Trading cryptocurrencies can be a hugely rewarding activity. Which is why millions of people across the world are engaging in it. As it turns out, too much of a good thing can be poisonous. A treatment centre is adding a whole new class of addicts to its treatment programme; crypto addicts.
Cryptocurrency trading is not just a way of making an extra coin. For some, it is also a means of escaping the real world. According to Castle Craig Hospital, crypto trading has all the hallmarks of other forms of addiction such as gambling with some traders glued to their devices following minute-by-minute price updates.
The centre already runs alcohol, drug addiction and gambling programmes and it will be using similar strategies to try and help beat crypto addiction.
The highly volatile cryptocurrency market is particularly exciting and appealing to the problem gambler, Chris Burn, a gambling therapist at the hospital is quoted as saying.
‘It provides excitement and an escape from reality. Bitcoin, for example, has been heavily traded and huge gains and losses were made. It’s a classic bubble situation,” he said according to Metro.
Highly Volatile Asset
Cryptocurrencies are marked by huge price swings which can happen within a few hours. Bitcoin’s rise from just $1000 at the start of 2017 to nearly $20,000 at the end of the year demonstrates this point.
It has since fallen back to trade at just above $7000 in today’s trading. The focus for the facility for now is to help addicts see a life away from bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
A former gambling addict Tony Marini will reportedly be part of the team at the centre. Providing some form of structure in the life of the addicts will be a priority, he said.
While trading cryptocurrencies can be highly lucrative, many suffer devastating losses. Some estimates put the total number of cryptocurrency traders at 13 million. In December, about 100,000 new traders were being added daily.
At one point, Binance, the Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency reported adding 250,000 traders on a single day. Several exchanges including Coinbase were struggling to cope in with the high influx at the time.