What are expensive assets? I recently came across news that a blind box figurine from Pop Mart has sold for over 1 million yuan at an auction! Looking at the NFT industry again, Bored Ape's digital image can easily sell for over 3 million yuan. Gold goes without saying, it has been a hard currency for many years, stable and valuable. What about Bitcoin? A coin worth tens of thousands of dollars can fluctuate like a roller coaster, but there are still people flocking to it. What is the logic behind expensive assets? Bubble Mart: A Carnival of Scarcity and Sentiment First of all, let's talk about Bubble Mart, a doll worth over one million yuan. It sounds ridiculous, but upon closer consideration, it doesn't make sense. What you bought is not a plastic toy, it is' scarcity 'and' story '. Limited edition, artist collaborations, and unique designs have turned it from an ordinary commodity into a "collectible". With the enthusiasm of fans and the support of the community, prices naturally skyrocketed. Just like when you were a child saving cards, regular cards are not valuable, but rare flash cards can make you stand out among your friends. Bubble Mart is playing with this logic: scarcity creates demand, and emotions amplify value. NFT Bored Ape: A Show off Game in the Digital World Looking at Bored Ape again, buying over 3 million digital pictures, many people think it's an intelligence tax. But you have to understand that boredom is expensive not just because the pictures look good (which is actually the case), but because it has become a "status symbol" in the digital world. Buying a boring monkey is like buying a membership card for a high-end club, which can enter the circle, ride on popularity, and even make money through hype. With celebrity endorsements and community hype, the price skyrocketed. Simply put, its value lies in "consensus" - if everyone thinks it's valuable, then it's truly valuable. Gold: a hard currency that remains unchanged for thousands of years Why is gold valuable? This is the simplest and most hardcore. Gold is a natural scarce resource with high mining costs, limited reserves, stable physical properties, and is not easily corroded. For thousands of years, gold has been a symbol of wealth, holding a stable position from ancient currencies to modern safe haven assets. The economy is in chaos, the stock market is collapsing, but gold still shines brightly. It is expensive because it is the 'anchor of trust' recognized by the whole world. There's no fancy hype, the value of gold is backed by time and history. Bitcoin: Decentralized Faith One Bitcoin can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Why? Its value comes partly from technology and more from 'faith'. Some people believe that it is the future currency that can resist the control of traditional finance; Some people use it as a speculative tool to chase up and down prices. The high price of Bitcoin is a combination of technology and consensus, but it has significant volatility and high risk. What is the core of expensive assets? Put these things together and you will find that valuable assets revolve around a few core elements: scarcity, consensus, and story. Bubble Mart relies on limited edition and fan sentiment, Bored Ape relies on digital ownership and circle culture, gold relies on natural scarcity and historical endorsement, Bitcoin relies on technology and decentralized faith. Scarcity is the foundation, consensus drives up prices, and stories make it more attractive. But being expensive doesn't mean being valuable forever. The hype of Bubble Mart may subside, the hype of Bored Ape may collapse, and Bitcoin may also plummet. Gold appears stable, but there may also be short-term fluctuations. The value of an expensive asset depends on whether you believe its story and are willing to pay for its consensus. So, what are expensive assets? It's not that the thing itself is awesome, but that people think it's awesome and are willing to pay for it.