An unexpected by-product of the collapse of FTX has been the death of several prominent long-term crypto-sceptics, right at the moment they would seem to have been proven right. But that’s exactly the problem, a doctor told Planet Crypto.

‘The first crypto-sceptic death baffled me’, Doctor Samira Madeuppi said. ‘A perfectly healthy man, just dropping dead. But a post-mortem revealed a toxic overdose of glee and smugness. And we’ve seen that pattern repeated several times.’

She revealed that nearly half a dozen crypto-sceptics have been killed by the same mixture of joy and self-satisfaction.

‘The bodies are often found with broad grins and clenched fists of triumph… and we hear that their last words were something like ‘ha, I knew it!’, ‘told you so’ or even ‘I was right, I was right, I was right, eat that crypto-munchers!!!’’

Planet Crypto asked if she thought there might be further victims.

‘Oh, I’m sure. With the current instability in all things crypto, levels of happy pleased-with-onself-ness in sceptics are rising to dangerous levels. And if Bitcoin were to fall below $10,000, I fear we’d see a tidal wave of deaths caused by ecstatic schadenfreude.’

Is there anything worried crypto-sceptics can do to avoid an unfortunate end? Planet Crypto asked.

‘No matter how right they’ve been proved, perhaps they could just take a little less delight in other people’s misfortune,’ Dr Madeuppi suggested. ‘Because otherwise, if the smug delight doesn’t get them, broke crypto-investors just might.’