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Bitcoin achieved the highest rating a year ago, reaching over £ 15,000 on some exchanges.
Since then, a cryptocurrency unit has lost 80% and is less than £ 3,000.
Sky News has learned that hundreds of companies are being dragged down with the value of Bitcoin, and with them mortgages and even marriages.
Dreams of getting rich for some of those who spoke with Sky News were not particularly virtuous or based on notions of productivity.
Many of Bitcoin's investors recognized their opportunism and expected the bubble to burst, and the price would eventually collapse, but they expected to sell before that happened.
Others have confessed to being blinded by the fear of losing. Even if they enjoyed the casual chat about how the future of global exchange lay naturally with a decentralized currency, they only expected to get rich quickly.
In general, this did not happen.
Analyzing data from House companies is OpenCorporates, Sky News found that at least 340 companies linked to cryptocurrencies or blockchains have been dissolved or liquidated this year, compared to 139 in the previous year.
More than 200 of these companies were incorporated with Companies House in 2017, when the value of Bitcoin rose by 1,500% up to the peak recorded in December.
Hugh Halford-Thompson, one of the first enthusiasts of the cryptocurrency and founder of several blockchain companies – who also sold Bitcoin to George Osborne when he was a chancellor – told Sky News that the influx of inexperienced investors during this period had worried him.
"We had a Bitcoin ATM that we installed at Shoreditch in a place called Vape Lab, a coffee with electronic cigarette in the coolest part of the city.
"This happened in 2013, when, at the beginning, the price rose to around £ 250 at the beginning of the year, and then that year rose to 1,200 pounds."
When the December peak arrived, he went abroad and did not have access to his funds to sell them at the peak, which he describes as "a shame" – but even then there were other people trying to get in. in the market.
"There were a lot of people coming in, and I think for the first time I felt that there were a lot of people who really did not even understand what they were going to.
"So every Uber driver I had or had invested or was thinking about.
"I had people sincerely asking me in which coin to put their children's college funds in. It's not good.
"I did not follow them, but I hope they did not," added Halford-Thompson.
"For the first time a lot of normal people who did not understand the investments [were getting involved, and they] made or lost money in big enough ways.
"It's much worse when it's the general public".
It seemed like a rush to gold – until the price began to sink.
"There were a lot of people trying to figure out how to get there four days before the big crash," said Halford-Thompson.
"I saw a lot of companies involved when the hype was growing, there are a lot of problems in the industry.
"What you had after the accident is a cleaning of companies that do not really have much and probably should not have been there in the first place."
Bitcoin lost half its maximum value by March 2018 and continued to decline, due to an increase in the number of companies that are melting.
In June, Bitcoin was less than a third of its peak value and a company average was dissolved every day.
Since then, the value of Bitcoin has continued to fall to less than one fifth of its maximum value, and 60% of the 340 companies dissolved in 2018 ceased operations between June and November.
For the first time, the number of new registered companies is growing slower than the number of companies being dissolved.
Speaking with small business owners and investors, a particular tragedy stood out as typical.
Married men had access to equity through their family homes, and often – either because they felt they had to act quickly to make more money, or because they feared that their investment would be criticized by their spouses – they did so without informing them their families, only to see the value of their assets evaporate, followed by their homes.
A Bitcoin unit now has a value below £ 3,000
One man told Sky News that he lost his marriage and repatriated his home after he defaulted on loans he had used to invest in cryptocurrencies.
He said he wished he had never heard of Bitcoin.
He and many other investors and companies have refused to be identified in this article, explaining that they feared derision by friends and relatives.
In 2017, enthusiasts began to accumulate as much money as possible in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies because customers were increasingly interested in them.
When prices fell and customers reduced, many companies reduced losses and faded. Maybe they did not come out, but some came out of the wild ride with a little extra money.
A small business owner told Sky News that he was not yet ready to dissolve his business. Despite his losses, he hoped his experience would be of benefit to potential customers, even if he was not willing to identify himself or his business.
Last December, the interest in Bitcoin seemed to be separated from any knowledge of the technology behind it – in addition to the name.
The shares of an unprofitable company called Long Island Iced Tea rose to 289% when it was renamed Long Blockchain – although this company was subsequently canceled from the Nasdaq stock, and now a quote has been issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission . .
How times have changed
Of the companies that have not been dissolved, Sky News has found more than 50 that have changed their name to Bitcoin, blockchain or cryptocurrency no longer referenced.
The CEO of a company said this was due to the fact that opening a bank account with one of those words in the company name turned out to be a nightmare, although Sky News identified hundreds of other businesses with similar titles.
