Are NFTs the new emails?
In a 1999 interview that has since turned into a viral meme, Britney Spears commented on the growing popularity of emails at the dawn of the modern internet.
“Everyone has been doing emails,” she insisted with wide-eyed innocence and a finger that was firmly on the pulse of global tech.
Now, more than two decades later, the same theory could possibly apply to NFTs. Maybe.
You’ve likely heard all about the hot new trend on the internet, even if you have no idea what it means.
If you’re new to the concept of NFTs, let’s start at the very beginning.
What Is an NFT?
NFTs are comparable to a form of cryptocurrency, but the currency is a piece of digital art.
The name is an acronym: NFT stands for non-fungible token. (Yeah, we were confused, too.)
According to The Verge, what really matters in this case is the non-fungible part. That means that one NFT is not interchangeable with another. Each is unique, like art.
In the case of most cryptocurrency, one piece is comparable to another. Take bitcoin, for instance. Each bitcoin is the same.
Where NFTs are involved, each is different.
NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain, according to The Verge.
If this still isn’t making sense to you, think of it as a form of art collecting. People are paying money (sometimes a LOT of money) to claim ownership of digital art.
Some NFTs are qualifiable masterpieces. Others are… much simpler. Ugly, even. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, after all.
Either way, NFTs are fetching a pretty penny. According to Artnet, the most expensive NFT sold in 2021 fetched a price of $69 million.
Are NFTs Good?
Obviously, NFTs can be very lucrative to invest in. However, they aren’t without faults.
For starters, an NFT owner owns the original artwork, but there’s little to stop people from making a digital copy.
Additionally, partaking in purchasing NFTs has a negative impact on the environment.
According to Wired, a lot of energy is consumed during the process of buying and selling NFTs. So much so that one NFT sale reportedly uses nearly as much energy as an art studio in two years.
The Verge notes that this leads to increased greenhouse gas emissions, which isn’t good for our already damaged climate.
These problems as well as the wildly inflated price tags some NFT fetch have led to questions about how good, safe, ethical and sustainable the tokens are as a form of digital currency.
Despite that, people are still buying in — including many celebrities.
It does not appear that Spears has yet taken part in the supposed glory of NFTs. (She’s likely busy filming dance videos on Instagram. Can you blame her?) However, many other stars are already in on the NFT game.
