NFTs have become a popular topic within the last few months. I’m sure we’ve all seen the bored ape and the lazy lion drawing. Even celebrities are hopping on this NFT craze such as Eminem, Tana Mongeau, Melanie Martinez, and Jimmy Fallon. But what really are NFTs and why are people so crazy over them?
NFT stands for Non Fungible Token. The “token” would be a form of art, music, a video, etc.. The “non-fungible” aspect would be a blockchain, kind of like a receipt, which you purchase to own/sell/trade the token. These blockchain receipts can be sold for hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dollars. Jimmy Fallon bought his NFT for $216,00 and due to his influence and fame, he could easily resell it for double or triple the price.
Although NFTs are a huge technological advance and have taken the art trade world by storm, many artists are actually not in support of it. NFTs claim to combat art theft, but it really does not do much to actually prevent it. Art theft is still very possible when it comes to NFTs because people can easily just screenshot and repost. NFTs also are not accessible to many artists because of celebrities charging so much for their own NFTs which creates the expectations that NFTs should be expensive.
Something that a lot of people are not aware of is that NFTs are extremely environmentally damaging. This is the main source of controversy surrounding NFTs. The issue with NFTs is the way their blockchains are created using Ethereum – a form of technology used for digital money. Research shows that one NFT consumes as much energy as a regular European resident’s monthly electricity usage.
That is a LOT of energy. This much energy will deteriorate our ecosystems. Minting is also a process related to NFTs which allows the piece of art to be registered to a blockchain. It is incredibly pricey not only monetarily but also with regards to our environment. The process of minting is paid using Ether (Ethereum). One translation of Ether is comparable to the amount of energy it takes to watch 20,603 hours of YouTube nonstop. This is an unimaginable amount of energy and it causes a ginormous imprint on our carbon footprint.
Celebrities and influencers should be more mindful of what they are promoting. Treating NFTs like the latest trend is causing irreversible damage to both the art community and for our environment. There is some research being done to make NFTs more environmentally friendly, and the concept of an NFT does have potential. But currently it is probably not a trend you should want to hope on without doing extensive research.