In the year 1634, the introduction of specific tulip bulbs to the Dutch Republic caused unreasonable demand, and mass speculation which caused the bulbs to soar to ridiculous prices, wreaking havoc within the Dutch economy until the price for the bulbs dramatically collapsed in 1637. This short period in the Dutch Golden Age is now referred to by historians as, “Tulip Mania” and has become a way to describe speculative economic bubbles and other related phenomena. Today, in the 21st century, our generation is facing a brand new Tulip Mania known as NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens.

NFTs are digital assets that can take the form of any digital file such as an image, audio, or video typically featuring a randomly generated or self-made piece of art. NFTs are data that are non-interchangeable and can be sold or traded. It utilizes cryptocurrency technology where the purchase of an NFT is verified and added to a blockchain, verifying that the purchaser “officially” owns an NFT. This gives NFTs a sense of pseudo-exclusivity.

Over the years, NFTs have become increasingly and alarmingly popularized on social media, resulting in everyday people learning and becoming aware of them. This results in widespread attention placed on NFTs in the public spotlight and its potential mass marketability by major corporations has led to a rise in demand and interest in NFTs. This has caused a number of people to start buying and selling NFTs for exorbitant prices ranging from higher than ten thousand dollars to over tens of millions of dollars despite the fact that NFTs can be easily be saved by anyone without paying for these ridiculous prices. NFTs are nothing more than over-hyped and over-priced crypto-ponzi digital Pokemon cards, which has spawned potentially one of the most pretentious communities on the internet. The overall concern of NFTs is more than just its awful community, people are now raising concerns that NFTs have a negative impact on the environment due to the constant energy-guzzling nature of blockchains and how NFTs could be a money-laundering or ponzi scheme.

Personally, I believe the hype surrounding NFTs is creating a dangerous economic bubble which could potentially wreck havoc on the economy. When this bubble pops, a lot of people who invested in NFTs will lose everything, and maybe then will they start to regret paying a hundred million dollars for an easily savable image file.