Long-time crypto holders are still in the money, and those who sold near the top of the market are likely thrilled.
The damage was worse for those who bought on margin, the process where investors borrow from their broker to invest, but are required by lenders to pay back part of what they owe if the value of their stake falls below a certain level.
That kind of leverage is stunningly lucrative when markets are going up, but in the recent plunge, margin traders lost their shirts.
The announcement came just in time for the latest bitcoin plunge, prompting jokes about the idea that Salvadorians who negotiated salary deals at BTC $60,000, may have regretted doing so if they were being paid the day it fell below $30,000.
“Innovations such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and the walled garden ecosystems of big techs all tend to work against the public good element that underpins the payment system,” declared the BIS report in its conclusions.
Central bank-issued digital money, called CBDCs for short — an area where China has become a world leader — was first seriously mooted after Facebook proposed its own stablecoin, Libra, in 2019.
Of course some of the people who trade or use bitcoin and other cyrptocurrencies might not see those things as advantages.
Bitcoin trading, like the Gamestop phenomenon, has become part of a kind of rebel financial movement powered by Reddit.
Similarly, crushing crypto trading may not be easy.
The BIS report hints at going after crypto for its wasteful energy use in a climate change world.
But if central banks want to maintain their exclusive power over money, they may have to do something a little harsher than what is contained in this week’s report.
After moving into journalism, he was principal business reporter for Radio Television Hong Kong before the handover to China.
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