Editor’s note: The article has been amended to remove previously erroneous reporting of a Twitter scammer purporting to be Vitalik Buterin. We sincerely apologize to Mr.Buterin and our readers for the flagrant mistake.

Blockchain veteran Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of the Ethereum network behind No. 2 cryptocurrency by market cap ETH, is a realist.

While last year may have put cryptocurrencies on the map, Buterin brings up the risk/reward profile. He doesn’t want investors to have false illusions about pie-in-the-sky returns without identifying any of the risks. Meanwhile, the ETH price has advanced nearly 40% since Feb. 5.

Buterin took to Twitter, which is often his soapbox platform of choice, to seemingly tout the merits of traditional investments at the expense of cryptocurrencies but only in the event when an investor’s life savings are at stake.

Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time. Don't put in more money than you can afford to lose. If you're trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet. — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) February 17, 2018

He doesn’t offer specific investment advice though stocks and bonds are about as traditional as securities get. His comments echo the sentiment of regulators around the world that don’t want to see investors risk it all on an emerging asset class. Meanwhile, even traditional asset managers tout the merits of diversification.

Buterin’s advice to not invest “more money than you can afford to lose” isn’t the first time he’s addressed cryptocurrency prices. Previously he expressed some frustration with the focus on price. Back in December he tweeted –

*All* crypto communities, ethereum included, should heed these words of warning. Need to differentiate between getting hundreds of billions of dollars of digital paper wealth sloshing around and actually achieving something meaningful for society. https://t.co/aNpEnBNGsA — vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) December 27, 2017

Featured image from Flickr/Duncan Rawlinson.