Bitcoin is struggling to retake the $9,000 level after its spectacular implosion last month – its worst since the very early days of bitcoin when the price of a single token was much, much lower – but the selloff that left millions of marginal investors around the world holding the bag hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of the virtual currencies most dedicated evangelists.

During a trip to David Park’s bitcoin meeting – the largest of its kind in New York City – the Daily Beast showed that there are still hundreds of people who have seemingly dedicated their future to bitcoin and other blockchain-related ventures.

The price of bitcoin plummeted 50% the day before the meetup. And how did its organizers respond? By lowering the price of admission for the event – which featured an open bar – to $10 and promising to donate all their proceeds to charity (because if anybody is in need of charity, it’s crypto investors).  

Park is something of a latecomer to crypto; he first became interested in bitcoin early last year, when he founded his meetup because he couldn’t get off the waitlist at any of the other myriad crypto meetups that had sprung up around New York City.

Of course, back before bitcoin became seemingly the only thing CNBC wanted to talk about, Park says his friends couldn’t tolerate his incessant evangelizing about bitcoin, so he started the meetup…

The event became a monthly occurrence beginning last August and slowly ballooned from only about 30 attendees to over 2,000 RSVPs.

“At the time, my friends were getting really annoyed at me talking about crypto,” Park said. “It would be a Wednesday night out, but all I would want to talk about was crypto. I thought, if I start my own meetup I could have people to talk to about crypto.”

In 2018 it feels like everyone knows at least one bitcoin evangelist. Nearly every type of believer was in the crowd on Thursday night.

One attendee emphasized that bitcoin is “millennial gold” and that the most recent bout of volatility is immaterial. Of course, he then asked the reporter to refer to him as “the Korean rainmaker”…