Investors Bruised And Bewildered From Crypto Meltdown

ndtv.com:

Bitcoin fell below $20,000 on June 18 for the first time since December 2020.For Jeremy Fong, U.S. crypto lender Celsius was an ideal place to stash his digital currency holdings - and earn some spending money from its double-digit interest rates along the way."I was probably earning $100 a week," at sites like Celsius, said Fong, a 29-year civil aerospace worker who lives in the central English city of Derby. "That covered my groceries."Now, though, Fong's crypto - about a quarter of his portfolio - is stuck at Celsius.The New Jersey-based crypto lender froze withdrawals for its 1.7 million customers last week, citing "extreme" market conditions, spurring a sell-off that wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from the paper value of the cryptocurrencies globally.Fong's long-term crypto holdings are now down about 30%. "Definitely in a very uncomfortable position," he told Reuters. "My first instinct is just to withdraw everything," from Celsius, he said.The Celsius blow-up followed the collapse of two other major tokens last month that shook a crypto sector already under pressure as soaring inflation and rising interest rates prompt a flight from stocks and other higher-risk assets.Bitcoin fell below $20,000 on June 18 for the first time since December 2020.

It has plummeted around 60% this year. The overall crypto market has slumped to around $900 billion, down from a record $3 trillion in November.The tumble has left individual investors across the world bruised and bewildered.