In the National Gallery in London there is a stunning painting by Paul Delaroche of Lady Jane Grey about to have her head chopped off. It reminds me of SpaceX.
Highly prized for his photorealistic style, Delaroche was the most fashionable painter in France in the period after Napoleon — that is, until the invention of the camera, when the sale value of his canvases plummeted and he cried melodramatically: “From today, painting is dead.” Buying a Delaroche then would not have been a good investment — you should have bought a Delacroix.
That’s the problem with assets that have “intrinsic value” but no cash flows. All you’re relying on is what you hope someone will pay in the future, and that can change when the hype evaporates. Think Dutch tulip bulbs, non-fungible tokens, bitcoin or Beanie Babies.