Billions of dollars have been wiped out of the cryptocurrency markets this week, affecting thousands of Australian investments.
The price of popular cryptocurrencies fell this week, leaving a total of $ 300 billion ($ 434 billion) in the markets.
As some wealthy investors reported billions of dollars in individual losses, hundreds of staff members were fired from cryptographic exchanges struggling to avoid falling.
Bitcoin fell 7 percent in just 24 hours on Wednesday to $ 21,033.99 ($ 30,443.67) after hitting its lowest level since the start of the pandemic, below $ 23,000 dollars) Monday.
At its peak in November last year, the much-talked-about cryptocurrency was worth about $ 69,000.
Since then, about $ 1.5 trillion has been wiped out of the entire cryptocurrency market, or about half of its value in just six months.
This week’s fall was so strong that two major cryptocurrency exchanges suspended business transactions.
The cryptocurrency lending platform, The Celsius Network, was one that banned the withdrawals of its estimated 1.7 million users, citing “extreme market conditions.”
“We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to meet, over time, its withdrawal obligations,” the company posted online.
The Consumer Choice group found that about one in nine Australians bought cryptocurrencies last year, and half saw it as a long-term investment.
Not only are cryptocurrencies experiencing significant losses, with stock markets around the world suffering a setback amid fears of an impending recession.
The Wall Street S&P 500 benchmark fell nearly 4 percent on Monday, causing an even larger drop of 5 percent on the Aussie ASX the next day.
Following the release of data on Friday, the US inflation rate reached 8.6 percent in May, the worst since 1981.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates in response to rising inflation, prompting investors to fear a recession.
Some experts predict an increase of 0.75 basis points above 1.50 percent, although Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted earlier that the increase would be 0.50 basis points.