Graphene was co-discovered by researchers at University of Manchester (UK) and the IMT just outside Moscow, but was effectively crowd-researched by academia which is why experimentation is so widespread already. Quite apart from the commercial applications, it is a pure physicists dream too which is why momentum has been so strong in developing applications and spinoffs.
If you’re interested in the likely developments of rare earths though you may want to check out a UK company named Metalysis. Not exactly the death knell for long premium rares, but certainly indicative of free market enterprise flattening exotic price humps and opening up competitive advantage and entry.
As for the risks of boiler room sales pitches the advice is the same as always: Don’t get into anything you don’t fully understand.