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Some young investors get burnt by cryptocurrency crash, regret recklessness; experts raise depression fears

Some young investors get burnt by cryptocurrency crash, regret recklessness; experts raise depression fears

SINGAPORE — He was having his breakfast when he looked at the cryptocurrency exchange application on his device and saw to his shock that the price of the Luna tokens he had bought at US$5.28 (S$7.35) was spiralling downwards last Thursday morning (May 12). In early May, the tokens were trading above US$85 apiece.

Confused, the man, who wanted to be known only as Mr Low, immediately sent a message to his friends who had invested in Terra, a related cryptocurrency, hoping to find out what was happening.

He said: "A few friends told me that it will re-peg (to the US dollar) and Luna will stabilise, so I just held (on to it)."

Mr Low, who is in his late 20s, recently lost his job as a business associate at a consumer health company due to company cutbacks. He said that he had lost close to S$40,000 in a matter of days. This was 90 per cent of his total investment and a third of his savings.

TODAY spoke to seven Singaporeans, aged in their 20s and 30s, whose investments in TerraUSD and Luna, ranging from S$1,500 to S$6,000, took a tumble last week.

Although some were aware of the risks involved in cryptocurrencies and were sceptical when they entered the market, others had a larger risk appetite or believed that it was "risk-free".

However, many others saw their life savings wiped clean over the span of two days, prompting some of them to have suicidal thoughts.

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