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# Covert Contact 87: Beyond Bitcoin: Cryptocurrency Investing
- URL: https://johnwlittle.com/beyond-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-investing/
- Published: 2017-12-04T13:46:41.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-16T23:36:15.000Z
- Description: Andrew Trabulsi joins me for a December 2017 look at cryptocurrency beyond Bitcoin, the business cases behind emerging networks, and the security and research demands facing newcomers.
- Author: John Little
- Tags: Covert Contact, Interviews, Technology, Andrew Trabulsi, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain

Andrew Trabulsi returns for a discussion of cryptocurrency and blockchain during the rapid market expansion of late 2017\. We look beyond Bitcoin to the different problems emerging networks were trying to solve, from moving money across borders to supporting small payments and programmable agreements. The conversation captures both the excitement surrounding that technology and the risks confronting people entering the market.

We begin by disclosing that we both held cryptocurrencies at the time of recording. From there, we examine the difference between enthusiasm for an underlying technology and confidence that any particular project will survive. A growing market can attract serious developers, ambitious businesses, speculators, and outright scams at the same time. Price movements alone offer a poor guide to what a project actually does or whether people have a reason to use it.

A substantial part of the discussion concerns security and the responsibilities that come with holding digital assets. We talk about private keys, wallets, exchanges, and the consequences of losing access or making a transfer incorrectly. We also consider phishing, malicious applications, and attempts to take over accounts through weaknesses surrounding phone-based authentication. Learning how a system works matters before putting significant money at risk.

The conversation then turns to evaluating projects: the problem a team claims to solve, its technical explanation, development activity, evidence of adoption, and business relationships. We discuss the usefulness and limitations of community forums, where informed analysis can sit beside promotion and pressure to buy.

This is a December 2017 conversation, with the platforms, market conditions, and expectations of that period. Its central concern is how to investigate an unfamiliar and fast-moving technology without allowing excitement to displace basic questions about security, incentives, and the possibility of losing everything committed to it.