Wash trading aside, you're right that scams like this need new money. But consider who the target is here: would-be smart guys who are also would-be rich guys. In this new gilded age, we all know there are plenty of people getting wildly rich. Looking at who gets rich, and how quickly it can happen, it's easy to think, "What do they have that I don't have?" (There are answers to that question, of course, but not ones these people are eager to hear.)
That's a view very much encouraged in the cryptocurrency culture, and in the day-trader culture that preceded it. That with smarts and a little luck, a guy can get the riches he was destined for. The people who fall for it of course never ask where the money is coming from, because if they did they'd figure out it was suckers like them.
So when they see an ad that says, "ITS YOUR CHANCE TO BUY THE MOST POWERFUL CRYPTO COIN" they don't ask why the chance is specifically theirs. They don't ask what "powerful" could mean for a currency. They don't ask who's trying to convince them, or why the convincer can't even punctuate a sentence. They say, "Yes! It's my chance, just like I know I deserve!" And then they put in their engagement ring fund or the house downpayment fund or the money they borrow from family.
And very shortly that money ends up in the pockets of assorted assholes, who are now better funded for their next scam.
That's a view very much encouraged in the cryptocurrency culture, and in the day-trader culture that preceded it. That with smarts and a little luck, a guy can get the riches he was destined for. The people who fall for it of course never ask where the money is coming from, because if they did they'd figure out it was suckers like them.
So when they see an ad that says, "ITS YOUR CHANCE TO BUY THE MOST POWERFUL CRYPTO COIN" they don't ask why the chance is specifically theirs. They don't ask what "powerful" could mean for a currency. They don't ask who's trying to convince them, or why the convincer can't even punctuate a sentence. They say, "Yes! It's my chance, just like I know I deserve!" And then they put in their engagement ring fund or the house downpayment fund or the money they borrow from family.
And very shortly that money ends up in the pockets of assorted assholes, who are now better funded for their next scam.