Is this the end of the road for cryptocurrencies?

You might say that crypto currencies have been on a rollercoaster ride over recent months but only if the rollercoaster you were thinking about had a peculiarly and uniquely downward trajectory.

Less than six months ago the value of the virtual currencies that have turned the heads of financial wizards, big business, criminals and — increasingly — small scale and mostly young investors all over the word, was put at an astonishing three trillion dollars. That’s a three with 12 zeros.

Today, the value of the world’s cryptocurrency market is less than one trillion dollars and the smart money is not betting on a recovery any time soon.

But what is behind the collapse and is it just a dip in a volatile virtual currency or is digital money in a death spiral?

Brian Lucey is economics professor at Trinity College and he has been following the evolution of crypto assets.

He talks to In The News about the rise and fall, and fall and fall, of virtual money and pores over the runes - or should that be ruins - to see what might come next.