Why We Show Our Sources
Cryptocurrency can involve real money, unfamiliar technology, fast-moving markets, scams, and confusing claims. Beginners deserve to know where important information came from.
A source does not become reliable simply because it appears near the top of a search result, has a professional-looking website, or uses confident language.
Whenever practical, we try to trace important claims back to primary or authoritative information that readers can inspect for themselves.
Consumer Protection and Crypto Scams
For warnings about investment scams, unexpected messages, impersonation, guaranteed returns, payment demands, and cryptocurrency fraud, we look first to official consumer-protection and law-enforcement guidance.
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — U.S. consumer-protection information about scams, fraud, cryptocurrency payments, impersonation, and investment-related deception. Visit FTC Consumer Advice.
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) — Public warnings and information about cryptocurrency investment fraud and other internet-enabled financial crimes. Visit the FBI.
- Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) — The FBI's reporting center for internet crime, including cryptocurrency-related fraud. Visit IC3.
Investor Education and Regulatory Information
When explaining investment-related risks, regulatory warnings, or questions about crypto assets, we may use official investor-education and regulatory resources.
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — Investor.gov — Investor education, fraud warnings, and explanations of investment concepts and risks. Visit Investor.gov.
- Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) — Customer education and fraud advisories concerning digital assets, derivatives, leverage, and related risks. Visit CFTC Learn & Protect.
- Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) — Investor education concerning crypto assets, fraud, investment risk, and financial markets. Visit FINRA Investor Insights.
Taxes and Cryptocurrency
Tax rules can change and individual circumstances differ. We do not provide tax advice. When explaining general U.S. federal tax information involving digital assets, the primary source should be the tax authority itself.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — Official U.S. federal tax information concerning digital assets. Visit IRS Digital Assets.
What Is Bitcoin?
When explaining Bitcoin itself, we distinguish between basic technical facts and opinions about Bitcoin's future value.
Technical documentation can help explain how Bitcoin was designed to work. It cannot tell anyone what Bitcoin will be worth tomorrow.
- Bitcoin.org Developer Documentation — Technical educational material about Bitcoin concepts and operation. Visit Bitcoin Developer Documentation.
- Bitcoin white paper — The original paper describing the proposed peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Read the Bitcoin white paper.
Cybersecurity and Protecting Accounts
Crypto safety is not only about prices. Phishing, stolen passwords, malicious software, impersonation, and account compromise can also cause losses.
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) — U.S. government cybersecurity guidance, including phishing awareness, account security, multifactor authentication, and other protective practices. Visit CISA Secure Our World.
State and Local Consumer Information
Some cryptocurrency rules, consumer protections, licensing requirements, and enforcement actions can depend on where a person lives.
When a page discusses a specific state or local requirement, we should seek the responsible state regulator, attorney general, consumer-protection office, or other official source rather than assuming one rule applies everywhere.
Current Crypto Market Information
Current prices and market conditions change continuously. A source that was accurate when a page was published may no longer describe the market later.
Pages discussing current market conditions should identify the information as current or time-sensitive and, when practical, show when it was published or updated.
This website may direct readers to independent market-information experiences such as MyCoinEdge. A link to another website does not mean that every statement or service on that website becomes a source for every claim made here.
Market Data Is Different From Market Interpretation
A cryptocurrency price is data. An explanation of what several pieces of market information may mean together is interpretation. A statement about what the price will do next is a prediction.
We try not to blur those three things together.
Sources We Treat With Caution
Some information can be useful for discovering a topic without being strong enough to support an important claim by itself.
We use extra caution with:
- Anonymous social-media posts.
- Forums and message boards.
- Influencer predictions.
- Unverified screenshots.
- Promotional crypto websites.
- Affiliate content whose main purpose is selling a product.
- AI-generated answers that do not identify supporting evidence.
- Articles that repeat another article without linking to the original evidence.
- Claims based only on someone saying that a coin is about to rise.
These sources are not automatically false. They simply should not receive authority they have not earned.
What We Do Not Consider Proof
The following are not proof that a cryptocurrency will rise or that someone should buy it:
- A celebrity or influencer talking about it.
- A stranger sending a message about an opportunity.
- A price rising quickly.
- A price falling quickly.
- A computer program displaying the word “BUY.”
- An AI prediction.
- A large number of social-media posts.
- A promise of guaranteed profit.
- A claim that “everyone is buying.”
How We Choose Between Conflicting Sources
Reliable sources can sometimes describe a complicated subject differently. Rules can change, data can be measured differently, and new information can replace old information.
When sources conflict, we consider:
- Which source is responsible for the underlying information.
- Which source is more current.
- Whether the sources are discussing exactly the same thing.
- Whether the claim is supported by original evidence.
- Whether an important limitation or qualification explains the difference.
If a meaningful disagreement cannot be resolved responsibly, we should explain that uncertainty rather than choose the answer we prefer.
Links Can Change
Government agencies and other organizations occasionally move, rename, or remove pages. A broken link does not necessarily mean the underlying information was false.
We periodically review important source links and may replace an outdated link with the current official location.
How to Check a Claim Yourself
You do not need to become a cryptocurrency expert to ask useful questions about information you see online.
Before trusting an important claim, ask:
- Who is making the claim?
- Where did they get the information?
- Can I find the original source?
- Is the information current?
- Is someone trying to sell me something?
- Are they promising something nobody can guarantee?
- Does another reliable source support the basic fact?
Our Sources Will Grow With the Site
This page is not intended to be a list of every source that will ever appear on ShouldIBuyCryptoToday.com.
Individual educational pages may cite additional primary, official, technical, or authoritative sources that are specifically relevant to the question being answered.
Our Editorial Standards explain how those sources should be selected and used.
Found a Problem With a Source?
If a source link is broken, a quotation or factual claim appears incorrect, or you believe an important source has been misunderstood, please tell us.
Use our Contact page and identify the page and information you believe needs review.