After much hype and soaring valuations in the latter part of 2017, cryptocurrency prices fell back to earth in 2018. While the collapse in valuations vindicated critics, it does not appear to have deterred true cryptocurrency believers from promoting its potential.

New cryptocurrencies continue to emerge (more than 2000 at the time of writing). Moreover, their precipitous falls — plummeting 90 per cent for those who enjoyed the bubble — have led some in the market to describe this as a buying opportunity.

The supposed investment case hinges on two complementary but equally flawed ideas: first, that each cryptocurrency has an intrinsic value; and second, that its value should appreciate as blockchain — the distributed ledgers to which cryptocurrencies are tied — delivers on its promise as the next great disruptive technology. It also makes the heroic assumption that policymakers will allow these activities to go on unchecked.