AN investor who ploughed £40,000 of his life savings into a Crypto boom before losing it all ended up moving back in with his parents.
‘Duncan’, 47, wanted his holding to top £414,000 ($500,000) then take half out.
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But when markets crashed in 2021 he lost it all and was left with just £4,000 to his name.
He told The Guardian last year: “I had over $300,000 around Christmas.
“If I’d sold everything, I would’ve had a quarter of a million pounds.
“I’ve got friends who have lost eight-figure sums of money.”
Duncan got into Cryptocurrencies after returning to the UK in 2014 following years as an expat.
Seeing all his pals settled down in their own houses and with no savings, he felt he needed to “catch up”.
From 2017 he began putting a few hundred quid into Crypto, hoping to cash in on Bitcoin’s soaring $10,000 value, but he quickly gave up
By 2019 he was back at it, banking £400-a-month through Bitcoin and Ethereum investments.
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In 2021 he bought around “2,000ish” coins of Luna, but by May it dropped in value from $85 to below $1 and he lost everything.
He was forced to move back to his parents’ home in Edinburgh, Scotland, but remains optimistic.
And despite catastrophic losses, he hasn’t turned his back on Cryptocurrencies is instead considering a career in the industry, having quit teaching.
‘Duncan’ is one of thousands who have lost huge sums of cash on Cryptocurrency trading.
Many cryptocurrencies have a short track record, making them difficult to understand and predict.
And they are not protected by the regulator which means you have no protection if things go wrong.
The UK regulator warned in 2021 that Brits risk losing ALL of their money if they invest in cryptocurrencies.
If you are considering investing in any type of crypto, do your research first and only invest money you can afford to lose.
The risks of buying with cryptocurrencies
Investing and making a purchase in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is risky.
Their value is highly volatile and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority has warned investors should be prepared to lose all their money.
Investing in cryptocurrencies is not a guaranteed way to make money.
You should also think carefully about making purchases with a cryptocurrency.
For example, Bitcoin has had wild price fluctuations in recent months and the price can change on an almost hourly basis.
The price of a Bitcoin was at $40,258 on January 9, 2021, according to Coindesk, but fell to $34,214 just three days later.
That’s a 15% drop.
These price swings are risky for a business as you could sell an item for a Bitcoin at one price and the value may drop soon after, leaving you with less money from a sale.
Similarly, the price of Bitcoin has soared by more than 21% since the start of this week so it can be hard for a shopper to get an accurate idea of the price of an item if its value changes on a daily basis.
