The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reissued its warning against the “Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)” behavior for cryptocurrency and other trending investments days ahead of the regulator’s decision on the fate of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In a tweet on Friday, the regulator highlighted “NO GO to FOMO,” adding that “just because others might buy a particular investment, doesn’t mean it’s the right opportunity for you.”
#SECInvestingResolution 5: Say “NO GO to FOMO” (fear of missing out). Just because others might buy a particular investment, doesn’t mean it’s the right opportunity for you. Learn more about finding out what’s right for you and your investing goals: https://t.co/fixDWoNFrF pic.twitter.com/SGf1z6xmhL
— SEC Investor Ed (@SEC_Investor_Ed) January 6, 2024
The US regulator first issued a warning against FOMO on 23 January 2021 in a blog post when the cryptocurrency and the stock markets were rallying upwards. Despite the warning, Bitcoin and several other altcoins touched their peak value by November 2021. The regulator reissued its warning in March 2022.
Although the recent warning did not mention any specific asset class, the original blog post named cryptocurrencies and meme stocks. Further, the timing of the warning points out the SEC’s concerns, as Bitcoin value is going up in anticipation of the Bitcoin ETF approval.