'Crypto Ruined My Life': the Mental Health Crisis Hitting Bitcoin Investors

"Vice examines the toll on mental health experienced by people who invest a large portion of their net worth into volatile cryptocurrencies," writes long-time Slashdot reader leathered. Vice argues that "The stress and anxiety that goes with funneling your life savings into a volatile market is no joke."Countless people have watched thousands of pounds disappear before their eyes.... Many crypto-investors are ordinary people taking a risk with their life savings rather than elite traders who can swallow sudden losses. A recent CNBC survey of 750 crypto investors found that a third actually knew very little about what they were investing in. The question is: What happens to these people when they lose big...? It seems like this fast-growing investor community is generating its own fast-growing mental health crisis.... Contrary to the frequent declarations that investing is an everyman route to wealth and happiness, interviewees told me that crypto had nearly ruined their lives.... Despite the intense stress shared by some crypto investors, finding a space to discuss these experiences isn't easy. Across Reddit and Twitter conversations around crypto, there's usually one reaction to downturns: "Don't be an anxiety bitch, HODL [Hold on for Dear Life]" - in other words, don't you dare pull out. Memes regularly circulate that joke about the intense stress and torment that come with investing. The need to put on this brave face could be down to the fact that voicing your anxiety has a direct impact on the markets, which are essentially a reflection of confidence. Coins go higher the more people invest and drop the more people pull out. Crypto might be anxiety-inducing, but people don't make money from acknowledging this and actively lose out if they do.... HODL has become a joke in the crypto space, but that's exactly what so many investors are trying and failing to do with their psychological wellbeing. Experts say crypto will eventually bounce back - as it often seems to do - but you have to wonder just how much damage will be done to the lives of its investors before it does.

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