If you read about the South Seas Bubble, you realize how nothing is actually new.

Picture this: You're some low level street hustler in 1720 England. You have one large scrap of paper to your name. You cut it up, number each chit, and scribble some worthless illegible gobbleygook on it. You walk into a random pub, stand on the table and declare that you are accepting offers for shares in a profitable trade adventure overseas in America. People scramble to trade their actual money for your pieces of paper, and by the next morning, you are on your way to another town miles away to run the same story on a whole new set of rubes.