NFT— Pretty sure you have heard about it. But... Do you really understand what is going on inside NFT and what harms can it do to us in later days? Read this and find out!
Everything you need to know about NFTs. It’s not going to be long because there is only one - it’s a big waste of energy and ruins the environment.
Let me start by telling you a story about Justin Bieber, who bought an NFT, a digital picture of an ugly monkey, for 1.29 million USD. And articles and Twitter users everywhere are posting pictures as everyone was able to take screenshots or download the photo for free. We would love to take a screenshot and post it here as well, but the absolute ugliness is just not worth the effort. By the way, the NFT’s current value is 69,000 USD, which means Bieber lost lots of money. We thought he would learn from the lesson, right? No. He bought another NFT. A picture of an ugly bear.
I know what you might be thinking, rich goons recklessly spending their money. What’s new about it? What does this have anything to do with the environment anyway? Well, to answer that question, we need to learn a few terms and how NFT transaction exactly works. Firstly, NFT - also known as Non-Fungible Tokens, is a complex and unique ‘metadata’, as they claimed, that often comes in a graphic form. Second is cryptocurrency, which is the currency used to buy NFTs. Thirdly, Blockchain - a sort of a giant public ledger that shows everyone the transactions of NFT. To put it in the simplest terms, NFT is the product, cryptocurrency is the money, and blockchain is the bank. The thing about NFT, cryptocurrency, and blockchains is that it consumes too much power, leave a huge amount of carbon footprint, and worsen climate change. Let us show you.
There was a GIF of a cat, whose body was a pop tart, blasting to space, leaving a rainbow ray as its trail. It’s a popular GIF, we bet you’ve seen it. It was made into an NFT one day, and Its transaction alone left a carbon footprint that is equivalent to an EU resident’s electricity usage for two months. That’s only one piece of NFT. A simple Google search shows that the total number of NFTs is from 1000 to 30,000. Who knows how many more will be created in the future?
Cryptocurrency, which is a medium used to buy NFTs, also uses tons of energy. Did you know that mining, which means creating digital coins online, for Bitcoins, consumes 110 Terawatt/hour per year - that’s Malaysia’s annual energy draw. Yes, energy used to power an entire country is used to mine for Bitcoin. And, that is only one type of cryptocurrency. There are more of them: Ethereum, Doge Coins, Tether, Ripple and more. Who knows how much energy is drawn from the poor Earth?
Finally, blockchain. One blockchain network consumes 204.5 Terawatt/hour per year, which is the power consumption of Thailand annually. We are only talking about one blockchain network here. Who knows the true number of blockchain networks in the world?
It is a big waste of energy. A large carbon footprint will be left, and the Earth will get hotter. Avoiding climate change will be even more impossible. So what can we do? Well, first of all, don’t buy NFTs. Most of us can’t afford it anyway, but here’s a reminder for the people with money - and brains. Next, the government needs to regulate appropriate laws. Such waste of energy must not be legal. Lastly, if you intend to be an artist one day, don’t sell it in NFT form. Produce physical art pieces. Make it more memorable than cartoons of ugly monkeys.
We can learn more about this from Joanie Lemercier, a former NFT artist. He decided to quit when he found out that the transactions of six of his art pieces sold in 10 seconds were enough to power his entire studio for two years. Realising how much carbon footprint he’s responsible for, he decided to quit and became an activist. He regularly publishes the ugly truth about NFT on his official website.
We realise that a carbon footprint is inevitable but consider this - when you get in a car, an ambulance, or a bus, you certainly will be responsible for the carbon emission. But at least, you can get to work, children can be sent to school, and patients can be delivered safely to the hospital. Now, let’s take a look at NFT. Energy, that is enough to power multiple small countries, is used just so some privileged people get to flex? Answer us truthfully, is it worth the carbon footprint?
Imagine a world with a low carbon footprint. A world where arts are created without pollution. Imagine if the privileged spent money to fix Earth instead of destroying it. Now, look around us. We live in a world where none of that happens. So, fight. Do your part to boycott the ridiculousness of NFTs.
To wrap everything up, we learned a few terminologies - NFTs, cryptocurrency, and blockchains. We also learned how each of these things leaves a huge carbon footprint and endangers the environment. We also learned the stories of a few well-known people - Joanie Lemercier, the smart one, and Justin Bieber, who’s quite the opposite. As a final reminder, we need to stop purchasing NFTs, create new laws against the NFT, stop selling art through blockchains and cryptocurrency, and at the very least, spread awareness.
Thank you.
We were told that a reference list is not required. But you deserve further readings and the truth:
Calma, J. (2021, March 15). The climate controversy swirling around nfts. The Verge. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/15/22328203/nft-cryptoart-ethereum-blockchain-climate-change
Hayes, A. (2022, December 19). Blockchain facts: What is it, how it works, and how it can be used. Investopedia. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp#toc-blockchain-vs-banks
Khaw, C., Sivakumar, Y., Singh, I., Dayangku, S., Petraeus, M., Tan, J., & Salim, Z. (2022, June 2). These are the reasons why nfts are a hot topic in the climate controversy Convo. Vulcan Post. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://vulcanpost.com/789956/nft-climate-controversy-bad-environment-impact/
Lemercier, J. (2021, August 13). The problem of (Ethereum) CryptoArt. Studio Joanie Lemercier. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://joanielemercier.com/the-problem-of-cryptoart/
Meijer, E. (2022, December 22). Blockchain and our planet: Why such high energy use? PRé Sustainability. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://pre-sustainability.com/articles/blockchain-and-our-planet-why-such-high-energy-use/#:~:text=Once%20a%20blockchain%20network%20reaches,the%20power%20consumption%20of%20Thailand.
Plunkett, L. (2022, November 17). Justin Bieber's '$1.29 million' NFT is now 'worth' $69K. Kotaku. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://kotaku.com/justin-bieber-nft-bored-ape-crypto-ftx-crash-market-1849798228
Sharma, R. (2023, January 8). Non-fungible token (NFT): What it means and how it works. Investopedia. Retrieved January 13, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/non-fungible-tokens-nft-5115211#toc-what-is-a-non-fungible-token-nft
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