The man revealed that he spent all of his free time trading cryptocurrencies on his smartphone or computer.
A Reddit user, dubbed Leather_Opposite2135, shared his story about crypto addiction on the r/relationship advice subreddit.
In the now-deleted post, the 35 years old man claimed he might lose his wife and two kids over obsessive crypto trading.
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The man said he started experimenting with crypto trading back in 2021. Reddit users claimed that initially, he was “just dabbling.” However, soon after that, he got “hooked.”
It’s a tech space so I found it very interesting. Joined a bunch of online spaces (discord) and eventually watched a few people trading BTC and immediately got hooked.
In the post, the man revealed that during the first year of trading crypto, he lost around $50,000. Leather_Opposite2135 said he was usually taking funds from his software business, which at the beginning, didn't make “a noticeable hit” to his firm.
Fast forward to another year, Leather_Opposite2135 said his crypto addiction “got really bad.” The man claimed he stopped using funds from his business and started taking personal loans and using his credit cards to fund his crypto trading addiction. Leather_Opposite2135 revealed that he now has a debt of at least $180,000.
The man said he used every free minute and opportunity to access crypto trading platforms on his smartphone or computer and gamble his money.
I was gambling on my phone when I went to the bathroom, when the kids were sleeping, on my computer when not busy with work.
For the past two years, the investor kept his family in the dark about his crypto trading addiction. However, in the post, Leather_Opposite2135 revealed that, about three weeks ago, he came clean to his wife. The woman didn’t take the news well and threatened to divorce him.
Since then, the man started seeing a gambling addiction counselor, banned himself from crypto-related platforms, and handed control of his crypto trading accounts to his wife. When commenting on the rehabilitation, the man noted:
Emotionally, I was all over the place for the first 2 weeks. Cold turkey from something I spent 10 hours a day on (minimum) <...> All the while the little voice telling me to go looks at charts on the shoulder.
However, for some crypto addicts, gambling counselors are not enough. Therefore, several rehabilitation centers around the world are starting to treat patients suffering from crypto trading addiction.
