The allure for cryptocurrency speculators is similar to what drives just about any wealthy person to spend so much on a small automobile. “If you want a really fast car, you can get something else for a lot cheaper. If you get a yacht, you can take your family on vacation,” said SHL0MS, a pseudonymous nonfungible token artist. A Lamborghini “purely exists to flaunt wealth,” said SHL0MS, who in February exploded a Lamborghini Huracan on camera in an effort to mock crypto industry excess. (The resulting NFTs sold for $2.2 million.)
Most people hurt by the crypto crash never made enough to buy a Lamborghini in the first place, but there are some who got in over their heads. CJ Wilson, a retired professional baseball player who owns several luxury auto dealerships in Fresno, California, said he’s seen more people in recent weeks trying to sell their vehicles. The previous bull market may have lured some traders into a false sense of security, Wilson said: “People get suckered into this narrative that things go up only.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.