My Enduring Affection for a Potentially Worthless NFT

During the NFT boom of 2021, enthusiasts would often say 'I'd love it even if it went to zero' as a way of expressing that the true value of an NFT lay not in its monetary worth, but in its cultural significance and the sense of community it fostered. This mindset was reminiscent of the punk rock ethos, where the act of burning money was a symbol of rebellion against the mainstream. Similarly, in the world of NFTs, the willingness to invest in something that could potentially become worthless was a way of signaling one's commitment to the community and its values. However, as the crypto winter set in and the NFT market began to decline, many were forced to confront the possibility that their beloved NFTs might indeed become worthless. So, the question arises: what is it about an NFT that makes it worth loving, even if its monetary value is zero? For me, the answer lies in the story of 'Bert is Evil', a viral meme that was minted as an NFT in 2022. The meme, which originated in the early days of the internet, features Bert from Sesame Street in a series of compromising positions, and was created by Dino Ignacio as a joke. When Ignacio decided to mint the meme as an NFT, he did so as a way of preserving its cultural significance and making it a part of the blockchain. However, the NFT failed to gain traction, and Ignacio was left feeling like an imposter in the world of Web3. Despite this, I was drawn to the NFT, not just because of its cultural significance, but also because of its potential to become a valuable artifact in the future. As the media theorist Marshall McLuhan once said, 'the medium is the message', and in the case of 'Bert is Evil', the NFT is more than just a digital image - it's a symbol of the internet's ability to create and preserve cultural artifacts. When I purchased the NFT, I did so because I believed in its potential to become a valuable part of the blockchain, and because I wanted to support Ignacio's vision of preserving internet culture. However, as the months went by and the NFT failed to sell, I began to realize that its true value lay not in its monetary worth, but in its cultural significance. The NFT had become a symbol of the internet's ability to create and preserve cultural artifacts, and its failure to sell was a testament to the fact that its value lay not in its price, but in its significance to the community. Recently, I discovered that another collector had purchased the second 'Bert is Evil' NFT, and I was amazed to find that it was the Bureau of Internet Culture, a collective that specializes in preserving internet memes and artifacts. This discovery reinforced my belief that the true value of an NFT lies not in its monetary worth, but in its cultural significance, and that the community's perception of its value is what ultimately determines its worth. In the end, my love for 'Bert is Evil' is not just about the NFT itself, but about the community that has formed around it, and the cultural significance it holds. Whether or not the NFT is worth anything in monetary terms is irrelevant - its true value lies in its ability to bring people together and to preserve a piece of internet history.