Investors delete cryptocurrency trading apps as prices crash

“The first thing I used to do after waking up was to open my crypto wallet and check how much money I gained or lost,” the Hanoi-based cryptocurrency trader says.

Every day his account would fluctuate by a few to dozens of dollars, and he says his investment of US$1,000 at the end of last year would sometimes hover around $1,500.

Then it dropped to below $900 a week ago.

“I thought I had been hacked, but when I looked at the tokens in my wallet, they were still there but all in the ‘red’.”

Another precipitous drop took the value to around $600 on May 10, and he decided to delete the trading app and stop looking at the market.

“I unfollowed some cryptocurrency groups and removed related apps.”

Le Minh of HCMC says he recently deleted all cryptocurrency-related apps from his phone.

When prices plunged last week he decided to sell some tokens that he thought had little potential and used the few hundred dollars to buy Bitcoin. But within a few days Bitcoin and others in his portfolio fell again while, ironically, the ones he sold gained.

He believes that deleting the app will help prevent such hasty decisions.

“If I keep looking and checking the trading application, I’m afraid I’ll regret missing other bottom-fishing opportunities and continue to spend money averaging prices.

“The market is volatile; the best course of action for inexperienced people like me is probably to do nothing and forget about this investment.

“I will download and check again after a few months. I won’t feel sorry if my investments fall to zero, but if they increase, it will be a gift.”

“Delete the app” has become a buzzword in many crypto investment groups as a way to get through the current crisis.

According to CoinMarketCap data, the cryptocurrency market capitalization was $1.8 trillion on May 5, but had fallen to $ 1.21 trillion as of Thursday.

Most tokens have lost badly, with Bitcoin currently at around $30,000.

When a member of a cryptocurrency trading community asked “what should I do in the current market situation?” one response she repeatedly received was “delete the app.”

According to Hoang Nam, a long-time cryptocurrency investor, the “delete the app” movement comes around frequently when the market is volatile because many people do not want to enter the application to view their accounts or transactions in a bear market.

“FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is common among new entrants. When the market falls, they could panic and take rash action such as putting more money to bottom fish or sell to stop loss without doing any research. Simply deleting the app can help prevent such decisions.”

Applications and websites related to cryptocurrencies like Tradingview, Coinmarketcap and Binance get millions of visits every month in Vietnam.

The Binance exchange app is among the top 20 downloaded financial apps on both App Store and Google Play in the country.