We Americans would never pass up on a fantastic treasure hunt, right? We delve into dusty attics, hunting for forsaken masterpieces that would dazzle the appraisers on Antiques Roadshow. In parallel, we create that next Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, motivated by the excitement in pursuit, fueled by the potential for huge bounty. What if I told you that the price we put on non-physical or digital goods is a lie? It’s a pretty darned good one, too!

Value Isn't Intrinsic, It's Assigned

Let's be blunt. A dusty vase isn't inherently worth $50,000. Conclusion A Jpeg of a cartoon ape is not worth millions. Their value is derived from a complex interplay of factors: perceived scarcity, historical significance (or fabricated history), and crucially, who owned it before.

The Antiques Roadshow thrives on this. An otherwise unremarkable piece of furniture gains immeasurable value simply by virtue of the fact that it was once owned by a well-known historical figure. A mostly blank canvas suddenly becomes worth millions because it turns out to be authenticated as the work of a genius. It's all about the story, the provenance.

A recent University of Iowa study, focusing on the "Gods Unchained" NFT game, confirms what many suspected: provenance matters, even in the digital realm. In fact, digital cards owned by popular players tend to have much higher resale values. Why? Because someone famous owned them. It's the digital equivalent of owning George Washington's dentures.

Who Controls The Value Narrative?

Here's where things get uncomfortable. Who decides what's valuable? And who gets to write the narratives that then require artificially inflating the prices of these things, both tangible and intangible? Is it really the aggregate desire of the marketplace, or are there fiduciaries in between messing up the works.

Think about it. The art world is notoriously opaque. Auction houses, galleries, and critics currently hold incredible power when deciding what art is “important” and, as a result, financially stable. Like anything else in the NFT space, influencers, celebrities, and early adopters can drive a project’s perceived value in a major way.

This creates a system ripe for manipulation. Scarcity can be manufactured, narratives can be orchestrated, and access can be limited to a chosen few. This isn’t simply an issue of the 1% purchasing luxury goods. It’s not so much about how these systems are discriminatory, it’s about how these systems reinforce existing inequalities.

Ignoring Real Value For Digital Fantasies

The crypto craze with NFTs and the Antiques Roadshow wishful thinking on asset valuations is an incredibly seductive red herring. While people are chasing digital riches or hoping to strike gold with a forgotten family heirloom, real problems are being ignored. Access to education, healthcare, affordable housing – that’s what really makes communities thrive.

We're so busy arguing about the metaverse and digital ownership that we're failing to address the very real economic disparities that plague our society. Proponents of NFTs will tell you that NFTs are democratizing the art world and democratizing finance. Given the extreme barriers to entry and wild potential for exploitation, this idea is questionable at best. The lure of royalties for creators is seductive. How many emerging artists really do better than name artists or legacy artists?

It’s all too easy to get swept up in the excitement. The allure of quick riches is powerful. Before you sink your hard-earned money into the next NFT craze or spend countless hours rummaging through antique shops, ask yourself: what am I really valuing? Avoid chasing the shiny object. Am I chasing a fleeting trend, or am I investing in something that truly matters?

We could all stand to be a bit more skeptical of the stories that drive our understanding of what is valuable. So we need to hold the gatekeepers to account and push for much more transparency. Together, let’s create a society where we all can prosper. It doesn’t matter whether you own a rare Beanie Baby or a digital monkey, the same opportunities should be afforded to everyone. For at the heart of it all, true value is not found in things, but rather in human beings. While the market profits off of low volume and high transaction fees, do you?