week 09 Response -- MONKEYS!!!!!

from Tenor.com from user Biren_2008

@generalfritz14 Are high NFT sales in the 6 or 7 figures just another form of money laundering, or are they actually worth that amount?!

When you think of NFTs what first thing pops into your head? It's probably the funny monkey pictures. We've all seen them, seemingly the same picture, but with different colors, expressions, accessories, etc. But obviously, it is way more than just the funny monkeys. It all feels mass-produced, each is unique but more of a unique combination of the same items. Where in art, pieces are usually one of a kind and different, NFTs feel like more of a cash grab than an artistic passion. Take the "bored apes" for example, they have essentially randomized the same chimp but with mix-matched features to create "unique" art. So, why do these go for a high price? It's because people want them. It could be for investing reasons, the art, someone thinks it's funny, it looks cool, there are a lot of things that contribute to an NFT's popularity, but the biggest is the bandwagon. When people see others are buying an NFT, it has a perceived value to individuals because of that. So yes they are valuable, but not for traditional reasons. People make them expensive and pay a lot of money for them, which makes them valuable. Of course, in a way, it feels like a money grab because the creators can constantly pump out a large amount of art to sell. They are and aren't, because there are genuinely cool and unique NFTs and then there are these monkeys. It's all subjective, some people, like me, think that the monkeys are stupid but others think they are cool and worth something, that's why they are so expensive. All in all, I personally don't understand or really care enough to get into NFTs, but that's probably why questions like this are asked, it's a lack of knowledge. But, people have to experiment to find out, they can't just look it up. Perhaps when more info is released, we will realize the true value of non-fungible tokens.