Blockchain-based works such as Plantoids by Primavera De Filippi help us imagine the consequences of organising social systems through automated, gamified, incentive mechanisms Image: courtesy of Furtherfield Beeple and Christie’s recently minted and sold their first NFT work of art for millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency. We know that NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens, or blockchain-based units of authenticity) make the digital internet ownable, which is making artists, commentators and early-adopter collectors alike lose their minds over potential new wealth. But the reality is much more nuanced and dangerous. The move by Christie's et al into cryptoart is a sign of the stagnating established Art world markets and associated industries finding new ways of manufacturing wealth (and highly launderable wealth at that). However, viewed through this lens the only relevant characteristic of this type of “Art” is its capacity to act as a vehicle for financial speculation (let’s use a capital “A” to make this distinction). If we all want to agree that this is what Art is, then galleries, museums, and the whole mechanism of art history should just admit to being marketing vehicles. And perhaps this is what Western Art's role in society will turn out to have been; to prepare us for the final reveal when we discover that participation in financial speculation is the pinnacle of human existence, and our purpose, a fight to the death to "be" the new 1%.