Intro to NFTs
Quinn and Jonathon Button introduce us to NFTs in a very surface level way in order to help us conceptualize what they are talking about. They tell us that an NFT is a digital chunk of data that is recorded on the blockchain which certifies ownership and proves authenticity. This unique token can not be copied, substituted, or subdivided, and it is non-interchangeable. They also tell us that the blockchain is essentially a virtual ledger that gives all of the information on one specific object or piece of art, or whatever it may be. The blockchain provides everything from how much it was purchased for to where it originates from. It gives dates, places, and times. They explain that even though NFTs have primarily gained traction through art, there are also many other ways that NFTs can be utilized: music, games, fashion, membership, metaverse, and sports.
Other Uses for NFTs
Jonathon and Quinn explain to us that through NFTs, brands can essentially market in a completely different way. By using NFTs to market, brands can incentivize their consumers through different puzzles and games. From what I can tell, they’re basically incentivizing consumers to spend more so that they can “earn” something for their loyalty. As much as I understand that, it also encourages people to spend money that they may not have. Additionally, a consumer's loyalty should not just lie on how much they’ve spent. What if someone who earns $1 million a year buys a whole bunch of Nike, but that is just a fraction of their collection; in comparison, another person who makes $20k a year only buys from Nike, and that’s their whole collection. Who is more loyal? Do you see what I’m saying? The concept of being part of a community that holds its value on how much you’ve spent is not a concept I resonate with. It just upholds the need for status. One of the students after the talk asked, "so it’s kind of like a country club membership?" and the Buttons answered, "yep"... Why on earth would I spend my money on something worthless to be part of some elite club of people who spend money? I’m sorry, it just isn’t really coming off the right way. A great example of this is the Bored Ape art. It isn’t made by hand or unique in any way, people have spent wayyyyy too much on them, and what did it give them? A loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars (futurism.com). Another aspect of NFTs the couple mentioned was music. They referenced DJ 3LAU, who created a site allowing artists to sell their music or some aspect of their music, whether it be tickets to a concert or art with the song. A selling point for the Buttons was that if you did purchase rights, you would get royalties. Maybe that sounds good to someone who isn’t an artist, but to me, that sounds awful. Why would someone else get money for something I made? Absolutely not.
What’s the Point?
Another student questions, "will it lose value?" and Quinn answered that “90% of what is in the NFT space will be gone in 5 years”. Then why invest? It seems like the basis of the NFT space, or at least according to the Buttons, is that it encourages actual engagement, and it proves authenticity as well as ownership. In terms of engagement, how do they not see that social media already encourages that? Comments can get video replies, and influencers are constantly finding new ways to engage with their audience. I don’t understand how NFTs somehow “change the game”. Buying things to get percentages off? Already been in the business for a long time. Even Cashapp incentivizes engagement by offering money if people share on their stories (this provides them advertisement). In terms of minting my property, I COULDN'T CARE LESS. I just don’t care! Maybe they were just being bad salespeople, but I can’t bring myself to want to give my hat a token. What keeps someone from ripping that out? Nothing! Additionally, what’s stopping someone from hacking the blockchain? I assume that the more developed the blockchain is, the easier it gets to hack it. I don’t want to keep my token code in two parts in different houses; that defeats the purpose of everything being logged on the internet. And when it comes to the metaverse, I care even less. I’m already not much of a video game person. I can’t imagine spending time talking to someone in a made up universe instead of just facetiming?... or maybe just a phone call?
Ethics and NFTs
So I clearly don’t care, but what I do care about is the environment. NFTs have as much of an environmental impact as the beef industry, an industry which is infamous for destroying our climate. Not only that, but there have been many cases of fraud within the crypto space. So not only is it volatile, but you could also be getting scammed… all while ruining the environment (theswaddle.com). The only good (that I have heard) that has come of the crypto space was when COVID shut down tourist revenue for the Philippines, so people from there used play-to-earn games to help keep their families afloat. To me though, this doesn’t seem like a “wow, look at what cryptocurrency is capable of” kind of situation. Instead, it’s more of a “wow, there weren’t any other solutions?” kind of situation. The whole time I sat down watching this speech, all I could think of was those school scams. You know, the ones where the kids sell their products and then get some crappy toy as a prize? The whole “participating in it is the only way to understand it” and “look at the amount of money I got in return” kind of attitude is what made me feel weary. The Swaddle also took note of the “ponzi scheme feeling” crypto had to it, and they mentioned that NFTs are often covered in secrecy, so it has often led to scams. As an aside, NFTs are currently declining. It has been over a year since this lecture was filmed, and things have certainly changed since then. Unique wallets have only declined, and by a large margin (InfluencerMarketingHub). In my opinion, I really don’t think this is the future. Maybe if environment and security weren’t a factor, I could see something happening; but even then, it isn’t accessible to the general public because it isn’t very comprehensive to start off with. I guess we’ll see if this article ages well or not.
Works Cited
https://theswaddle.com/nfts-dont-have-any-ethical-use-cases-according-to-new-research/#:~:text=New%20research%20published%20online%20in,justify%20their%20use%20and%20sale.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/celebrities-bored-apes-are-hilariously-worthless-now
https://influencermarketinghub.com/nfts-statistics/#:~:text=10.-,The%20Number%20of%20Unique%20Wallets%20Declined%20by%2017%2B%25,Q2%202022%20and%20Q3%202022.