Bitcoin is having a nightmare year so far. Here's how to deal

This is not bitcoin's year.

It is only a little more than a month into the new year and the currency has already lost 40 percent of its value. A coin could be yours for $8,500, down from $15,000 at the start of 2018.

And bitcoin isn't the only digital currency in trouble. Cryptocurrencies lost more than $100 billion in the last 24 hours.

These losses stem in part from new regulations in South Korea and Facebook's announcement that it would ban ads for the digital currencies. More volatility is expected.

Owning an asset this volatile and which has been called both a fraud and the future can be an emotionally intense experience.

When bitcoin lost 30 percent of its value on Dec. 22, for example, one post on Reddit read: "I just re-financed my house to get in. I'm freaking out." Another user offered support to the frantic: "If anyone's actually depressed or suicidal, come to r/SuicideWatch. We love to listen and talk there."

It's the 24-hour cycle of cryptocurrencies that can wear on people's nerves, said Jim Smigiel, CIO of absolute return strategies at SEI Investments.

"With other speculative investments, like private equity and venture capital, you can't check your phone every five minutes," he said. With cryptocurrencies, "You're able to track the minute-by-minute value of it."

hen people buy and sell in a dizzied cycle, they miss the bigger picture of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technology on which it's traded, said financial advisor Ric Edelman, founder and executive chairman of Edelman Financial Services.

"There's no question that digital currencies are the future," Edelman said. "You should be prepared to own it for years."

He said his decision to hold bitcoin for years has paid off.

"I've watched it go from $1 to $1,000, back to $200 and then to $16,000," he said.

Although he acknowledged that such ups and downs are intolerable for some people.

"If owning this asset is causing you to stare at the ceiling at night, you shouldn't own it," he said. "There's more to life than money."