Some investors still believe in cryptocurrencies, undeterred from investing even after crash

SINGAPORE — One couple in their 30s saw S$2.3 million wiped out, while another young investor lost more than S$500,000. But despite the losses, some investors said they would continue investing in cryptocurrencies as they still believe in their potential. 

The collapse of TerraUSD, one of the world’s largest so-called stablecoins, had spooked investors and caused the cryptocurrency market to go into a full meltdown last week.

For the finance bloggers known as KPO and CZM, who had S$2.4 million parked in TerraUSD, it meant losing over 95 per cent of their cryptocurrency portfolio overnight.

KPO, a 32-year-old who gave his name as Mr Ong on his blog but declined to have his full name published, admitted that he and his wife were “too greedy”.

The IT analyst at a bank said the couple could have offloaded some of their holdings but decided to hang on to them.

Following the crash, Mr Ong said that while their daily lives were not severely affected, their future plans have changed drastically. 

"We were waiting for our flat to fulfil the minimum occupation period in another two years before we were going to diversify out the crypto profits,” he said.

The couple was planning to buy a second property.

"My wife isn't working, hence banks are unlikely to loan, but we could have paid off the property in full, easily,” Mr Ong added. 

However, the crash has not deterred him from investing in cryptocurrencies.

He wrote in a blog post on Tuesday: "Am I going to stay away from DeFi (decentralised finance) after this? Probably not, I do believe in its potential but I will probably not put in fresh funds for the time being. Highly doubt I will ever have this kind of conviction anymore." 

Mr Kelvin Tan, 30, business owner, who also runs a popular TikTok account with over 52,000 followers, said that he lost S$80,000 from the crash but this is not the first time he has lost big while dabbling in cryptocurrencies. 

"As this is my second time going through a significant loss in my cryptocurrency portfolio, I am coping well. The first was in 2018 where I lost more than 90 per cent of my then portfolio, this time round it's better as I have diversified my investments across various coins," he said. 

But nonetheless, he plans on investing again in the future as he believes that "cryptos are here to stay". Besides, as an early adopter, he had already made some money along the way.

“When you dabble in crypto, there's meant to be some wins and some losses,” Mr Tan said. 

“I believe that as long as you do your own due diligence, avoid shady coins and invest in projects that actually produce value in time to come, making money via crypto is actually viable.” 

Likewise, Mr Sim Kwang Wei, a 31-year-old self-employed investor, said that he lost over S$500,000 in the crash, of which 30 per cent is his savings, but he still remains unfazed.

However, some are still trying to move on and recover from the crash. 

Mr Terence Tan, a 35-year-old executive who lost S$33,000, said: "It is as if someone broke into my house and robbed me of my belongings. It is something you’ll never forget."