I've been around the block enough times now to know when something is too good to be true. That was the case with many Defi and other platforms offer up enormous APRs what made no senses. In the case of Celsius offering massive 17% APRs for loading out their crypto and other assets, LUNA offering up huge APRs on it's stable coin (which makes me worry about HBD still no matter how much people post about it being ok) and countless other platforms that are now shutting down.
It's a big mess but it's a mess that continues to repeat itself time and time again.
Just recently I watched the netflix mini series about bernie madoff and yet again it's the classic high APR that people love and flock to while in reality it just doesn't make sense at all and eventually catches up to everyone and blows up.
If you didn't know I'm primarily a marketer by nature but I've held many jobs over my years in various areas. QA for a SaaS company, working support, retail, running my own marketing business, digital marketing, physical marketing, crypto, content creator, consultant on many aspects, social media manager and much more. It's actully pretty crazy to think of everything I've accomplished and how many hats I've worn over the last 20 years of my life.
There was one thing I realized 8 years into that 20 year work journey. There is no fast track to success it takes work but it also takes the understanding that you need to pile cash away and reduce risk as much as possible while holding on to a decent apr of around 6% Anything higher is high risk and anything lower is more of a cushion that fades slowly with time. It's a though to swallow that realization and many including myself jumped at 12% APRs it's human nature we are greedy lol but we also don't work to work all of our lives we want to live our lives, do something with them etc and I think that's a big driving factor. I don't mind working I love it, I love what I do but soon I want to do something else and that's build from a plot of land that's nothing into a home and a home that is self sufficient. I don't want to rely on government and all that BS which has increasingly gotten messy.
So while that 17% APR sounds tasty the reality is it's only going to last for a short time before it implodes. It's during those first few months or maybe a few years where people will poor into the program and parse it calling you a weirdo for not joining and pretty much pressure you constantly about wow you're dumb you're not investing in this. But when you run the numbers it just doesn't make sense. Then a day finally comes and the SEC, FBI or the company itself run with all of your investment never to be seen again. This is classic and happens all the time in the stock market which has become so rigged anymore it's nearly worthless to invest in it. It's loaded with shady deals and people just hording droves of money giving others the elusion they will some day make it. It's why 401ks don't work anymore and most companies have stopped matching or even offering 401ks to people anymore. If you want to talk ponzi the stock market has become a huge one with many players. The SEC you could easily add to that list as they know these companies make no sense but continue to let them operate like FTX. Only to later shut it down when it blows up on it's own and then reap the benefits of it by collecting billions.
If there's one thing to take away from this article it's a lesson. If someone is promising you crazy high APRs and it doesn't add up get the F out of there. I'd much rather have a stable DeFi platform offering me 6%- 10% APR then one offering me 20%+
