NFTs

[Phishfan]

There is one problem above collecting anything, anyone can put a value to it. In the end it is only worth what someone will pay you for it. Until that point it is just a dust collector.

[Dave Gray]

And what about the other point I made. Topps wasn't the only company making baseball cards in Nolan's rookie year, but unless it's a Topps card it doesn't have value. What happens when bitcoin fails? All those bitcoin tokens become worthless. It's really hard to know right now which ones are going to succeed and which ones are going to fail which is why they are so popular, people are speculating which ones are going to succeed and they all think they know and their value is based on what people think right now, 10 years from now they might be worth nothing.

Of course.  But this is true of anything.

Certain things, like gold, have stood the test of time, but lots of investments or collectibles could be worthless.  It's no different than stocks or real estate or anything.  Things gain and lose value based on what someone else will pay for them.  Even actual money can plummet in value based on what happens in the country that mints it.

But NFTs have scarcity...or at least numbering that adds a perceived value to some people.

I'm not saying that any particular one will be valuable, but I certainly see how they can maintain a market.

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I played a virtual card game called "Star Wars Card Trader".  Topps did it.  Those cards have value...even now.  But I knew that I never really owned anything because Topps created the rules by which you could transfer them.  When it was the wild west and the items had scarcity and you could trade them, Ebay blew up with people selling them and there was a healthy trading environment.  But Topps wanted that money for themselves, so they would put limits on things and they owned the whole trading platform.  They skinned the sheep and lost most of their userbase.

But the concept was there -- NFTs are that, but just decentralized.

All this said, I'm not interested in collecting them.  But I could see myself buying one or something, just to throw money at an idea that could blow up.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I think you should have the same attitude towards NFTs as you should towards signed and numbered art work sold on cruise ships.  If you spend $100on one today odds are the best you can hope for is 10 years from now is selling it for $5 in a yard sale, but there is a lottery ticket chance the artist will be discovered and you will be able to sell it for $5000. 

So it makes a horrible investment, BUT if you think that particular piece would look nice in your dining room and is worth $100 for home decoration than by all means.

[Dave Gray]

I don’t think so.  For a picture of a donkey, sure.   But for tradeable brands with already built-in collector bases, I think it’s less risky.  Star Wars, trading cards, big popular brands like coca-cola….that stuff has value.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I don’t think so.  For a picture of a donkey, sure.   But for tradeable brands with already built-in collector bases, I think it’s less risky.  Star Wars, trading cards, big popular brands like coca-cola….that stuff has value.

But why are the monkey pictures going for 6 figures? If it's for an established brand like Star Wars, you can make an argument for it but how is some guy's monkey picture worth a Rolls Royce?

People got into crypto because it started out cheap, looks like NFT's are starting off for rich people.

[Dave Gray]

I don’t know but I assume it’s because they’re some of the first or rarest ones.  The first baseball card is probably worth a lot of money even if the player sucked.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I don’t know but I assume it’s because they’re some of the first or rarest ones.  The first baseball card is probably worth a lot of money even if the player sucked.

The highest value items typically are items that were prevent than rare, e.g 1000 made, but only 6 surviving vs 6 made.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

The people who made out on baseball cards are the ones who bought 10 plus a pack of gum for a nickel and sold 50 years later, not people who paid $400,000.

[Dave Gray]

^ I totally agree.  Buying at the peak of anything is foolish.  I see new NFTs selling for around $40 to $60 from most big name brands....not sure who are selling for $400,000, but good for them.  What did they buy it at?

There is also value in rarity from circumstance.  ...like, they made 6 of something that got popular later,  made 6 of them because of a recall so they weren't readily available to everyone, or made 1000 of them, but 6 came out screwed up.  Maybe 1000 of something where 6 were somehow intentionally made special.  There are all kinds of ways for something to have a perceived value.

I'm not suggesting that anyone go out and pay $400,000 for a NFT.  I just think that this is an idea that could hold value.