If they truly understood the scam they’d know it doesn’t end where they win. So yes, they actually fell for it because they publicly participated in it.

Why? The middle people in a pyramid scheme are still winners.

You can be a winner if you're selling pickaxes during a gold rush, but less so if you're building a pickaxe factory. Shopify's NFT stuff was closer to the latter.

NFTs aren't a pyramid scheme. They are a pump-and-dump scheme and involved lots of wash trading.

> If they truly understood the scam they’d know it doesn’t end where they win.

Why?

Because you don’t make money by selling access to NFTs. You make money by accumulating over hyped projects and then dumping them on bullish retail, knowing full well that in another 12-18 months that same jpeg will be worth nothing in the resale market.

Transactions on a few thousand NFTs per day is meaningless (yes volumes that low). So there’s no other option than Shopify actually believing NFTs were a real viable, long term business.

Ah fair. Yes, I think the marketplace builders were truly in on it if they invested a lot of their own money.

Exactly. Plenty of smart people signal their acceptance of NFT nonsense because they see the gravy train and want a piece.