The story is about the Shawn Russell – real estate agent, who has so far rarely invested small stock on the stock market, but near the bitcoin madness at the end of last year is counting on all his savings or a total of $ 120,000. For just one month, the amount rises to an impressive $ 500,000.
“I remember waking up one morning and realizing that my investment had increased by 12,000 pounds ($ 15,600) a day and that went on,” he told CNN Money. “I thought I would get enough to pay for a home, and to make the holiday I’ve always dreamed of,” Russell adds.
Not long after, his dreams remain in the past. In December, the bitcoin price reached its peak of $ 20,000 shortly before it suffered a serious collapse. To date, the price is about 6300 dollars.
When the downturn begins, Russell attempts to keep his money by directing the bitcoin into other cryptos, but his plan does not work. In his words to date, he has lost 96% of his original investment. “It was horrifying, watching television stories of billionaires who have gone bankrupt and wondering how it is possible, and you know that you are in the same position,” recalls the Briton.
But Russell is not the only one. Michael Rauch of the Cambridge Alternative Finance Center, which explores altcoins and block technology, says that the surge in the price of digital money in 2017 has attracted many investors with little experience in the field.
“Traders, students, hosts, even elderly people were hijacked by hysteria, and the media told them how it was their life opportunity, so they put in a lot, and now they suffer great losses,” explains the expert.
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