You’re right, it is basically the same as fiat. It takes a coordinated conspiracy of artist(?), dealer/galleries, curators, art “experts” to certify that an artist’s work is valuable. Never mind that for decades, the actual preference and appreciation of regular people regarding art has been completely ignored. What we see here is nothing more than a decorative(?!) poker chip that gets traded amongst a select group of insanely rich people, in the hope of it becoming worth more every time it changes hands. That’s where the curators, critics, and gallerists come in, they reinforce the myth of what is good, time tested art even though it’s all bunk. Even worse is that the super rich KNOW it’s bunk and they see it as a status symbol of how much money they can throw/waste on it and the know the players in the system are ripping them off. It’s like showing off that they can easily shrug off such absurd sums. The easier they can do that, the more likely it will start the ball rolling on that artist’s work and the people involved end up making a fortune on a type of pyramid scheme.