Welcome to the Zombie Cryptocalypse

The owners of cryptocurrencies have had a rough few weeks. Since their peak last November, the value of the two virtual currencies has fallen more than the broader markets decline. Terra, which was supposed to have a fixed value of $1, plummeted in value earlier this month. It was backed by Luna, which was also tanking. The creators of Terra sold a bunch of bitcoins to try to get Terra back up.

The whole thing looked like a crisis in confidence that could cause a bubble to burst. By historical standards, the prices of many token are still sky-high. Twice in the past, the market crashed, only to return bigger and richer. Is this time different?

The author of Attack of the 50-FootBlockchain is David Gerard. He spoke to WIRED about why he thinks the key to its longevity is a scam. This interview was lightly edited for clarity and space.

A lot of people in my bubble are happy that the internet is dead. It reminds me of how during the Trump presidency, every time there was a new scandal, some people would be like, "All right, this time he's finally going down."

It is a bit like that. It will take about three to five years for a new crop of suckers to grow back if the market is not regulated harder. Some people want a quick way to make a lot of money. If you just advertise, you will have people queue up to give you money. They will tell their friends to give you money.

I think the best book on the subject is by Charles Mackay. It was published in 1841. The book that popularized the Dutch tulip bubble and talked about the South Sea Bubble and various other enthusiasms over the years.

You can make a lot of money in the virtual currency. You are betting that you will be a better shark than the sharks that built the shark pool.

The heavily tech stock index is down since November. In the time period before the Luna thing happened, it was down 33 percent, but not as much as the Nasdaq. But now it's down 47 percent. It looks like it is both following the market and getting a kick down the slippery slope by the Luna meltdown.