TL;DR: Crypto haters are legendary for taking credit when things go wrong. Tribalism and coin maximalists believe all other projects are scams, and so they can easily claim they were right all along as projects like IOTA appear to flounder. However, Shitcoin.com CEO Andreas Brekken, famous for his agnosticism and fairness, nearly two years to the day, examined IOTA in-depth, eerily warning how “loss of funds may occur.”

Shitcoin.com Founder Warned About IOTA

Andreas Brekken does not care about your bags and emotions. He’s the purest of hackers, keen to get at the go of things, to find out what’s really happening with your favorite cryptocurrency. It’s at least part of what makes Shitcoin.com so much fun to read. He’s winking at you while giving whatever project a serious hearing and evaluation. Seriously. Brekken has even praised Dash, and no one does that.

“Today,” Brekken began back in early February of 2018, “I’m reviewing IOTA, a token that uses a tangle instead of a blockchain. IOTA is supposed to be used on small devices in the Internet of Things. I’ll show you how to buy, store, send, and sell. TL;DR: IOTA cannot be used for Internet-of-Things devices. Or anything.”

Again, this isn’t some partisan’s take: how do we know IOTA is bad? IOTA is bad because it’s not my coin, coin X!, which is the true coin. No. Brekken combines his love of computer science with his finance experience (he worked at Kraken in its early days, and now heads SideShift.ai), and attempts to take readers through just how a cryptocurrency works versus its claims.

Trade on Binance with My Referral Link; At Least Then Your Misery Helps Me

Who cares. That was two years ago. Why bring this up now? IOTA, routinely ranked at or near a top 20 coin by market capitalization, was halted by its team due to a mysterious round of stolen funds — they even recommended not using their wallet just to be safe. As of publication, it’s unclear exactly what happened beyond cryptic phrasing from the team about “multiple root causes” and “attacked seeds.” Some analysts are claiming it to be a classic exit scam to the tune of the $20 million. Again, at this point, no one really knows.

Back in 2018, however, Brekken recalled his orientation to IOTA and took readers through its flowery use of jargon and “math speak,” reminding why the project is worth attention – it was valued at more than $6.6 billion (at present, a mere $800 million). He then sets out to “Compile and run IOTA from source-code on a server; Sync the IOTA blockchain (tangle); Buy IOTA and send it to my wallet; Send the IOTA to a mobile wallet,” all standard functions, basics for any cryptocurrency.

What follows is equal parts hilarious and frustrating as Brekken attempts, over and over again, basic steps at determining IOTA’s viability. He runs into more jargon and “math speak,” and finds ordinarily simple wallet functions lacking (to put it mildly). Some of the funniest exchanges are of Brekken trying to get in contact with IOTA enthusiasts and then struggling to buy and withdraw the token, MIOTA, from exchanges (he settles on Binance).

“IOTA is the worst cryptocurrency I’ve reviewed so far,” Brekken finally insists. “Installing the IOTA wallet was a pain. Receiving and sending IOTA tokens is technically challenging and time consuming. Address reuse can lead to loss of funds. There is no functional IOTA mobile wallet. There is no IOTA hardware wallet support.” Beyond loss of funds, he also cuts at the heart of its value proposition, noting it cannot even be used for the “internet of things.” In classic Brekkenian philosophy, he cheers, “IOTA is a shitcoin. I don’t recommend buying or holding it. I’m even going to short it. However, if you choose to go against my recommendation, trade on Binance with my referral link. At least then your misery helps me.”

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DYOR: CoinSpice is your home for just spicy crypto things. We’re not affiliated with any cryptocurrency project or token. Each published piece is intended for information purposes only, not investment advice and not in the hope of impacting speculative markets. There are plenty of trading sites and coin-specific advocacy journals out there, we’re neither. CoinSpice strives for rigorous accuracy in our reporting. Information presented here is contingent usually on a host of factors, and the ecosystem moves fast — prices change, projects change, and at warp speed. Do your own research.

DISCLOSURE: The author holds cryptocurrency as part of his financial portfolio, including BCH.