In a scathing critique of the crypto industry, former Chief of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Office of Internet Enforcement, John Reed Stark, has raised serious concerns about the viability and promises of digital collectibles, particularly non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Stark compares the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of NFTs to the infamous fad of pet rocks in the 1970s. Drawing attention to a new study’s findings, he asserts that most NFT collections have rapidly lost value, leaving investors with little to show for their purchases. 

Stark argues that fractionalized links to the metadata of JPEG files, which form the basis of NFTs, are essentially a con game. He claims that the NFT marketplace is inorganic and “rigged,” with rampant market manipulation …