Poor DMac has had a tough year . . .

[WizardofhOgZ]

First those Cowboys string him along, and then waive him . . . and now this (was first reported last year, but not the bitcoin part of it).

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/12/darren-mcfadden-bitcoin-investment

[jchill]

First those Cowboys string him along, and then waive him . . . and now this (was first reported last year, but not the bitcoin part of it).

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/12/darren-mcfadden-bitcoin-investment

It's a shame. Players are trying to do the right thing by using a financial advisor and get taken to the cleaners. I watch American Greed and it's amazing the lengths people will go to take someone's money. Hopefully, Darren will get some of his money back.

[sickboy]

Yeah, sadly, this happens all the time.

[3kgthog]

This is why you go with reputable advisors at established investment firms. I hear there's a pretty good one in Little Rock.

Never go with the family friend for all kinds of obvious reasons.

[Billy Bats]

Well, I guaran-damn-tee he's not paying for a meal in any restaurant he's at that I'm at.

[masbas3]

I got in on bitcoin early and I actually never thought it would reach what it's going for now.  When I read this story when  first written it really aggravated me because in the past we used a FA and he ended up going to prison because he got caught imbezzling.  I hope that DMAC is able to get at least what he's suing for, however, that's a far cry from what he would have made.

[Flrazrback]

Sad when you trust a friend like D-Mac did and the friend does you dirty. I feel pretty confident that Darren made more than one investment with his NFL earnings. I would love to see him on ESPN as an announcer. Classy guy and a heck of a ball player.

[SooieGeneris]

Giving total control of finances to one person is financial suicide. There need to be several unrelated people overseeing each other.

You read in the paper all the time about little podunk towns getting ripped off for large amounts by book keepers over years. Thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in towns where you'd think everyone combined didn't make that much or have it in assets.

An old team mate of mine is in the Federal Pen for running a Ponzi scheme out of his FA firm. Had his own business, owned a popular Mexican restaurant etc.

He had been taking ritzy vacations all over the world, ski trips, home additions, paying off debt, all on his clients' dime..

He lost everything and is behind bars, or at least in a minimum security facility. I never would have thought he would do anything like that, but as the Bible says, "the love of money is the root of all evil."

Bernie Madoff's mini-me I guess he was. Money and the things it can buy can blind anyone who allows it to.

[RideTillIDieHawg]

It's sad how these players get taken advantage of. With the millions they make, just put it in Vanguard common stock / bond mix and they'd never have to work again.

[Inhogswetrust]

This is why you go with reputable advisors at established investment firms. I hear there's a pretty good one in Little Rock.

Never go with the family friend for all kinds of obvious reasons.

And NEVER use the same investment firm/advisor for all your investments.

[Inhogswetrust]

Sad when you trust a friend like D-Mac did and the friend does you dirty. I feel pretty confident that Darren made more than one investment with his NFL earnings. I would love to see him on ESPN as an announcer. Classy guy and a heck of a ball player.

I have a friend or two in the financial industry. I'd never use them as an investment advisor. They do fairly well. Not because they are crooked. I wouldn't use them simply because they are a friend. When it comes to my money I really don't know how "friendly" they truly are. Same for family.

[DeltaBoy]

Sad DMAC needs to bring the Wood on the guy who shafted him.

[HognotinMemphis]

First those Cowboys string him along, and then waive him . . . and now this (was first reported last year, but not the bitcoin part of it).

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/12/darren-mcfadden-bitcoin-investment

Dumbassery can do this to a person. Using your old high school buddy from the 'hood as your financial advisor is usually not a wise decision and by "usually", I mean 100% of the time. Get what you get when you do this. Merry Christmas!

[hogsanity]

I have a friend or two in the financial industry. I'd never use them as an investment advisor. They do fairly well. Not because they are crooked. I wouldn't use them simply because they are a friend. When it comes to my money I really don't know how "friendly" they truly are. Same for family.

I have a good friend that is an FA. I have sent several clients to him, but I would not use him myself because of the friendship. IF something goes bad, he puts my money in something that for some reason loses me money, I do not want that to come between us.

What I have never understood with people with a lot of money is hwy they feel the need to "grow it" anyway. Just stick it in banks, cd's, stuff you are not likely to get hurt on, and spread it around different banks as well. I could live quite well on 10mil if it never earned a penny.

[RazrRila99]

For clarity, for those who dont read the article - the FA spoke of in this article cost D-Mac the OPPORTUNITY of $237M.  It actually cost D-Mac $3M (thats what he lost) in the deal.  That said, I dont think there is grounds to come after the guy more than the $3M.  That's still "brought that wood" worthy of a smackdown for sure. 

[Vantage 8 dude]

First those Cowboys string him along, and then waive him . . . and now this (was first reported last year, but not the bitcoin part of it).

http://www.complex.com/sports/2017/12/darren-mcfadden-bitcoin-investment

Acquainted with the accused financial advisor. My personal/professional feelings and observations of said individual would NOT make for very charitable reading, especially at this time of the year. I just hope Darren can recover some of the alleged losses. However, in most cases the monies are gone, gone, gone...........

[Vantage 8 dude]

For clarity, for those who dont read the article - the FA spoke of in this article cost D-Mac the OPPORTUNITY of $237M.  It actually cost D-Mac $3M (thats what he lost) in the deal.  That said, I dont think there is grounds to come after the guy more than the $3M.  That's still "brought that wood" worthy of a smackdown for sure.

Sorry, but IF the financial advisor involved is found guilty of some form of impropriety then not only should any lost monies be recovered, but the advisor involved be fined, disbarred and possibly jailed if appropriate. There is NO excuse for stealing or somehow misappropriating monies for personal uses. Not much different in that respect then going into a bank, pulling a gun and robbing the place. Stealing is stealing.

[RazrRila99]

Sorry, but IF the financial advisor involved is found guilty of some form of impropriety then not only should any lost monies be recovered, but the advisor involved be fined, disbarred and possibly jailed if appropriate. There is NO excuse for stealing or somehow misappropriating monies for personal uses. Not much different in that respect then going into a bank, pulling a gun and robbing the place. Stealing is stealing.

Read my post a LITTLE slower.  I said there ARE grounds for the $3M, but not to get into the $237M that this article suggests.  Everything you said, I agree.  Moral of the story - separate three things:  Friends, Family, and Finances!!!  Once you start intermingling, you open up major problems.

[1highhog]

For clarity, for those who dont read the article - the FA spoke of in this article cost D-Mac the OPPORTUNITY of $237M.  It actually cost D-Mac $3M (thats what he lost) in the deal.  That said, I dont think there is grounds to come after the guy more than the $3M.  That's still "brought that wood" worthy of a smackdown for sure. 

IF indeed this friend, and I use friend loosely, indeed misappropriated funds that were entrusted to him to invest, then he is a thief and should be treated as such. 

[k.c.hawg]

For clarity, for those who dont read the article - the FA spoke of in this article cost D-Mac the OPPORTUNITY of $237M.  It actually cost D-Mac $3M (thats what he lost) in the deal.  That said, I dont think there is grounds to come after the guy more than the $3M.  That's still "brought that wood" worthy of a smackdown for sure. 

It not only cost him the $3m, it robbed him of years of earnings on the $3m. He could have easily doubled the money in a simple index like the Dow.

[Vantage 8 dude]

It not only cost him the $3m, it robbed him of years of earnings on the $3m. He could have easily doubled the money in a simple index like the Dow.

One would have to make some assumptions as to the POTENTIAL returns that could have been invested in a certain manner. Obviously this is very much a subjective number and based on calculated POSSIBLE returns over a set period of time. No doubt the long term OPPORTUNITY cost has been potentially significant, however, the key is the return assumed over a set period of time. To determine that an investor could have doubled their monies in a set index is also ASSUMING that the historical returns of a particular investment(s) would be duplicated and/or exceeded. Obvious this gets tricky when you begin making calculations based on a set of unknown factors going forward. BTW there are rarely any "EASY" assumptions when it comes to the market(s).

[Vantage 8 dude]

Read my post a LITTLE slower.  I said there ARE grounds for the $3M, but not to get into the $237M that this article suggests.  Everything you said, I agree.  Moral of the story - separate three things:  Friends, Family, and Finances!!!  Once you start intermingling, you open up major problems.

And read MY post a little slower because I never said or assumed that the $237 million was a sure thing either. Nope, one can never say anything with the markets is a "shame dunk". Trying to calculate the OPPORTUNITY costs that was lost can always be tricky because one is always making certain assumptions as to when the monies were placed in the investment(s), how much was risked, and whether or not the funds were still being held in a particular investment vehicle.

One thing I always tried to avoid is assisting family with actual investments. While I might try to educate them on certain opportunities, pitfalls, etc., I always shied away from making the actual investments for them. I just found family get togethers and communication was always more comfortable for everyone involved if I followed that one simple rule.

And one last thing: while I avoided helping PRE EXISTING friends with investments, I found myself developing friendships with many of my clients. I think we found those relationships mutually beneficial.

[k.c.hawg]

Very happy to see that his suit is against Ameriprise Financial......much more likely to get paid. The suit alleges that Ameriprise did an investigation into the adviser's handling of DMacs account, dismissed the advisor 10 months later and never informed DMac of the investigation/dismissal. DMac continued in the relationship with the advisor and upon putting up his Bay Area home for sale he instructed the advisor to transfer cash to pay for a new home in the Dallas area and found out there were not enough funds to purchase the house. Hope he gets his $15 million back. I could see Ameriprise settling this with as much publicity as there is about athletes getting bilked. It the claims are true they should not want them to be proven true.

[alohawg]

For any financial experts: Your thoughts on investing in cyber currency being in essence money laundering?

[WizardofhOgZ]

For clarity, for those who dont read the article - the FA spoke of in this article cost D-Mac the OPPORTUNITY of $237M.  It actually cost D-Mac $3M (thats what he lost) in the deal.  That said, I dont think there is grounds to come after the guy more than the $3M.  That's still "brought that wood" worthy of a smackdown for sure.

Actually, a careful reading of the link in the OP would show that McFadden is suing the guy for misappropriating $15 million . . . $3 million of which where supposed to have been used to invest in bitcoin.  So, I'd think he is entitled to at least the $15 million the guy took from him.

[Dionysos25]

Bitcoin is a terrible investment. It's the MySpace of cryptocurrency. Monero/Zcash and Ethereum have higher upside. They actually attempt to solve problems that we arguably have. (Source: I'm a software developer, these are my opinions)

[alohawg]

Bitcoin is a terrible investment. It's the MySpace of cryptocurrency. Monero/Zcash and Ethereum have higher upside. They actually attempt to solve problems that we arguably have. (Source: I'm a software developer, these are my opinions)

What's your opinion on the money laundering question?

[hogwxld]

My uneducated opinion is that alot of peoples money is going to get lost in the wash...bubble trouble. Particularly with Bitcoin.

As far as the laundering? Some really cheap stuff right now that is being pushed with legitimate backing and supported by various guberments. they have also been doubling up from cents to dimes..

Ask the software guy:) Of course, bitcoin mining has driven a shortage on AMD cpu and gpus, at a time when AMD is not only competetive with intel, they surpass them...i.e., better than intel/nvida for mining.

Funny little world we live in.


Edit: Investing in AMD woulda been a good call too if you had been following the source of the hash flippers. Little guys down in the mines needed some serious gear to crunch those numbers for just a tiny little part of the chain..

[Vantage 8 dude]

For any financial experts: Your thoughts on investing in cyber currency being in essence money laundering?

Not sure I would necessarily say "money laundering". I think that would depend on the origin of monies used to purchase the coins. If the monies came from legitimate means I think THAT aspect would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove. However, as with any other investment understand ALL aspects of the investment before investing a dime. A prime example, and one that COULD come back to bite some folks in a MAJOR way, is how any gains (or losses) are supposed to be treated on the cryptocurrencies. Many folks may not realize that the IRS considers this venture the same as any other INVESTMENT (i.e. stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF, etc.) in that IF a currency is sold in a taxable (non retirement) account the gain or loss is a TAXABLE event. Matters not whether the "coin" is actually ever used for any other type purchase.

While I realize folks might be tempted to just "look the other way" when it comes to any such tax reporting, be very careful. Even though there are safeguards within these investments designed primarily to prevent someone from stealing or "hacking" such cryptocurrencies, this does NOT mean the authorities can't trace such transactions, including ALL purchases and sales. They do so through the "block chain" which traces the history of each coin from inception through any/all subsequent change of ownership. Therefore this system, originally designed to help prevent the theft or counterfeiting of cryptocurrency, can be a "double edged" sword when tracking whether or not holders of such have reported any appropriate taxable events.   

[McKdaddy]

Acquainted with the accused financial advisor. My personal/professional feelings and observations of said individual would NOT make for very charitable reading, especially at this time of the year. I just hope Darren can recover some of the alleged losses. However, in most cases the monies are gone, gone, gone...........

He and I worked in the same branch office for the same firm for about 2 years (he was a firm employee and I on the independent/franchise side).

[little pigee]

I run a Capital Gains Hedge Fund.  Invest with me and I guarantee NO capital gains.

[Vantage 8 dude]

I run a Capital Gains Hedge Fund.  Invest with me and I guarantee NO capital gains.

Ahh.....except in YOUR pocket....nice (for you)

[99toLife]

I run a Capital Gains Hedge Fund.  Invest with me and I guarantee NO capital gains.

HA!  That's awesome!  Honesty is always the best policy! 

[Pig in the Pokey]

Yeah, sadly, this happens all the time.

the theft does, but THIS is very different and ive never seen anything like it. DMAC was going to be a multi-millionaire if dude had actually invested that money when he received it. Bitcoin has gone up like 100000%

[jry04]

Bitcoin is a terrible investment. It's the MySpace of cryptocurrency. Monero/Zcash and Ethereum have higher upside. They actually attempt to solve problems that we arguably have. (Source: I'm a software developer, these are my opinions)

Ripple

[alohawg]

Not sure I would necessarily say "money laundering". I think that would depend on the origin of monies used to purchase the coins. If the monies came from legitimate means I think THAT aspect would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove. However, as with any other investment understand ALL aspects of the investment before investing a dime. A prime example, and one that COULD come back to bite some folks in a MAJOR way, is how any gains (or losses) are supposed to be treated on the cryptocurrencies. Many folks may not realize that the IRS considers this venture the same as any other INVESTMENT (i.e. stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF, etc.) in that IF a currency is sold in a taxable (non retirement) account the gain or loss is a TAXABLE event. Matters not whether the "coin" is actually ever used for any other type purchase.

While I realize folks might be tempted to just "look the other way" when it comes to any such tax reporting, be very careful. Even though there are safeguards within these investments designed primarily to prevent someone from stealing or "hacking" such cryptocurrencies, this does NOT mean the authorities can't trace such transactions, including ALL purchases and sales. They do so through the "block chain" which traces the history of each coin from inception through any/all subsequent change of ownership. Therefore this system, originally designed to help prevent the theft or counterfeiting of cryptocurrency, can be a "double edged" sword when tracking whether or not holders of such have reported any appropriate taxable events.   

Somehow missed your response, nonetheless thank you, think I'll continue to steer well clear.
My concern would be the feds somehow tying all assets to a money laundering charge, and seizing everything making the person go broke proving otherwise.

[Vantage 8 dude]

Somehow missed your response, nonetheless thank you, think I'll continue to steer well clear.
My concern would be the feds somehow tying all assets to a money laundering charge, and seizing everything making the person go broke proving otherwise.

Again, while I'm by no means an expert, I have had extensive training in what comprises "money laundering" and how to detect it. Unless the laws have changed over the past several years it's primarily the "source" of funds the feds have  been concerned about. Drug money, illegal weapons dealings and other illicit sources are what they're trying to stop from being "cleansed" throughout the banking and financial system(s). Unless the source of the cryptocurrency investment(s) falls into such a category I would therefore think it would more than likely be fine.

As I mentioned earlier, however, what I think a lot of folks might find out the hard way is that IF they should invest in one or more of the currencies and then sell for a gain, it is classified as a taxable event. That's because the government considers all such as a form of investment product just like a stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF and other such. Try to hide such gains from tax reporting and you run the risk of possibly spending some major time as a guest in a federal lockup for tax evasion.  And even if one avoids "pokey time", I would imagine the monetary fine could cause a MAJOR dent in one's wallet.

[alohawg]

Again, while I'm by no means an expert, I have had extensive training in what comprises "money laundering" and how to detect it. Unless the laws have changed over the past several years it's primarily the "source" of funds the feds have  been concerned about. Drug money, illegal weapons dealings and other illicit sources are what they're trying to stop from being "cleansed" throughout the banking and financial system(s). Unless the source of the cryptocurrency investment(s) falls into such a category I would therefore think it would more than likely be fine.

As I mentioned earlier, however, what I think a lot of folks might find out the hard way is that IF they should invest in one or more of the currencies and then sell for a gain, it is classified as a taxable event. That's because the government considers all such as a form of investment product just like a stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF and other such. Try to hide such gains from tax reporting and you run the risk of possibly spending some major time as a guest in a federal lockup for tax evasion.  And even if one avoids "pokey time", I would imagine the monetary fine could cause a MAJOR dent in one's wallet.

Roger that. I'm guessing a very small percentage of those invested in cryptos are keeping accurate records, especially those drawing from special atm transactions.

[jry04]

Roger that. I'm guessing a very small percentage of those invested in cryptos are keeping accurate records, especially those drawing from special atm transactions.

Again, while I'm by no means an expert, I have had extensive training in what comprises "money laundering" and how to detect it. Unless the laws have changed over the past several years it's primarily the "source" of funds the feds have  been concerned about. Drug money, illegal weapons dealings and other illicit sources are what they're trying to stop from being "cleansed" throughout the banking and financial system(s). Unless the source of the cryptocurrency investment(s) falls into such a category I would therefore think it would more than likely be fine.

As I mentioned earlier, however, what I think a lot of folks might find out the hard way is that IF they should invest in one or more of the currencies and then sell for a gain, it is classified as a taxable event. That's because the government considers all such as a form of investment product just like a stock, bond, mutual fund, ETF and other such. Try to hide such gains from tax reporting and you run the risk of possibly spending some major time as a guest in a federal lockup for tax evasion.  And even if one avoids "pokey time", I would imagine the monetary fine could cause a MAJOR dent in one's wallet.

You have to provide documentation in order to be verified to buy/exchange cryptocurrencies. It is somewhat extensive, so there isn't really any hiding your purchases or sells of the cryptocurrencies themselves.  While the transactions with cryptocurrencies are suppose to be more discrete than using USD, the process of purchasing, selling, withdrawing on cryptocurrency exchange sites isn't. Like you said, it is no different than using a site like TD Ameritrade for stocks. It is all documented and reported. However, going on the "dark web" and buying drugs or firearms is much more difficult to trace using cryptocurrencies.

[Iwastherein1969]

Well, I guaran-damn-tee he's not paying for a meal in any restaurant he's at that I'm at.

Hear, hear.