There are a few things that play into it, that are unique. I would venture to guess that most early adopters to NFTs were in Crypto for a long time, they own things like BTC, ETH even ADA for pennies maybe fraction of a penny.
So if you have realized those gains and bought some NFTs early who cares what happens two years from now? You have made an absolute fortune, the Punks I believe were 10,000 NFTs for free at the start, if I own 1 (I don't) and I can now make $150,000 I don't care what anyone in the world thinks, it's a different story if I am trying to get newcomers to buy and tell them lies that these things are going to $1,000,000.
But all these early adopters have had the ability to take all money off the table and a substantial profit that whatever happens later doesn't matter. I remember people talking shit about Bitcoin at $20 a coin, anyone who got talked out of dabbling by listening to one of those people, lost out on life changing money at that entry price.
Like anything you should never be all in unless you just have an all or nothing mentality.
The thing now for those learning and wanting to get in, is they need to spend real money to get involved, if I want an ape I really need to believe that they are going to hold value or like
@bmugford talks about hope the greater fool theory works.
But like Brad mentioned about Jackson Pollock and he did not see value. Many think the same of Apes and Punks but will apes and punks be seen as the first real movers in the space and always hold value, like Pollock did in action painting/ Abstract expressionism.
Here is a good blurb on Pollock
Why is it worth so much?
Pollock and other contemporary artists are sometimes criticized outside of the art world for creating paintings that, to some,
look like a 5-year-old’s drawing.
“You spent money on that?” Alfonso A. Ossorio’s partner Ted Dragon
allegedly said after Ossorio bought “No. 5” for $1,500 in 1949. Today, it’s worth over $180 million.
Hoone admits that Pollock’s art isn’t for everyone.
“It’s hard for people to see the value in something that is so abstract,” he said. But the prices are based on demand: “It’s worth a lot of money because a lot of people want it.”
Hoone also brushed off skeptics' claims a child could create the same art. “The squiggly lines are very intentional and the use of color and when to use color here and when to use color there," he said. If someone else makes something similar "does that mean it’s just as good as the original? Probably not.”
https://www.syracuse.com/news/2020/...nd-its-sale-at-an-auction-so-significant.html