When two Canadian coders started an online project called CryptoPunks, they had no idea they’d spark a hyped-up, blockchain-fueled cultural juggernaut.

Fever dreams are a classic symptom of capitalism, familiar to anyone who has hit it big or lost it all in the past 400 years. At their core is a belief in the value of an asset. For this crypto dream to work, people have to take it on faith that when you link a digital file to a blockchain, you’re able to make an infinitely copyable object unique. It’s still a niche conviction, but people seem to come to it in waves, like congregants to a summertime tent revival. The lulls in between are known as crypto winters. If you’re strong and lucky, you get through winter and ride the next wave to a payout.

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