As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies crash, losses could be felt in stock markets and real economies

Nayib Bukele bought a large pile of bitcoin in El Salvador last year. His plans to build a bitcoin city, in the shape of a coin, have become emblematic of the rapidly unwinding fantasy that underpins the crypto world. As central banks rein in the cash and hike interest rates, the appetite for risk is evaporating. Liquidity is drying up, clearing houses are being squeezed and traders are nursing enormous losses. Many are and exist with no underlying purpose other than to fleece innocent bystanders of their cash. The irony is breathtaking. Bitcoin, supposedly founded by the mythical Satoshi Nakamoto, was designed to make traditional currencies redundant, to create a bold new world free from government and central bank control. After 13 years, it has been an abject failure Source