I think of Sarah, a promising young filmmaker I had found at the local coffee shop. She envisioned a future where she would sell her digital creations as NFTs and finally break free from her dead-end retail job. She poured her heart and soul, as well as her meager savings, into creating and minting her pieces. She really drank the Kool-Aid on NFTs. They provided an enormous opportunity for artists to circumvent established gatekeepers and reach collectors directly.
Sarah as a statistic, but rather, she is a casualty. The recent data showing a 4.7% dip in NFT sales to a measly $94.7 million and a massive 77.9% plunge in buyers isn't just a market correction. It's a reckoning. Asking for this is a flashing neon sign. It shouts that the “free market” illusion pushed by crypto advocates is a harmful mirage, especially to Gen Z and wage-earning creatives.
The NFT market, in its unregulated, Wild West glory, is built to take advantage. It specifically goes after the hopes and dreams of young people such as Sarah. Not just because they wanted their creative instincts to be free from the stifling clutches of corporate bullshit. Instead, they’re sold on the idea of financial freedom, only to reap the whirlwind in terms of financial loss.
Exploiting Dreams, Delivering Nightmares
Think about it: How many NFTs do you think are actually worth anything? The overwhelming majority are valueless JPEGs, sustained by hype and artificial scarcity. They’re digital beanie babies, doomed to the digital e-waste dump.
The tech bros, the venture capitalists, and the early adopters who enrich themselves fabulously. They pump and dump, leaving the Sarahs of the world left holding the bag. It’s a dirty game, and the house always wins.
This is turning out to be somewhat similar to the 2008 housing crash. The wink and nudge of promises of easy homeownership, the subprime mortgages mistargeted on those who did not have equitable means to pay for them. As it currently stands, the NFT market is the digital age’s subprime mortgage crisis. It’s no wonder marketers are zeroing in on Gen Z as the ideal cohort for their insidious schemes.
That libertarian dream at the heart of the crypto and NFT universe is super attractive. It lures in the same people who are otherwise disenfranchised by traditional institutions. The promise of a decentralized, unregulated market, unfettered by government meddling, is indeed seductive. The reality is far different.
Crypto's False Promise of Freedom
Unregulated freedom in the world of finance is always an invitation to cuckolding. With no regulation, there are no guardrails for innovation, no consumer protections and no accountability. In fact, scammers, wash traders, and market manipulators proactively seek to exploit the chaos and irresponsibility. Curiously, Polygon is the one charging up ahead with an unbelievable 232.6% surge! We expect OpenSea to argue to the SEC that they are simply a “discovery tool.” The reality is, though, that they are opening the floodgates to a marketplace rife with fraud and abuse.
Don't be fooled. This isn't about freedom. It's about power. It’s about moving the seat of wealth and power from the many to the few, all in the name of techbro innovation.
The solution isn't to abandon technology altogether. We hope to show you that the web truly is an empowering and creative place. Yet we need to build a digital economy that is inclusive, equitable, and accountable.
Regulation Needed, Revolution Desired
We need stricter disclosure requirements for NFT projects, anti-money laundering controls, and consumer protection laws to protect artists and buyers from scams. Realize fully that the SEC won’t protect you from inflation. Realize that the SEC needs to wake up! NFTs as financial instruments. NFTs are not simply digital collectibles—they are capital markets instruments that must be regulated appropriately.
Regulation alone isn't enough. This is why we require nothing short of a profound transformation in our economic system. Let’s upend this idea that riches should only be in the hands of a privileged few. Instead, we should be advocating for a much more equitable allocation so all communities can prosper. We should be fighting for a fairer allocation of resources and opportunities, though.
Sarah's story is a call to action. It demonstrates once again that there is no such thing as a “free market.” It’s a system that is totally stacked against the young, the creative, and the vulnerable. It’s high time we create a new system, one that serves people—not profit.
It's time to organize. It's time to advocate. It's time to demand change. The future of Gen Z, and the future of art, is counting on it.
It's time to organize. It's time to advocate. It's time to demand change. The future of Gen Z, and the future of art, depends on it.
