There are significant risks to be aware of when using crypto and over the past two years, many tokens have imploded. As you choose to invest digitally, do your research and understand the commodity that you use. Today's guest is Natalie Burnell. Natalie is the host of the #1 woman-led show in the bitcoin space, Coin Stories. She is a bitcoin educator, a frequent media commentator, and an award-winning journalist.

Show Notes:

• [0:50] - Natalie shares her background and the mission behind the Coin Stories Podcast.

• [2:19] - Learning about bitcoin gave Natalie a little more hope as she came from having no background in financial literacy.

• [3:48] - Anyone can issue a token and it is hard to tell what cryptocurrency is legitimate.

• [6:42] - There are some that are regulated and unregulated. Natalie shares some red flags.

• [8:09] - Choosing to work with companies that are Bitcoin only is one way to stay safe because of regulatory clarity.

• [10:01] - A major red flag is overpromising and guaranteeing unrealistic returns.

• [11:59] - Longevity should stand out.

• [14:08] - Natalie explains how Bitcoin custodians work and how you can take your own custody of Bitcoin.

• [16:29] - Self-custody could be intimidating, but it just takes a few steps to learn.

• [19:15] - Natalie shares a clever analogy to make the concept easier to learn.

• [20:47] - Bitcoin offers more privacy than other monetary technology.

• [22:38] - There are a lot of frictions in banks and the system is ultimately very fragile.

• [26:07] - If exchanges receive Bitcoin and they don't know where it came from, they are contacted by agencies like the IRS.

• [28:56] - The knee-jerk reaction to people wanting privacy is to assume that they want to do something bad.

• [31:17] - Look for verified accounts to interact with. Be careful if someone says they'll send you money.

• [33:39] - Some companies are trying to help people recover their funds. But most of the time, it is impossible.

• [34:50] - If you send your money somewhere, you are likely not getting it back.

• [36:40] - Natalie has several tutorials on her YouTube channel that can help you protect yourself and your money.

• [38:52] - Bitcoin the block chain was built beautifully for security, but that means it can only fit so much. Bitcoin is "slow" for a reason.

• [41:20] - Consider Bitcoin built in layers.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

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