From its all-time high of 3.1 million in 2020, bitcoin holdings on cryptocurrency exchanges, where individual investors frequently interact, have decreased to about 2.3 million.
A crypto dealer in Abu Dhabi named Jad Fawaz declares, “I’m almost bankrupt.” There is no use in expressing further dejection and angst over it, therefore I’m smiling. The 45-year-old has watched his holdings disappear in recent months after quitting his real estate career a year ago to concentrate on trading. The worry has kept him from sleeping for a week.
He explains, “I had roughly 40 coins, then I went down to 20, then to 10, then to five, and now I’m down to the last two currencies, which are bitcoin and ripple XRP. I shall pass away before selling these final two coins, thus these are the last two. For many small-time investors and dealers, enough is enough.
Bitcoin holdings on cryptocurrency exchanges, where ordinary investors frequently interact, have decreased from an all-time high of 3.1 million in 2020 to about 2.3 million, according to exchange Bitfinex. According to Bitfinex experts, “there is evidence that a sizable number of retail investors have been deterred to the point of completely quitting crypto.” Fawaz is not alone, in fact.
Investors have had a terrible year. The market was pounded hard by Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s exchange’s demise. According to Glassnode statistics, a 7-day realized loss of $10.16 billion in bitcoin investments occurred in November as a result of investors being compelled to sell long-term positions. This loss ranks as the fourth-largest on record on this metric.
Because the FTX issue was like a domino that brought down so many businesses, this is no longer the winter season, according to Linda Obi, a cryptocurrency investor who works for the blockchain company Zenith Chain in Lagos, Nigeria. The 38-year-old claimed to be an investor with a “long-haul” investing perspective.
Since influencer marketing and your favorite celebs have been talking about cryptocurrency, she continued, “I’m going to be quite honest, I do think there’s a whole lot of buzz about crypto.” “People should stop jumping in without doing their investigation. We have begun to seriously discuss how we can genuinely sterilise and promote the place.
Losses by cryptocurrency retail investors are nothing new. According to a report from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), 73% to 81% of cryptocurrency investors probably lost money between 2015 and 2022.
As the cryptocurrency asset class expanded, more wealthy, skilled investors like hedge funds entered it, making retail trading more challenging. “It’s incredibly hard to trade on the news since we don’t have inside information, a tweet may alter everything,” said Adalberto Rodrigues, 34, of Lisbon, who runs a software company and trades cryptocurrencies on the side.
Blockchain data analysis, according to BIS experts, revealed that the biggest bitcoin holders frequently sold their holdings while lesser players bought, “earning a profit at the expense of the smaller users. Retail will suffer, as usual, said Marchesoni, who departs from a location close to Tulum on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
However, the significant investor losses from the FTX crash may prompt authorities to take action, according to Charley Cooper, director of communications at blockchain technology company R3. Unlike high-flying crypto hedge funds, politicians find it much harder to ignore calls from constituents who lost their savings or grocery money.
