People have been investing through digital platforms since the creation of the internet. Recently, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have had a massive spike in popularity, leading many to invest their hard-earned money into the digital tokens which represent ownership on the blockchain: hard-earned money that would be better spent elsewhere.

NFTs overpromise and rarely deliver, leaving many with holes in their wallets.

While yes, the digital world has had many successful investment opportunities from cryptocurrencies to advertising, NFTs have so far failed to prove their value, leaving a majority of primary investors with negative profit and a large portion of resale purchases un-profitable as well.

Across social media, there is post after post by the bogus gurus claiming to have the key to getting rich: “Turning $6.99 into $26,900 in one day,” claims one Instagram post from Nfts Hq, an account clearly marketed towards teenagers and young adults looking for a get rich quick scheme. 

Obviously, those results are highly unlikely, yet many become trapped in this sense of false security, legitimately believing they will achieve these results. 

False security is one of the major issues at the heart of NFTs. While someone may be able to own the blockchain associated with the object, there is nothing that can stop others from viewing or copying it themselves. The only thing investors actually have the right to is the code, which does little to prevent mischief from others.

Another issue that NFT investors face is the price. To create an NFT, let alone purchase one, can be an unraveling of unexpected fees with expenses such as “gas prices”’ which can be upwards of $100. The creation itself also sits between $50 to $70 on average, which can get pricey quickly for something that’s essentially gambling on a picture with a code at the end of the day. 

For those who purchase them in the resale market, the prices can also get astronomically high. Sometimes prices even get into the thousands and millions of dollars. 

Considering the short time NFTs have been out, who’s to say that NFTs will disappear as a fad in 10 years and be utterly worthless? Millions of dollars have been thrown away on images that could be public domain in the future.

NFTs are yet to prove themselves as reliable investments and still have many issues and kinks yet to be worked out. Investing in trends like NFTs is risky, and could prove financially dangerous if the trend doesn’t keep up.