Some years ago, a close acquaintance of many years, Mr. DM, reached out to me for assistance to overcome a financial challenge. He owed someone, Mr. C, about N5 million, and the person had reported him to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
After spending some days in the custody of the Commission, he was released, subject to paying off the money at an agreed date. To meet this deadline, he had to reach out to several acquaintances who could help.
Out of curiosity, and because I had always known him to be a decent, honest and faithful person, I requested to know how he came to be owing such a huge amount of money. He was investing in Bitcoin and was also investing on behalf of other people. His creditor was one of the people who gave him money to invest in Bitcoin, based on the promise that the value of his money would increase rapidly within a short while.
But shortly after collecting the money, the rising fortune of Bitcoin reversed and was followed by a prolonged decline in price. Unfortunately for DM, Mr. C demanded his N5 million, which had almost been wiped out by the sharp, steady decline in the price of Bitcoin. To make matters worse, Mr. C refused to listen to or agree to DM’s appeal for patience and his assurance that Bitcoin would bounce back.
I was quite disappointed with Mr. DM and I told him so. This is because he had attended a programme on investments where I was also the Guest Speaker, during which I advised against investment in crypto, citing the risks involved and other shortcomings.
Like many highly risky investments, you can make a lot of money from cryptocurrency within a short period, especially when the going is good and prices are rising. But you can also lose all your money within a short period. While all investments are speculative in nature, investment in crypto is the most speculative. That is why Warren Buffett, one of the richest men in the world, referred to cryptocurrencies as “probably rat poison squared.”
Cryptos were not created or designed as investment channels. They were designed to be means of exchange or payment and, hence, to facilitate transactions.
But over time, people started trading in them, leading to fluctuations in their prices and the value of money invested in them. Because they are mostly unregulated, the prices of cryptos are vulnerable to all manner of factors and practices that can trigger steady decline and loss of money invested.
This is reflected in the decline in the price of Bitcoin to $64,882.55 on August 8, 2026, from $126,198.07 on October 6, 2025. Hence, if you had invested $100, which was about N140,000 around this time last year, your money would have been reduced to about N72,800.
(To be continued)