TL;DR
A skeptical financial writer attends a crypto meetup and finds himself surrounded by hype, reminding him of past financial bubbles like the 2008 housing crash and the Dutch Tulip Mania. He questions the value and security of NFTs, highlighting the anonymous nature of transactions and the potential for widespread losses.
Story
“Buddy,” the guy at the crypto meetup, swore his Bored Ape NFT was the next Bitcoin. I rolled my eyes internally. Remember Beanie Babies? Or Dutch Tulips?
The image, a cartoon monkey in a sailor hat, stared back at me from his phone. He called it “Admiral Nelson.” I called it a JPEG. He rambled about “digital scarcity” and “blockchain revolution.” I thought about the 2008 housing crash, fueled by equally abstract promises. People lost their homes, their savings. Now, it’s pixels. Progress, right?
He didn’t even know the real name of the guy who sold it to him. Just “Big Guy.” A red flag the size of a billboard, in my opinion. It’s like buying a house from a stranger in a dark alley. Who’s verifying anything? Who’s accountable? No one, that’s who.
This whole crypto scene feels like a giant game of musical chairs. Everyone’s scrambling for a seat, convinced they’ll be safe when the music stops. But there aren’t enough chairs. And when it stops, a lot of people are going to be left standing, holding worthless JPEGs of monkeys in sailor hats.
Advice
If someone tries to sell you a digital monkey for thousands of dollars, walk away. If they don’t even know the name of the person they bought it from, run. Fast.