When 29-year-old Sam found out that his younger brother had made £30,000 trading bitcoin, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The self-employed musician decided to put the last £2,000 of his savings into various cryptocurrencies, hoping he could double his money. However, wild swings in crypto valuations are proving a test of his strategy. Presenter Claer Barrett explores the highs and lows of investing in cryptocurrencies with experts Abhishek Sachdev, a professional investor who has personally invested £20,000, and Eva Szalay, the FT’s currencies correspondent. They discuss crypto’s long-term potential as an asset class and the risks that investors such as Sam need to be aware of, as well as the allure of investing in highly volatile unregulated assets. Review clips: BBC Newsnight, CNBC.

If you would like to be a guest on Money Clinic and chat to Claer about a money issue that’s bothering you, get in touch — our email is [email protected] -— and you can follow Claer on Twitter and Instagram @ClaerB.

 Further reading:

-Read Eva Szalay’s article Bitcoin: too good to miss, or a bubble ready to burst?

-Following Elon Musk’s tweets about the environmental impact of mining Bitcoin, check out this FT article Bitcoin’s growing energy problem: ‘It’s a dirty currency’ 

-Here is how the FT covered the story of the Bitcoin price crash last week 

-Check out our recent investment masterclass episode with FT columnist Merryn Somerset Webb, where she chats to Claer about Bitcoin and all kinds of other investment trends

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