Two crypto crash Indicators : Planet Money

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Apply to be the fall/winter 2022 intern for Planet Money and The Indicator.

How times change. A year ago, cryptocurrency seemed to be making a mainstream breakthrough. As crypto made its way into retirement portfolios, celebrity TV ads sold it as a future-proof investment, prices soared, fortunes were made… and then lost.

That all changed in 2022. Following a series of failures among high profile crypto lenders and questions about the industry’s underlying viability, crypto has entered a bear market (dubbed “crytpo winter” by investors) that has, to date, erased nearly five years of Bitcoin gains. In just a few short months, many of the retail investors who bought cryptocurrencies have seen their investments disappear almost overnight.

Does it matter to the rest of the economy? Can this crash spread?

On today’s show, we bring you two stories from crypto winter’s front lines from Planet Money’s The Indicator. We’ll assess the damage from the crypto collapse for both individual investors and the wider market. And we hear about why crypto held such allure for Black investors in particular.

Music: Funky Intentions, Sunny Summer Skin, & Monschau

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