NFTs have drawn some controversy in the past few months, but most people are left wondering what they actually are. NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are a new way for artists to sell their artwork from websites. People are able to purchase these works using cryptocurrency. In actuality, the world of NFTs and Crypto-fanatics is much more complex and harmful for the environment than any normal person would expect.

What’s really strange about this new medium is how they are “shipped” to the customer. When a person buys an NFT, they don’t actually get the thing they buy. They instead get a link that confirms that the person who bought it is the one who owns that specific file (most likely an image) via blockchain. That does not actually prevent other people from being able to save the image on their own devices, because they’re digital and literally on the internet forever.

The cost of NFTs varies depending on how rare that NFT is. But besides the fact the product the consumer receives isn’t even something that they own, NFTs are criticized heavily for the amount of harm they inflict upon the earth.

NFTs can basically be summarized as a pyramid scheme with a new name tag. These pieces are sold via cryptocurrency, which is a type of currency that is not physical cash that is accessed by a key code. Cryptocurrency/ Bitcoin Mining is performed using certain hardware that solves an extremely complex computational math problem to perform these transactions. People who do use cryptocurrency get criticized for their depressing financial decisions, and rightfully so. There is a clear risk to their money, futures, and the environment in which bitcoin mining does produce electronic waste. It consumes a huge load of energy per transaction. NFTs are bought, not for the art, but for the investment, and in hopes that those who bought NFTs can sell them for higher prices later. Most people who buy NFTs don’t care about the artistic value of the work but waste thousands of dollars on some random animal from a character customization game from the early 2010s.

The amount of energy being consumed by the use of cryptocurrency and NFTS is very detrimental to the Earth and is killing it as we speak. Ethereum, one of many platforms that sells NFTs, can use up 48.14 kilowatt-hours of energy per transaction. Since Ethereum, along with other blockchain sites, generates thousands of transactions every day, these transactions increase global energy consumption drastically. The current demographic of those on the internet are adolescents who really don’t like it when they become aware that the earth is slowly dying because of old people and their terrible decisions once again. 

Currently, there is not much the average citizen can do to prevent purchases of NFTs, since it is mostly people who are looking to invest for their futures, but what we can do is actively not support the artists that sell them and spread awareness of the consequences for buying NFTs. On top of that, it devalues the expressionism of the arts because of the consumers which are mostly rich people looking to invest. Many celebrities in fact have sold and bought NFTs, actively enabling their audience to defend their decisions, but some have stopped after fans called them out on it.

A much more eco-friendly alternative to NFTs is just to commission an artist to draw something you want. It helps financially by supporting artists, gives you the same exact benefits of owning an NFT, and it is also a lot cheaper. People are going so far as to claim that NFTs are going to be a bold new shift for the world with Web3, but it won’t matter when our own world is dying because of this new and “innovative” form of capitalism on the internet.