I lost a friend over buttcoin

I have a friend who I haven't talked to since before the 'rona who got back in touch a couple months ago. He was going to some buttcoin events so I tagged along. I am a developer and I actually find the blockchain projects interesting from a technical side. I was into some projects on ethereum for example, but they are not defi projects, just decentralized services built on top of ethereum. I was into this back in 2018 before everyone went insane for d-apps and the like.

Later he told me he was creating some kind of complex sounding crypto company and was going to quit his high paying job at a major employer. He asked for my opinion. I admitted that it sounded like a pyramid scheme to me. He had some elaborate justifications for it, to which I mostly politely nodded along, while remaining neutral but skeptical.

A couple weeks later I posted something online kind of making fun of buttcoiners, but mostly trying to warn people not to invest in crypto because I believed it was fueled by a greater fool scenario. I earnestly do not want my friends to lose money over this shit. He reacted like I had personally attacked him.

Anyway, this guy will not talk to me and whenever I reach out to him, he responds with some variation on the same points:

• I don't believe in the future or I am afraid of the future

• Crypto is the future, of course

• I'm a loser for having a regular job, instead of quitting to join a defi company

• I'm a loser for not selling all my investments and putting all my money into buttcoin or ethereum

• Yes, the economy is in a downturn, but that's why you need to put all your money into buttcoin because the dollar is blah blah blah

I'm not sure why he thinks that criticism of these ideas is a personal attack. I personally don't fucking care if you "invest" in bitcoin or anything else. I believe it's a Ponzi or at least Ponzi adjacent, and that prices will eventually go to zero, but if I'm wrong, and I'm an idiot for not jumping on this incredible opportunity, why would that upset you? It seems like the anger comes from maybe a recognition that he has made a mistake, or doubts about the direction crypto is going, since the market slide began shortly after this happened.

Anyway, I know this is a forum for making fun of crypto bros, but I wanted to air my dirty laundry in hopes others have had similar experiences. Am I the asshole here? Why does fucking bitcoin of all things trigger people into this weird religious thinking where questioning the doctrines elicits rage?