When JPEGs > utility: the Hypurr phenomenon

One Hyperliquid user sold their Hypurr NFT, earned through ecosystem participation, for 2000 HYPE (that’s over $90,000 at current prices). The same NFT was later resold for 5000 HYPE… and then again for 10,000 HYPE.

It reminds me of something Ross Ulbricht once said about the famous “10,000 BTC for pizza” story. He wasn’t that impressed by the fact someone bought pizza with Bitcoin. What fascinated him was the pizza guy - the one who accepted 10,000 BTC in return.
What did he see in Bitcoin that made two pizzas seem like a fair trade?

I’m asking myself the same thing about this NFT.
Sure, I’m happy for the person who basically got 2000 HYPE for free.
But I’m far more curious about the buyer.
What did they see in this picture that made them part with so much HYPE?

To put it in perspective:
Locking 2000 HYPE on Hyperliquid gives you a 15% discount on trading fees - and you keep the tokens. That’s real utility.

And even if you’re not a trader, you could’ve swapped HYPE on rabbit.io for Bitcoin - the OG digital gold.
Or PAXG - tokenized physical gold.
Or USDT, which more and more merchants accept worldwide, making it a legit alternative to fiat.

But the buyer chose Hypurr.
And so did the next two buyers - each one paying even more HYPE than the last.

I know: some people buy NFTs to support artists.
But in this case, the sellers weren’t artists. Just random holders flipping an airdropped reward.

Would you give thousands of HYPE tokens for a single Hypurr NFT?