Bitcoin is a fickle beast. And one man found the hard way how fickle he can be when he lost his life savings. Already. The unnamed Reddit user bet everything he and his partner had on cryptocurrency, but didn't really pay.
In a post on the social media site, the man explained what happened and warned others about the dangers.
Beginners should be careful
Writing on a Bitcoin subreddit, the man said, "I totally messed up guys, my life savings are gone forever, I learned a devastating hard lesson." He explained that he and his wife had managed to acquire 1,7 BTC, which is worth around £ 58.400 in the current market.
Over the course of a decade, the couple had worked hard to save as much as possible, doing odd jobs here and there. “I started and managed to turn 1,7 BTC into 2,1 BTC, the classic beginner's luck,” he said.
However, the couple's dream collapsed when they put all their money into a type of trade called leverage futures, which is where they bet Bitcoin's value will continue to rise.
And the man hasn't told his wife what happened yet.
"Of course it didn't work, BTC went from touching $ 50k to $ 47k and all of our life savings were wiped out," the man recalled. “I haven't said anything to my wife yet, she doesn't know and this is killing me from the inside. I just don't know what to tell her, I'm just devastated. I can barely look at myself in the mirror ”.
He then shared screenshots of exchanges to show how they were liquidated as Bitcoin's value fell.
Don't bet more than you can afford to lose
At the end of his tragic tale, the man then urged others to be careful when betting on Bitcoin. He said, "Please take my advice, don't trade guys, don't fall into these marketing traps like I did."
But he's not the only person who has had a hard time in the cryptocurrency world. Last month, KSI revealed that it had lost £ 7 million after having invested in Bitcoin.
The YouTube superstar said he sank £ 2 million in cash into the cryptocurrency, and made £ 7 million for his efforts, but then lost it all when Bitcoin collapsed.
Speaking on the Private Parts podcast, KSI - real name Olajide Olayinka Williams “JJ” Olatunji - said: “I put in £ 2 million last year, November / December, but this was in cryptocurrency - I made £ 7 million, and now I've lost everything.
“Yes, [I'll have to release] another EP. It was a complete journey, but I had to experience it. I really had to delve into the whole crypto-space, and you know, now I fully understand it.
“I put money into things where I essentially leveraged myself and went a little overboard with leverage to the point where I lost money, because I got liquidated, so I put a lot of money into something that I was liquidated due to the collapse of Bitcoin ”.
