Hackers steal $ 300,000 in cryptocurrency from legendary trader

Jordan Belfort, a former stockbroker known as the Wolf of Wall Street, claims that he lost more than $ 300,000 worth of cryptocurrency during a hack last year. The financier, who was convicted of securities manipulation, gave an interview to Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the problems of the cryptocurrency market.

Belfort did not specify how his cryptocurrency wallet was hacked and whether an investigation is underway. The trader compared the current state of the cryptocurrency industry to the chaotic Wild West.

«The industry is in desperate need of regulation, it needs the oversight of the SEC [Комісії з цінних паперів і бірж США — ред.] or some other body that could step in and at least organize the chaos. But even if that happens, fraud will not go away — it happens in the financial market as well,» Belfort said.

When asked what he thinks is needed to restore trust in the industry and how to limit fraud in the market, Belfort suggested that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies should be regulated as securities. However, the former trader believes that this is not the case for flagship digital assets.

«I don’t believe that bitcoin is a security. Bitcoin is really a commodity or property, no matter what you call it. It’s decentralized, so I think it’s a completely different thing, Ethereum is also,» the financial analyst said.

The same opinion is shared by the largest owner of the flagship cryptocurrency, Сейлор" href="https://noworries.media/biography/majkl-dzh-sejlor/" data-bio-id="3672">Michael Saylor, who once said that BTC is much better than any type of private property in principle: «Bitcoin is property that you can buy in small pieces and carry with you anywhere. You can give cryptocurrency to your children or grandchildren. And in 250 years, your family may still own this property.»

It should be added that bitcoin has recently been predicted to grow significantly once again — Jeremy Davinci, a longtime supporter of the first cryptocurrency, predicts that the price of BTC will increase tenfold during the next bull cycle. However, the expert warns that it may fall again afterward.