A TULIP BULB AT LEAST EXISTS:

Recently, the whole category has come under increased regulatory scrutiny, with governments concerned about money laundering, tax evasion and more, and regulatory action is looming. Then there's the steady stream of scams and frauds that have infested the community and the lack of protection an individual has when they lose out. Every month, a new NFT rug pull occurs (scammer drives up the price, sells, then tokens head to zero), like the "Evolved Apes" project that netted the founder nearly $3 million and left everyone else with nothing but a JPEG. They are so common that Gizmodo is now keeping a monthly track of NFT scams.

But most of all, companies and creators touting NFTs and the Metaverse are yet to find worthwhile use-cases for them, and the public is starting to see through the self-fulfilling hype. NFT creators promise games and clubs and communities that never materialize because...reasons. JP Morgan became the first Metaverse bank, hoping to broker mortgages and loans for virtual property within a virtual world because... reasons. Brands like Pepsi and Taco Bell offer NFT tokens to customers because... reasons. Twitter allowed users to verify their NFT, and it turned their profile picture into a hexagon shape because... reasons. Zuckerberg promised to revolutionize work and play and has so far given us a sub-par Nintendo Wii avatar without the legs, and a remote work experience will have everyone running back to the office. Oh, there was that one cool party, though, right? You be the judge.

And so, it poses a question that may have lasting consequences on the future of the internet and the digitally connected world. Is this merely a Bitcoin-esque blip on the path to these new technologies establishing themselves, or is this the bubble bursting already? Of course, these technologies will stick around and might one day establish themselves and become the building blocks of the new 'decentralized' internet they champion so hard. But at present, they are a pointless, expensive, resource-sucking result of capitalism gone mad. The words of Amanda Yeo, from a Mashable article published just before Beeple's sale that started it all, hit the digital nail on the digital head:

"We don't need NFTs. We don't benefit from NFTs. The only anemic value gained upon purchasing an NFT is the ability to truthfully say, "I own this NFT" -- a sentence with so little significance it's laughable.'

Tweet   @brothersjudd