Put the Flex Purchases Away

The 400 ETH Pudgy Penguins is actually a negative for the market.

Hear me out here before you start slinging Penguin insults my way. This isn’t Penguin FUD. I love penguins.

But…

Let’s talk FLEX

A few influencers will likely call this the end of the bear. Or call into a question a bear market. How can a 400 ETH purchase happen in a bear market?

How? It just did. It only takes one person or one DAO with expendable ETH or a skewed sense of risk versus reward for it to happen.

But that’s not why this purchase is negative toward the market. And whether shenanigans were involved or not isn’t the concern here.

Optics toward mass adoption.

Huge sales prices don’t scream mainstream adoption. The moment $600,000+ purchases dominate the headlines are the same time the person thinking about jumping into the space steps back.

“I have to pay a half-million dollars to own a cute penguin?”

No, you don’t Mr. Johnnie-Bag-of-Donuts, but this was the #1 rarity you see and…”

And by this point, they are gone from the conversation.

Mass onboarding will require simplicity and friendlier price points. The excitement of Bored Apes has onboarded everyone it is going to onboard. Once it got to celebrity status, we essentially hit the top of the market. Not to the day but within months.

The psychology of the flex isn’t what we believe. It’s a negative not a positive because it is not relatable for most. Read the reactions to the 400 ETH purchase. The sentiment leans negative rather than positive.

In the end, it breeds resentment.

Mass adoption needs positivity and relatability.

The big flex purchases followed by buyers flaunting their NFT & shit-posting on social media won’t end the bear market, but it will bring closer to THE END if we can’t find a way to change.