This out of Bloomberg: the hedge fund industry that (in part) brought us the great crash of 2008, now about more than three TRILLION dollars under management.

This is a doubling of the amount of money under hedge fund control just after the 2008 crash. To put it in perspective, the largest bank in the world right now is JP Morgan Chase with a 240-billion capitalization. The second is Wells Fargo with 236 billion, and the third is Industrial & Commerce Bank of China with 226.

Now the real question is, does this amount of money in the hands of hedge funds pose a risk to you, me, our jobs, or families, our community…?

It depends. It depends on whether the systemic problems that precipitated the last crash have been fixed as laid out in this Economist article:

•         Have the fund managers learned to sensibly manage risk, or do they count on being bailed out again if they get in trouble?
•         Have regulators been strengthened to the point where they are able to spot and tackle problems in the industry before they become catastrophic, or are they still captured agencies with revolving doors to high-paying jobs in the agencies they regulate?
•         Is the president appointing people to important posts who will protect the savings and retirements of regular Americans, or work in the interests of Wall Street?
•         Are credit rating agencies still in the pocket of Wall Street firms, or are they independent arbiters of the trustworthiness of those firms?
•         Are interest rates high enough to put a damper on irresponsible speculation, or are they low enough to give speculators reason to keep gambling?

The fact of the matter is that Obama did little to fix the systemic problems in the economy, and Trump—far from draining the swamp—is putting a rogues’ gallery of Wall Street and corporate heavy hitters into as many leadership positions as he can.

These are people who created, participated in, and profited from the crash of 2008. They are not interested in what happens to you, your job, your savings, or your retirement.

It’s time to start looking at alternatives to Wall Street and banks. It’s time to start looking for ways to take control of your finances that they don’t control.

Bitcoin.

This article is not investment advice and everyone considering investing in Bitcoin should be sure to thoroughly research and understand it before taking the plunge. The author is invested in Bitcoin.