In 2021, we learned we could speculate on anything. Through NFTs, investors traded on emoji, tweets, jpegs, and farts. And in the memecoin market, a lot of people made a lot of money on inside jokes. For the uninitiated, a meme coin is a crypto asset based on a meme or an internet joke. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, which try to serve a real-world purpose, the point of most meme coins isn’t really to do anything. Instead, they’re largely vehicles for speculation, their value driven by hype. Meme coins generally begin at a price of a few cents or less but can quickly soar to hysterical highs, making them beloved by the Robinhood crowd. Here, a student turned crypto trader in his mid-20s shares his frenzied journey through the meme casino and what it was like to make his first million.
I FIRST BOUGHT BITCOIN in 2019 in order to buy drugs. I put in $500 and forgot about it, and when I checked at the end of 2020, I had $2,000. So I started putting my savings in little by little. I was doing really boring stuff, just buying coins and holding them. Then, this past August, Visa bought a CryptoPunk, which is a very blue-chip NFT, and I thought, Shit, maybe I should look at NFTs. I got lucky—I ended up minting the rarest type of one NFT, which was worth more than $200,000 at its peak. I was feeling good and decided to put all the money I had in crypto into NFTs, which by then was about $75,000. Half of it was mine—it was basically all my savings after I maxed out my 401(k). The other half was from my dad, and the plan was to split the profits with him. But two weeks later, halfway through October, NFT prices dropped. And NFTs just kind of died.
Denne historien er fra January 3-16, 2022-utgaven av New York magazine.
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Denne historien er fra January 3-16, 2022-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Trapped in Time
A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.
Polyphonic City
A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.
The Pluck of the Irish
Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"
Houston's on Houston
The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.
These Jeans Made Me Gay
The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Deli Meat Is Rotten
