Bitcoin’s rise makes fortunes in Portugal: “I have enough wealth for ten lifetimes”
For some, it is the future of the financial system. For others, it is a way of generating wealth. Bitcoin’s recent rise is making "fortunes", but regulators warn that you can also lose everything.
“In the world of cryptocurrencies everything happens very fast. But once you are in, it is like a bug that bites you.” So says Cátia Azenha, 37, an engineering graduate and an enthusiast of the phenomenon. She first heard of bitcoin in 2014, a year in which the currency’s price ranged between 309 and 971 dollars. But she did not invest.
She is not an isolated case. In communities on Reddit and groups on Facebook, it is easy to find people who first came across the currency long before the market was what it is today. However, the little knowledge available at the time, and the difficulty of acquiring virtual assets, were real obstacles.
AI translation from the Portuguese. First published in ECO on 9 February 2021.