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The modern day tulip mania has nothing to do with Bitcoin. This is the modern day mania: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvator_Mundi_(Leonardo) Someone paid almost a half a billion dollars for that painting

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i'd be more surprised if it weren't in the service of some kind of tax evasion or money laundering scheme

It was (essential) bought by the Abu Dhabi Tourism board to be displayed at the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Basically they bought it as an expensive advertising campaign for their big shiny new museum

$500,000,000 for a week of advertising for a museum?

I think the only thing they are advertising is they have a lot of money.

I'm guessing targeting other people with a lot of money.

How many people a year go to the 'real' Louvre year after year just to see the Mona Lisa? I guess they're hoping for a similar long term pay off.

It's a sign of asset price increases across the board. The value of money hasn't changed THAT much (yet) with all the central banks money printing, but inequality has.

Asset prices -- whatever the asset class, have boomed through the roof. Money, aside from for consumption, just isn't worth a lot anymore.

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