Since early May, the usage and investment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has plummeted worldwide. The most popular, Bitcoin, has gone from a high of a coin being worth $67,582 in November 2021 to under $50,000 in December, under $30,000 in April and, due to growing recession fears, the higher price of gas, crypto rig shutoffs in Texas due to the state’s energy mismanagement, environmental concerns over the amount of energy needed for the currencies, and numerous other factors, Bitcoin is now worth far below $20,000, hitting a low of $19,425 on Tuesday.
In California, the fall of cryptocurrency has been more acute, as the state attracted many early investors, especially in the early 2010’s when cryptocurrencies were in their beginning phases and were worth under $1,000. Investment from Silicon Valley companies and investors were a major part in the first spike of crypto growth in 2017, with many of the first crypto firms also being established there in the earlier years.
“As crazy as the attitude of people shouting ‘This is the future’ or ‘This will make us all rich’ was in 2021, it was a lot more pronounced five years ago,” explained investment strategist Jerry Dawson to the Globe on Tuesday. “And yeah, Californian companies had the first ICOs (Initial Con Offering, similar to the more traditional Initial Public Offering in stocks), investors here put in money like crazy, and it really spread from here.”
But as cryptocurrencies began to show more and more vulnerabilities in recent months, much of that build up of optimism quickly crashed down. In recent weeks, especially after hackers stole hundreds of millions in cryptocurrencies from Californians and Californian companies, many in the Golden State have been moving away from them. Many businesses have even dropped Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other similar currencies as payment.
“I had to stop,” said Cesar Soto, a business owner in LA, to the Globe. “I would make a transaction one…
