Nostalgia Premium: Evaluating Digital Collections in the Age of Bitcoin in Mature Markets

The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a demand for digital collectibles in the Bitcoin era, such as early NFTs and crypto artifacts, driven by nostalgia, thanks to the role AI plays in creating ultra-realistic replicas that have instead increased the value of “real” assets in the pre-AI era. However, this trend also faces the risk of artificial intelligence-generated counterfeits and market volatility, and while commodities like CryptoPunks have gained cultural status, they are still speculative investments that are influenced by narrative appeal rather than financial fundamentals.