Something I suspect Nintendo never imagined when developing Animal Crossing: New Horizons was that Nook Miles Tickets - the coupons which can be used to visit mysterious deserted islands - would become a form of virtual currency. In the Animal Crossing trading community, large numbers of Nook Miles Tickets (abbreviated to NMT) are currently changing hands, and the whole thing feels rather weird. And, as ever, we're at the point where people are selling them in bulk for real money.
NMT, for those who need a briefing, can be bought in-game with Nook Miles: points which are earned by completing various tasks such as planting flowers, fishing, or chopping trees. Once you've completed most of the game's major milestones, you can still earn them from Nook Miles Plus - a rolling list of challenges, which places some limits on the rate at which you can earn them. These Nook Miles can then be spent on a limited selection of items and recipes, along with tickets to visit mystery islands. But given it takes a while to properly "clear" a Nook Miles island, and the rewards for doing so are often quite low, why are NMT suddenly in such high demand?
There are a couple of explanations here, but it seems the main factor driving demand is villagers. On Twitter, Reddit and other social media platforms, the Animal Crossing community has developed a number of favourite villagers - such as dapper cat Raymond or wannabe popstar Audie - and everyone wants them on their island. There's a slang term for this: dreamies, short for dream villagers, and some sites have even created tier listings to rank their popularity. And price.