The Financial Times recently reported on "the great NFT sell-off" here in this article. Daily trading volumes on OpenSea, which is the largest NFT marketplace, are down 80% ($50M) from their high in February ($248M). Bored Ape Yacht Club, which is the most expensive NFT collection out there, has seen its average daily price come down by about a third (see above). Of course, they still remain extremely valuable NFTs. And a recent CryptoPunks auction was just pulled from Sotheby's so that the owner could "HODL" until things recover.

I don't think any of this should surprise both NFT holders and the naysayers. This is a high-risk space and it is all very speculative. You can't run a discounted cash flow (DCF) model on a Bored Ape and most other NFTs (though some might actually produce cash flow through, for example, secondary sale royalties). The more important point of all of this is that we are living through what many people believe is the creation of a new kind of internet. Cryptocurrencies are what underpin these new digital economies, but we are still figuring out how they will function and what their long-term business models will be.

For me, this is an exciting thing to be a part of. I'm not a venture capitalist, but buying NFTs and doing other crypto things feels a bit like I am an amateur one. Holding ETH or SOL is similar to holding Canadian or US dollars (currencies that underpin economies). So what I am doing is using these currencies to put money into ventures (NFTs) that seem interesting. And to do that, you look at the art, the team behind the project, the roadmap, and how well they appear to be executing against that plan. Indeed, many of the most successful NFT projects are naturally run by teams who are constantly building and shipping.

At the same time, I mentally write off every NFT I buy to $0 as soon as I purchase it. I am also limiting my total crypto allocation to between 5-10% of my non-real estate investments and buying with a scheduled dollar-cost averaging approach. So if this whole web3 thing went to zero tomorrow (which I firmly do not believe will be the case), my life would still go on. None of this is, of course, investment advice. Please do your own research and make your own decisions. But I can tell you that it is a lot of fun following and learning about what smart, creative, and entrepreneurial people are doing in this emerging space.

If you're interested in NFT photography, check out my global citizen collection on Foundation.

Chart: Financial Times

Architect Barton Myers has his home in Montecito, California on the market right now for $8.2 million. In addition to his own residence, the 38-acre site also houses his studio and a guesthouse, all of which have roll-up garage doors so that you can enjoy that perfectly benign California climate. The estate is quintessentially Myers and it's obviously awesome. Here is the listing from Sothebys. (I tried to street view the address but was only successful at locating what I think is its mailbox. What a natural setting.)

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the work of Myers, he is considered one of Toronto's most influential architects. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania and working with architect Louis Kahn for a few years, he moved to Toronto in the late 1960s to take up a teaching position at the University of Toronto. He then started his own architecture practice with Jack Diamond (also an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania) and remained a principal of Diamond and Myers until 1975.

Myers moved on to start his own firm -- Barton Myers Associates -- that same year and became known for notable projects such as 19 Berryman Street in Yorkville (Myers' own residence) and the Wolf House at 51 Roxborough Drive, which was Architectural Record's House of the Year in 1977. Probably the most distinguishing characteristic of his work is his use of exposed industrial materials, which is, of course, something that is on display in Montecito. But he managed to deploy these materials in a way that made them feel high-brow. His homes also feel very California to me.

In 1984, he opened up an office in Los Angeles and eventually his practice in Toronto was shutdown. But not before leaving a lasting legacy in Toronto. For a map of all the firm's North American projects, click here.

Photo: BMA

This past weekend I saw a few people reacting on Twitter to this article by Wendell Cox talking about how Canadian families are being denied their preferred housing choice: the detached single family home.

The fact that the article is by Wendell Cox should tell you everything you need to know. But essentially the argument is that misguided planning policies are driving up the cost of housing and that we should, instead, be encouraging unfettered sprawl.

There’s lots to discuss here, but the first thought that actually came to mind was: “How would this article sound if we replaced all of the references to housing with references to cars?” In case you too are wondering that, this is how the first paragraph would read:

A new poll by Sotheby’s International Realty suggests substantial disappointment among Canada’s young urban families, unable to afford to purchase the types of [cars] that they prefer. The poll determined that young urban households in Canada strongly prefer [Aston Martins], but they are often “motivated by (financial) necessity to purchases [sic] [cars], especially [BMWs], they do not prefer.“

The article is clearly one-sided. I don’t disagree that there are people who – all things being equal – would prefer to raise a family in a ground-related single family home. Backyards serve a purpose, as do large basements equipped with beer fridges.

But all things are not equal. And there also people who value walkability, a reasonable commute, and the kind of urban amenities that come along with being in a dense city. I am one of those people.

Photo by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash