Speculation is the new luxury good

Speculation is a great hobby if you can afford it, but it shouldn’t be confused with investment.

And one day, every one of them will be owned by someone who is unable to sell it at a profit.

There are now hundreds of digital NFTs each worth more than a million dollars each. Just like Reddit stocks, they change in value dramatically, they come with a story and they’re fun to talk about with your friends and peers.

But that in itself is a sort of luxury.

An NFT has zero utility. It’s simply an entry in the blockchain that shows ownership of something that anyone could see for free.

One thing that’s taking its place is speculation.

As engineering has improved and knock-offs have increased, though, the two-hundred-year tradition of physical luxury goods is fading away.

And so, a top-end Mercedes isn’t much better at being a car than a Hyundai is, it simply costs more.