Thread by @theBuoyantMan

For those who are scamming retail investors, this should be a proper warning sign. There was one Rahul Arora on Quora who was doing something similar, and now we all know how unregulated one of the popular "algo trading platforms" is and how many people are complaining.

https://twitter.com/artijourno/status/1318945319967621120

Before you associate with someone who promises high returns, or ease of making money - understand that there's no easy money. Easy money comes easy and goes easy. It won't stay. Don't associate with someone who promises such a thing.

Unregulated algo trading platforms are cropping up like mushrooms, and one such platform has a lot of user complaints on their comments section itself. Those running strategies there aren't registered with SEBI, let alone have at least 5 years of market experience.

Be careful of anyone and everyone using jargon to get your money. I have heard of horror stories of people's money being blown up and going to 70-80% drawdowns by one such competitor of Minance back in 2017 itself, with the name containing a geometrical shape.

And the founder of that firm is thriving and has somehow successfully established himself as an authority in algo-trading.

Let me tell you that none of those who claim that they are democratizing algo-trading and giving power to retail investors are doing it coz they care.

All they want is your money. They will take it somehow. It all starts probably with good intentions. Look at @AnuragMinance's bio. "I'm going to put a hedge fund in your iPhone".

Even Citadel, Two Sigma, Rentech can't do that. Why would he be able to do that?

But naive, middle-class people believe any twinkly, sparkly story that sets off the hope in them, to become rich and wealthy. Their greed sets off, they entrust their money to people like this, and lose even what they have in the process.

I personally knew one 55 year old man who gave VRS, and had almost all his life savings + the money he had saved for his daughter's marriage, almost close to 60L with Minance, entrusting it in the hands of Anurag. His money is probably still stuck with Minance.

There was another guy who sent 30 lakhs to Anurag for his scammy non-existent "HFT" operation (that never existed) and is still waiting to get that money back.

I have heard from so many (in an unofficial slack group) who lost money that they put into that geometrical shape co.

These are all cases of people exploiting naive stupid (and usually young) middle class people aspiring for riches. We all know how hard it is to earn even one rupee, especially those busting their ass at an office, having to kiss ass and earn their keep.

We bust ass all day to maybe earn 1-2k per day of work, and get twinkly-eyed when someone says you can multiply money at 30-40% per annum without working at. Some even say 100-200% (on twitter at least).

We dream of retiring early and showing middle finger to our manager/boss.

Sadly, that's not how the world works. Making money is not easy. We have all been brought up without basic financial intelligence, nothing taught in schools and colleges. And mind you, some of Minance's partners were people with a CA, CS degrees and some were Statistics majors.

So, at least in the financial markets, if something sounds too good to be true, it surely is.

- Don't entrust your money based on emotions of hope, greed.
- Definitely don't trust a kid who's all of 23-24, saying he is an experienced quant/analyst/programmer whatever.

Anurag was 24 who proclaimed (most probably lied) that he worked for Motilal Oswal as derivatives trader when he was 18, and that he was trading since the age of 14, etc. He also lied about having a masters certificate from London School of Economics.

There are few like that on Twitter right now too, that people are thinking highly of, proclaiming to be expert data scientists, expert quants, speaking on forums, conventions, running people's money directly or indirectly.

If I were you, I'd stay cautious about everyone claiming to be experts at anything, when they don't even have 10+ years of experience in it. In trading/investing, that's one full market cycle, in quantitative math/data science - that's at least 10-12 years of experience.

I am not an expert at anything and I am only 28. I am a beginner in the markets and despite being in touch with programming for the last 5 years, I am not a PRO or a GENIUS coder. I can hack things together with stackoverflow and language docs. That's what I can do.

So, it's upto you to do your own research and establish the trustworthiness of people. I warned everyone I knew, about Minance, back in 2018 march and wrote an anonymous expose on Quora (that was squarely collapsed by Minance guys reporting it).

Likewise, I have my doubts about most of Indian Fintwit. Stay clear of this guy named "Rahul Arora" too. He's a scammer proclaiming to be a pro trader, hedge fund manager and all. I did an expose on him too on Quora when he got caught posting P&L screenshot with June 31 date.

To conclude, if you have to send money to anyone, don't do it. If you have to trust a company, ask for their full market cycle track record. If they don't have one, don't put your money with them. You're better off digging a pit and putting your cash inside it.