in their capacity as gatekeepers, engage in enhanced due diligence before approving them. You might be surprised at what you learn, and not in a good way. Remember, it's all about a risk-based compliance program, and your job description means that you must literally bar the financial barbarians at the gate; remember that always.