◀ Anchor ▶
As with the stock craze, the virtual currency market is hot these days.
It has more than doubled at the end of last year as money again rushes to its leading player, bitcoin.
However, in just a few days, the value fell by more than 10 million won, reminding me of how risky an investment is.
This is reporter Jeong Jin-wook.
◀ Report ▶
Kim Mo, who has invested in Bitcoin in 2017 and lost tens of millions of won.
Recently, while watching the real estate and stock markets, I was impatient to do something and bought bitcoin again.
[김 모씨/비트코인 투자자]
“(Real estate) the price itself has risen too much, so I can’t go in now… I wonder what it would be like to rise quickly in a short time, but Bitcoin will rise a bit faster…”
In January of last year, bitcoin, which was KRW 8.3 million each, rose to KRW 20 million at the beginning of last month, and then jumped to KRW 48 million on the 9th, three days ago.
It has increased six times in one year.
In the wake of this surge, the number of investors started to increase again in Korea, and the number of new members who joined the cryptocurrency exchange last month surged more than 60% (63%) compared to a year ago.
However, the downtrend was as shocking as the rapid pace.
The bitcoin price, which hit 48 million won on the 9th, fell to 34 million won in the morning of today, plunging by nearly 30% in three days.
[김 모씨/비트코인 투자자]
“I thought a lot of money was flying away, just disappearing like this…”
At home and abroad, there are voices warning about the dangers of virtual currency.
The British financial authorities also pointed out today that “if you invest in virtual currency, you must be prepared to lose all your money.”
[윤석천/경제 평론가]
“I say it’s the biggest bubble in history. When it comes to volatility, it’s actually unsuitable for exchange value.”
On the other hand, there are voices saying that it is different from before.
Recently, the US online payment company PayPal has decided to support cryptocurrency payments, and the investment of institutions is increasing, and the virtual currency is gradually institutionalized and stabilized.
[한대훈/SK증권 연구원]
“The story of’Bitcoin is digital gold’ is spreading around Wall Street… and it is still attractive as an alternative to currency depreciation.”
In the midst of mixed expectations and concerns, experts stressed that the volatility of cryptocurrency is so high that there is no investor protection device, so careful investment is necessary.
This is Jung Jin-wook, MBC News.
(Video coverage: Jo Yoon-ki / Video editing: Oh Yu-rim)
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