Last week, Forbes Magazine, known for tracking the world’s most wealthy individuals, published a new rich list. The “Crypto billionaire’s club”, a who’s who of those who have the most valuable stakes in cryptocurrency, looked like the coming of age for a new wave of tech geeks who had become extraordinarily wealthy.

At the top of the list was Chris Larsen, the co-founder of the Ripple currency, with a net worth of up to $8bn (£5.8bn). Others included Zhao Changpeng, the founder of the mega Bitcoin exchange Binance, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the identical twin rowers who invested millions in Bitcoin after suing Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole the idea for Facebook from them.

But there was a catch. By the time Forbes had got around to publishing the list, most of the 10 “billionaires” on the list were no longer worth that much.

Last week a mass sell-off of cryptocurrencies saw prices tumble to their lowest levels for several months. The most famous digital currency Bitcoin, which had climbed close to $20,000 less than two months ago, fell below $6,000 at one point, and though it staged a slight recovery, it has still more than halved in value since its December peak.