Does a veblen good need to have a physical existence?

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. NFTs fit (fitted?) the definition a bit better

since they were (are?) something certain people felt they could brag about owning, with it plain they'd paid for "nothing", apart from the knowledge that no one else had paid for that particular "nothing". And there was more kudos in the cost being higher.

Bitcoin has the use of a hard-to-trace exchange mechanism for tax evasion, buying illegal goods, receiving ransoms and so on. When used like that, it's not for bragging, and people want it to end up as profitable.

(On edit: it seems the present tense is the right one - people are still pushing up the prices of some NFTs. Well, they were, until their "price" halved today.

One day, economists will look back and marvel that people spent their time gambling like this and pretending it was a productive activity.