Buyer’s Remorse & Pokemon Gimmicks
And some unfortunate news
Dear Readers,
As part of the ongoing integration process between Otis and Public, the team has made the difficult decision to wind down the Cultured newsletter. This issue will sadly be our last. We hope you have enjoyed reading this newsletter as much as we have enjoyed writing it!
We intend to introduce an Alts news section to the weekly Public.com “State of the Markets” newsletter in the near future—sign up for a Public.com account in order to receive it automatically. New members can get between $3-$300 of free stock when they fund their account. In addition, the Alts team currently hosts a Public Live audio show in-app, covering alts news and topics 2x / month.
Thank you for reading this newsletter!
Best,
The Public Alts Team
🗞 STORIES OF THE DAY
Do collectors regret how much they spent on their NFTs?
During the NFT boom last year, collectors shelled out small fortunes for a variety of hyped-up collections. As the market has cooled, many of those NFTs have lost value. Some collectors are upset, others say it’s just part of the game.
NFT experts say that a host of scams and other issues with the market, in addition to an untenable surge in demand, led to the current situation. Now, most of the sales are concentrated around blue-chip collections, while smaller ones have tanked in value.
Still, there are no signs that auction houses and other big players will be pulling back. They see digital collectibles as an asset that’s here to stay, a sentiment echoed by collectors. Even if their collections lose value, it’s the community that matters.
Our Take: Buyer’s remorse is inevitable, but some collectors see value as one part of NFTs’ broader purpose.
Some buyers are undoubtedly feeling pangs of guilt about how much they spent on their tokens, especially if it becomes clear that they can’t recoup their losses. However, others seem to have made peace with their loss because their NFTs give them something beyond the value of the token itself — access to a community of like minded collectors.
A new Pokemon TCG card has shaken collectors (in a good way, probably)
Pokemon’s trading card game has released a new line of cards modeled after the Pokemon Go game. The card for Ditto — objectively one of the least useful Pokemon — is throwing collectors for a loop because it can transform. Literally.
The Ditto card will look like any other card, but will have a small Ditto icon in the corner. If you peel off the top layer, it’ll reveal Ditto underneath. Here’s a video of how that works.
But the peelable card has created a crisis for collectors: namely, how do you collect it? Unpeeled is the ideal answer, but there’s a chance that the glue that holds the sticky layer on might damage the actual Ditto card (plus, isn’t the card the whole point?)
Our Take: Is Pokemon getting cheeky?
Pokemon’s decision to make the Ditto card into a gimmick feels like it’s designed to infuriate collectors. That may be the point. As prices for Pokemon cards shoot through the roof, making a card inherently uncollectable is a Grade A troll move. Maybe they’re trying to encourage collectors to use the cards for the game instead of saving them for their future value, or maybe they’re just looking to cause a little ruckus.
✨ AROUND THE INTERNET
Spotify is experimenting with musician NFT galleries, and Steve Aoki and The Wombats already have theirs up.
Add Beeple to the list of celebs who have been hacked — the miscreant who broke into the NFT artist’s Twitter also managed to rip off several fans.
Aussie MSCHF fans can now get their hands on a stack of the brand’s Blur AUD.
A Tom Brady card that was meant to be 1-of-1 was actually…2-of-1? It’s now sold at auction, leading to a sticky situation.
If you’re in Brooklyn this weekend, stop by the LV x Virgil Abloh Air Force 1 exhibition.
