Jump to content

Non-fungible token: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
Jeronemoo (talk | contribs)
Added Ticketing as category/usecase
AmirahBreen (talk | contribs)
first NFT feature film score
Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit Advanced mobile edit
Line 49: Line 49:
In May 2018, [[20th Century Studios|20th Century Fox]] partnered with Atom Tickets and released limited-edition ''[[Deadpool 2]]'' digital posters to promote the film. They were available from Opensea.io and the GFT exchange.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deadpool posters can now be bought as NFTs|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/deadpool-posters-now-bought-nfts-110019928.html|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.yahoo.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Chmielewski|first=Dawn C.|date=2018-08-03|title=‘Deadpool 2’ Jumps On The Digital Collectibles Bandwagon|url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/deadpool-2-jumps-digital-collectibles-blockchain-1202439356/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>
In May 2018, [[20th Century Studios|20th Century Fox]] partnered with Atom Tickets and released limited-edition ''[[Deadpool 2]]'' digital posters to promote the film. They were available from Opensea.io and the GFT exchange.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Deadpool posters can now be bought as NFTs|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/deadpool-posters-now-bought-nfts-110019928.html|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.yahoo.com|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Chmielewski|first=Dawn C.|date=2018-08-03|title=‘Deadpool 2’ Jumps On The Digital Collectibles Bandwagon|url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/deadpool-2-jumps-digital-collectibles-blockchain-1202439356/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>
In March 2021,<ref name="rarible.com">{{Cite web|title=Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (Exclusive NFT 1st Ed.)|url=https://rarible.com/token/0xd07dc4262bcdbf85190c01c996b4c06a461d2430:287368:0x5bd18a302c34e0c1f5e4a9aac5fffb6b1e4d8e4b|access-date=2021-04-14|website=rarible.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Adam Benzine]]'s [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated documentary ''[[Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah]]'' became the first motion picture, documentary and Academy Award-nominated film to be minted and auctioned as an NFT,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ravindran|first=Manori|date=2021-03-15|title=NFT Craze Enters Film World: 'Claude Lanzmann' Documentary is First Oscar Nominee to Be Released as Digital Token (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/nft-movies-first-film-sale-claude-lanzmann-documentary-1234930343/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-22|title=NFTs are Confusing Everyone, But the Newest Internet Token is Raking in the Memes|url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/nfts-are-confusing-everyone-but-the-newest-internet-token-is-raking-in-the-memes-3559814.html|access-date=2021-04-14|website=www.news18.com|language=en}}</ref> via the Rarible platform.<ref name="rarible.com"/>
In March 2021,<ref name="rarible.com">{{Cite web|title=Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (Exclusive NFT 1st Ed.)|url=https://rarible.com/token/0xd07dc4262bcdbf85190c01c996b4c06a461d2430:287368:0x5bd18a302c34e0c1f5e4a9aac5fffb6b1e4d8e4b|access-date=2021-04-14|website=rarible.com|language=en}}</ref> [[Adam Benzine]]'s [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated documentary ''[[Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah]]'' became the first motion picture, documentary and Academy Award-nominated film to be minted and auctioned as an NFT,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ravindran|first=Manori|date=2021-03-15|title=NFT Craze Enters Film World: 'Claude Lanzmann' Documentary is First Oscar Nominee to Be Released as Digital Token (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/global/nft-movies-first-film-sale-claude-lanzmann-documentary-1234930343/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-22|title=NFTs are Confusing Everyone, But the Newest Internet Token is Raking in the Memes|url=https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/nfts-are-confusing-everyone-but-the-newest-internet-token-is-raking-in-the-memes-3559814.html|access-date=2021-04-14|website=www.news18.com|language=en}}</ref> via the Rarible platform.<ref name="rarible.com"/>

The sound track for the film Triumph, which was composed by Gregg Leonard, went on sale in 2021 as the first NFT for a feature film score. The soundtrack NFT was made available at the time of the theatrical release date. Ownership right to the 80 minute score were maintained by Gregg Leonard who wrote, recorded and mixed all 72 compositions through the Ureeqa, a platform which uses blockchain technology for managing, protecting, and monitizing creative work. Ureeqa only mints validated NFT's, so as to safeguards buyers' confidence that the work they are purchasing is authentic.<ref>{{Cite web|last=UREEQA|date=2021-06-17|title=In its Latest Triumph, UREEQA is Validating a Hollywood Film Score|url=https://medium.com/ureeqa-inc/in-its-latest-triumph-ureeqa-is-validating-a-hollywood-film-score-66092a27d6e7|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-30|title=World's First Movie Score & Soundtrack For Sale As An NFT [EXCLUSIVE]|url=https://screenrant.com/triumph-worlds-first-soundtrack-nft-music-rights-ip-blockchain/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US}}</ref>


Other projects in the film industry using NFTs include the announcement that an exclusive NFT artwork collection will be released for ''[[Godzilla vs. Kong]]''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bosselman|first=Haley|date=2021-03-31|title='Godzilla vs. Kong' to Have First Major Motion Picture NFT Art Release|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/godzilla-vs-kong-first-major-motion-picture-nft-art-release-1234941253/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> and director [[Kevin Smith]] announcing in April 2021 that his forthcoming horror movie ''[[Killroy Was Here]]'' would be released as an NFT.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Alessandro|first=Anthony|date=2021-04-13|title=Kevin Smith To Sell Horror Movie 'Killroy Was Here' As NFT, Launches Jay And Silent Bob's Crypto Studio|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/kevin-smith-killroy-was-here-nft-sale-jay-and-silent-bob-crypto-studio-1234733439/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>
Other projects in the film industry using NFTs include the announcement that an exclusive NFT artwork collection will be released for ''[[Godzilla vs. Kong]]''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bosselman|first=Haley|date=2021-03-31|title='Godzilla vs. Kong' to Have First Major Motion Picture NFT Art Release|url=https://variety.com/2021/film/news/godzilla-vs-kong-first-major-motion-picture-nft-art-release-1234941253/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Variety|language=en-US}}</ref> and director [[Kevin Smith]] announcing in April 2021 that his forthcoming horror movie ''[[Killroy Was Here]]'' would be released as an NFT.<ref>{{Cite web|last=D'Alessandro|first=Anthony|date=2021-04-13|title=Kevin Smith To Sell Horror Movie 'Killroy Was Here' As NFT, Launches Jay And Silent Bob's Crypto Studio|url=https://deadline.com/2021/04/kevin-smith-killroy-was-here-nft-sale-jay-and-silent-bob-crypto-studio-1234733439/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Deadline|language=en-US}}</ref>

Revision as of 12:52, 8 September 2021

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset to be unique and therefore not interchangeable.[1] NFTs can be used to represent items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files. Access to any copy of the original file, however, is not restricted to the buyer of the NFT. While copies of these digital items are available for anyone to obtain, NFTs are tracked on blockchains to provide the owner with a proof of ownership that is separate from copyright.

The NFT market value tripled in 2020, reaching more than $250 million.[2] During the first quarter of 2021, NFT sales exceeded $2 billion.[3]

Description

An NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, which can be sold and traded. The NFT can be associated with a particular digital or physical asset (such as a file or a physical object) and a license to use the asset for a specified purpose.[4] NFTs (and the associated license to use, copy or display the underlying asset) can be traded and sold on digital markets.[5]

NFTs function like cryptographic tokens, but, unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, NFTs are not mutually interchangeable, hence not fungible. While all bitcoins are equal, each NFT may represent a different underlying asset and thus have a different value.[6] NFTs are created when blockchains string records of cryptographic hash, a set of characters identifying a set of data, onto previous records therefore creating a chain of identifiable data blocks.[7] This cryptographic transaction process ensures the authentication of each digital file by providing a digital signature that is used to track NFT ownership.[7] However, data links that point to details like where the art is stored can die.[8]

Uses

File:Hashmask 15753.jpg
This image, Hashmask 15753 (1 of 16,384) by "Suum Cuique Labs GmbH", sold with an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain.

The unique identity and ownership of an NFT is verifiable via the blockchain ledger.[9] Ownership of the NFT is often associated with a license to use the underlying digital asset, but generally does not confer copyright to the buyer: some agreements only grant a license for personal, non-commercial use, while other licenses also allow commercial use of the underlying digital asset.[10]

Digital art

Digital art was an early use case for NFTs, because of the ability of blockchain technology to assure the unique signature and ownership of NFTs.[11] The digital artwork entitled "Everydays – The First 5000 Days", by artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, sold for US$69.3 million in 2021.[5][12] The purchase resulted in the third-highest auction price achieved for a living artist, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney, respectively. Another Beeple piece entitled "Crossroad", consisting of a 10-second video showing animated pedestrians walking past a figure of Donald J. Trump, sold for US$6.6 million at Nifty Gateway, an online cryptocurrency marketplace for digital art.[13][14]

A 3D-rendered model of a home named "Mars House", created by artist Krista Kim, was sold as a piece of digital real estate on the NFT market for over US$500,000.[15]

Erwin Wurm released a NFT as one of the first already internationally renowned artist in August 2021.[16] The work "Breathe In, Breathe Out" was released by Berlin-based König gallery's website MISA 20 years after Wurm's first Fat Car. The sequence shows a loop of a seemingly breathing Porsche 911.[17][18][19]

Generative Art

Distinct from Digital Art, a new form called Generative Art incorporates algorithms developed by the artist that generate on-demand unique pieces when the token is minted. [20]Generative art is being experimented with by projects such as Art Blocks, where Sotheby's sold 19 pieces totaling $81,000.[21]

Collectibles

NFTs can represent digital collectibles like physical card collections, however in a completely digital format. In February 2021, a LeBron James slam dunk NFT card on the NBA Top Shot platform sold for $208,000.[22]
Another form of digital collectibles is concert tickets, as these can be made into unique NFTs and collected.

Ticketing

Tickets, for any type of event, offer multiple usecases when created as NFTs[23][24][25]. One such usecase is the possibility for artists to receive royalties on resales. Another one would be a more intimate relationship between fans and artists[26]. NFT tickets make collecting them possible, which in turn makes it possible for artists to find out who their biggest fans are and reward them. A third example is pre-financing an event, using the minted NFT tickets as collateral.
YourTicketProvider, a ticketing company based in the Netherlands, made the step to NFT tickets in August 2021, using GET Protocol's Digital Twin which enables an NFT copy of traditional tickets[27][28][29].

Avatars (Profile Pictures)

NFTs are commonly used as avatars / profile pictures (PFPs) for social media and online identity. This trend originates from the 2017 project CryptoPunks which allowed the mint of 10,000 unique NFT characters. Brand[30] and celebrity acquisitions of rare NFTs has resulted in a surge of 10,000 piece NFT collections dedicated to generative avatars.

Games

NFTs can also be used to represent in-game assets, such as digital plots of land, which are controlled by the user instead of the game developer. NFTs allow assets to be traded on third-party marketplaces without permission from the game developer.

Virtual Worlds

Described as the Metaverse, virtual worlds such as Decentraland, Sandbox, CryptoVoxels and Somnium Space allow users to create galleries to show off NFT art, clothes, real estate and attend live events with friends online. They use NFTs to auction off limited objects such as virtual land. The open standards means users can seamlessly transact and bring external NFT objects onto their purchased land. In June 2021, a plot of virtual land sized 16 acres on Decentraland was sold for $913,228.20.[31]

Music

Blockchain and the technology enabling the network have given the opportunity for musicians to tokenize and publish their work as non-fungible tokens. This has extended the list of options for musicians and artists alike to monetize and profit from their music as well as other content surrounding the themes of the music and the artists public image. Additionally, NFTs have provided the opportunity for artists and touring musicians to recuperate lost income due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in music industry revenues falling nearly 85%.[32]

NFTs were utilized by artists to increase revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, NFTs reportedly generated around $25 million within the music industry (in an industry with annual revenue of over $20 billion).[33] On February 28, 2021, electronic dance musician 3LAU sold a collection of 33 NFTs for a total of $11.7 million to commemorate the three-year anniversary of his Ultraviolet album.[34] On March 3, 2021, rock band Kings of Leon became the first to announce the release of a new album, When You See Yourself, in the form of an NFT which generated a reported $2 million in sales.[35] Other musicians that have used NFTs include American rapper Lil Pump,[36][37][38] artist Shepard Fairey[39][40] and rapper Eminem.[41]

Film

In May 2018, 20th Century Fox partnered with Atom Tickets and released limited-edition Deadpool 2 digital posters to promote the film. They were available from Opensea.io and the GFT exchange.[42][43] In March 2021,[44] Adam Benzine's Oscar-nominated documentary Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah became the first motion picture, documentary and Academy Award-nominated film to be minted and auctioned as an NFT,[45][46] via the Rarible platform.[44]

The sound track for the film Triumph, which was composed by Gregg Leonard, went on sale in 2021 as the first NFT for a feature film score. The soundtrack NFT was made available at the time of the theatrical release date. Ownership right to the 80 minute score were maintained by Gregg Leonard who wrote, recorded and mixed all 72 compositions through the Ureeqa, a platform which uses blockchain technology for managing, protecting, and monitizing creative work. Ureeqa only mints validated NFT's, so as to safeguards buyers' confidence that the work they are purchasing is authentic.[47][48]

Other projects in the film industry using NFTs include the announcement that an exclusive NFT artwork collection will be released for Godzilla vs. Kong[49] and director Kevin Smith announcing in April 2021 that his forthcoming horror movie Killroy Was Here would be released as an NFT.[50]

Memes

A number of internet memes have been associated with NFTs, which were minted and sold by their creators or by their subjects.[51] Examples include Doge, an image of a Shiba Inu dog whose NFT was sold for $4 million in June 2021,[52] as well as Charlie Bit My Finger,[53] Nyan Cat[54] and Disaster Girl.[55]

Sports

NFTs have also been used in sports, in September 2019, NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie tokenized his contract so that others can invest into it.[56][57] In addition, Dapper Labs, a blockchain technology-based company, has collaborated with the NBA to create "N.B.A Top Shot", a marketplace for digital highlight clips.[13]

Fashion

In 2019, Nike acquired a patent that allows for blockchain technology to attach cryptographically secured digital assets in the form of NFTs to physical products, such as a pair of sneakers, under the name "CryptoKicks".[58][59]

Pornography

Some porn stars have also tokenized their pornographic work, allowing for the sale of unique content for their customers, though hostility from NFT marketplaces towards pornographic material has presented significant drawbacks for creators.[60][61]

Academia

In May 2021, UC Berkeley announced that it would be auctioning NFTs for the patent disclosures for two Nobel Prize-winning inventions: CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and cancer immunotherapy.[62] The university will continue to own the patents for these inventions, as the NFTs relate only to the university patent disclosure form, an internal form used by the university for researchers to disclose inventions.[62] The NFTs were sold on June 8, 2021 for 22 ETH (ca. $55,000).[63]

Utilities

Beyond the tokenization of a digital asset, new utilities on non-fungible tokens are emerging.

In fields such as notarization and attestation, the Singapore Government will issue digital certificates for graduates [64] using OpenCert that number 10,000 certificates a year to automate the 2,000 verification requests per year from employers and other schools.[65] The Singapore Ministry of Health will also issue digital Vaccination Certificates for travel using OpenCert. [66]

NFT collection VeeFriends launched by Gary Vaynerchuk gives each token holder exclusive access to an in-person marketing and entrepreneurship conference called "VeeCon" in 2022, 2023 and 2024. [67]

Rules of access that grant rights to redeem intangible value is a rapidly growing utility. Community NFTs such as "Bored Ape Yacht Club" and "Pudgy Penguins" entitles token holders to benefits, including membership entry to a private Discord server by validating the NFT exists in the wallet against entry. [68][69]

Ownership of an NFT does not inherently grant copyright to whatever digital asset the token represents.[70][71] While someone may sell an NFT representing their work, the buyer will not necessarily receive copyright privileges when ownership of the NFT is changed and so the original owner is allowed to create more NFTs of the same work.[72][73] In that sense, an NFT is merely a proof of ownership that is separate from a copyright.[71][74] According to legal scholar Rebecca Tushnet, "In one sense, the purchaser acquires whatever the art world thinks they have acquired. They definitely do not own the copyright to the underlying work unless it is explicitly transferred."[75] In practice, NFT purchasers do not generally acquire the copyright of the underlying artwork.[76]

Standards in blockchains

Specific token standards have been created to support various blockchain use-cases. These include the Ethereum ERC-721 standard of CryptoKitties, and the more recent ERC-1155 standard.[77] The FLOW and Bitcoin Cash blockchains support NFTs.[78][79]

Ethereum

ERC-721[77] was the first standard for representing non-fungible digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC-721 is an inheritable Solidity smart contract standard, meaning that developers can create new ERC-721-compliant contracts by importing it from the OpenZeppelin library. ERC-721 provides core methods that allow tracking the owner of a unique identifier, as well as a permissioned way for the owner to transfer the asset to others.[80]

The ERC-1155 standard[77] offers "semi-fungibility", as well as providing a superset of ERC-721 functionality (meaning that an ERC-721 asset could be built using ERC-1155). Unlike ERC-721 where a unique ID represents a single asset, the unique ID of an ERC-1155 token represent a class of assets, and there is an additional quantity field to represent the amount of the class that a particular wallet has.[81] The assets under the same class are interchangeable, and the user can transfer any amount of assets to others.[81]

FLOW

The FLOW blockchain which uses proof of stake consensus model supports NFTs, for example NBA Top Shot is run on the FLOW blockchain. Cryptokitties plans to switch from Ethereum to FLOW in the future.[78]

Tezos

Tezos is a blockchain network that operates on proof of stake and supports the sale of NFT art.[82]

Solana

The Solana blockchain also supports non-fungible tokens.[83]

History

Early history (2012–2017)

File:Etheria presentation Devcon1.jpg
Presentation of Etheria at DEVCON 1. November 13, 2015.

The first one-off NFT was created on May 3, 2014, by Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash, live at the Seven on Seven conference at the New Museum in New York City. This experiment represents the first time a non-fungible, tradable blockchain marker was explicitly, via on-chain metadata (enabled by Namecoin), linked to a unique work of art,[84] standing in stark contrast to the multi-unit, fungible, metadata-less "colored coins" of other blockchains and Counterparty.

In October, 2015, the first fully-fledged NFT project, Etheria, was launched and demonstrated live at DEVCON 1, Ethereum's first developer conference, in London, UK, just three months after the launch of the Ethereum blockchain itself. Most of Etheria's 457 purchasable and tradable hexagonal tiles went unsold for more than 5 years until March 13, 2021, when renewed interest in NFTs sparked a buying frenzy. Within 24 hours, all tiles of the current version and a prior version, each hardcoded to 1 ETH ($0.43 cents at the time of launch), were sold for a total of $1.4 million.[85]

In November, 2016, the first NFT that stored images directly on the blockchain, PixelMap, was launched.[86] Inspired by the million dollar homepage, PixelMap was rediscovered in August of 2021, selling the first 3000 tiles for $3.3 million.[87]

Public awareness (2017–2021)

In 2017 the Ethereum blockchain began gaining prominence over bitcoin based token platforms, largely due to having token creation and storage built into its blockchain; this eliminated the need for third-party platforms such as Counterparty. Furthermore, the company coined the term "non-fungible token". Also in 2017, the American studio Larva Labs released CryptoPunks, a project to trade unique cartoon characters, on the Ethereum blockchain.[88][89][90] In late 2017, another project called CryptoKitties where players adopt and trade virtual cats was released and quickly went viral, raising a $12.5 million investment and some kitties were selling for over $100,000.[91][92][93]

In 2018, Decentraland, a blockchain-based virtual world, raised $26 million in an initial coin offering, and had a $20 million internal economy as of September 2018.[94][95]

In 2019, Nike patented a system called CryptoKicks that would use NFTs to verify the authenticity of physical sneakers and give a virtual version of the shoe to the customer.[96]

In early 2020, the developer of CryptoKitties, Dapper Labs, released the beta version of NBA TopShot, a project to sell tokenized collectibles of NBA highlights.[97] The project was built on top of Flow, a newer and more efficient blockchain compared to Ethereum.[78] Later that year, the project was released to the public and reported over $230 million in gross sales as of February 28, 2021.[98]

The NFT market experienced rapid growth during 2020, with its value tripling to $250 million.[99] In the first three months of 2021, more than $200 million were spent on NFTs.[100]

NFT buying surge (2021–present)

In 2021, interest in NFTs increased. Blockchains such as Ethereum, Flow, and Tezos established specific standards to ensure that the digital item represented are authentically one-of-a-kind. NFTs are now being used to commodify digital assets in art, music, sports, and other popular entertainment, with most NFTs part of the Ethereum blockchain, while other blockchains can implement their own versions of NFTs.[101] A number of high-profile sales were made just in the first few months of the year.[102] In February 2021, the musician Grimes sold around $6 million worth of tokens representing digital art on Nifty Gateway.[103] Later that month, an NFT representing the meme animation Nyan Cat was sold in an Internet marketplace for just under $600,000.[104] On February 28, 2021, electronic dance musician 3LAU sold a collection of 33 NFTs for a total of $11.7 million to commemorate the three-year anniversary of his Ultraviolet album.[34] On March 5, 2021, the band Kings of Leon became the first to sell a newly released album, When You See Yourself, in the form of an NFT, generating a reported $2 million in sales.[105][106] On March 11, 2021, American digital artist Beeple's work Everydays: The First 5000 Days became the first NFT artwork to be listed at prominent auction house Christie's and sold for $69.3 million.[107][108] On March 22, 2021, Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and Square, sold an NFT representing his first tweet for over $2.5 million.[73][109]

The speculative market for NFTs has led more investors to trade at greater volumes and rates.[108] The buying surge of NFTs was called an economic bubble by experts, who also compared it to the Dot-com bubble.[110][111] By mid-April 2021, demand appeared to have substantially subsided, causing prices to fall significantly; early buyers were reported to have "done supremely well" by Bloomberg Businessweek.[112][113] An NFT of the source code of the World Wide Web, credited to internet inventor computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was auctioned in June 2021 by Sotheby’s in London,[114][115][116] and was sold for USD$5.4 million.[117]

Popularity

In 2017, NFTs circulated by CryptoKitties, a project developed by Dapper Labs to sell ownership of unique cat avatars, jumped so much in popularity that a surge in demand took up significant transaction space on the Ethereum blockchain and slowed the entire Ethereum network in December of that year.[118][119]

NFTs became increasingly popular in the early months of 2021 because of numerous high-profile sales,[102] including an NBA Top Shot video clip of LeBron James for $208,000, a 3LAU album for $11.7 million, and a piece by digital artist Beeple for $69.3 million.[102][120][121] NFT sales exceeded $220 million in March 2021 alone, making up nearly half of all-time NFT sales up to that point.[122] This renewed interest in NFTs, particularly those in art, music, and sports, made way into public consciousness, especially amongst the younger generation.[123][124] A comedy skit on the March 27, 2021 episode of Saturday Night Live satirized the popularity of NFTs; the skit was sold as an NFT itself for $365,000 on April 6, 2021.[125]

In 2021, many investors have been willing to pay high rates to secure and promote NFTs, anticipating them to be the biggest and most profitable collectibles in the future.[126][127] In April 2021, venture capitalist David Pakman claimed that the growing value of NFTs was redefining the major entertainment industry.[128] Investors like Mark Cuban have proposed new ways of implementing NFT technology to monetize sports tickets and merchandise sales.[129]

Criticism

Storage off-chain

NFTs involving digital art generally do not store the file on the blockchain due to its size. The token functions in a way more similar to a certificate of ownership, with a web address pointing to the piece of art in question, making the art still subject to link rot.[84]

Environmental concerns

NFT purchases and sales are enmeshed in a controversy regarding the high energy use, and consequent greenhouse gas emissions, associated with blockchain transactions.[130] A major aspect of this is the proof-of-work protocol required to regulate and verify blockchain transactions on public networks, which consumes a large amount of electricity.[131][132] Estimating the carbon footprint of a given NFT transaction involves a variety of assumptions about the manner in which that transaction is set up on the blockchain, the economic behavior of blockchain miners (and the energy demands of their mining equipment),[133] as well as the amount of renewable energy being used on these networks.[134] There are also conceptual questions, such as whether the carbon footprint estimate for an NFT purchase should incorporate some portion of the ongoing energy demand of the underlying network, or just the marginal impact of that particular purchase.[135] An analogy that's been described for this is the footprint associated with an additional passenger on a given airline flight.[130]

Some more recent NFT technologies use alternative validation protocols, such as proof of stake, that have much less energy usage for a given validation cycle. Other approaches to reducing electricity include the use of off-chain transactions as part of minting an NFT.[130] A number of NFT art sites are also looking to address these concerns, and some are moving to using technologies and protocols with lower associated footprints.[136] Others now allow the option of buying carbon offsets when making NFT purchases, although the environmental benefits of this have been questioned.[137] In some instances, NFT artists have decided against selling some of their own work to limit carbon emission contributions.[138]

Plagiarism and fraud

There have been examples of "artists having their work copied without permission" and sold as an NFT.[139] After the artist Qing Han died in 2020, her identity was assumed by a fraudster and a number of her works became available for purchase as NFTs.[140] Similarly, a seller posing as Banksy succeeded in selling an NFT supposedly made by the artist for $336,000 in 2021; with the seller in this case refunding the money after the case drew media attention.[141]

A process known as "sleepminting" can also allow a fraudster to mint an NFT in an artist's wallet and transfer it back to their own account without the artist becoming aware.[142] This allowed a white hat hacker to mint a fraudulent NFT that had seemingly originated from the wallet of the artist Beeple.[142]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dean, Sam (2021-03-11). "$69 million for digital art? The NFT craze, explained". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-04-08.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "The NFT Market Tripled Last Year, and It's Gaining Even More Momentum in 2021". Morning Brew. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  3. ^ Frank, Robert (13 April 2021). "NFT sales top $2 billion in first quarter, with twice as many buyers as sellers". CNBC. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  4. ^ Dean, Sam (March 11, 2021). "$69 million for digital art? The NFT craze, explained". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Kastrenakes, Jacob (2021-03-11). "Beeple sold an NFT for $69 million". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2021-03-21. Retrieved 2021-03-21.
  6. ^ "WTF Is an NFT, Anyway? And Should I Care?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
  7. ^ a b Boscovic, Dragan. "How nonfungible tokens work and where they get their value – a cryptocurrency expert explains NFTs". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  8. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (March 25, 2021). "Your Million-Dollar NFT Can Break Tomorrow If You're Not Careful". The Verge. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  9. ^ "Want to Buy an NFT? Here's What to Know". The Wall Street Journal. March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  10. ^ https://www.mondaq.com/canada/copyright/1067734/nfts39-nifty-copyright-issues-
  11. ^ Patterson, Dan (March 4, 2021). "Blockchain company buys and burns Banksy artwork to turn it into a digital original". CBS News. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  12. ^ Thaddeus-Johns, Josie (2021-03-11). "What Are NFTs, Anyway? One Just Sold for $69 Million". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  13. ^ a b Reyburn, Scott (2021-03-11). "JPG File Sells for $69 Million, as 'NFT Mania' Gathers Pace". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  14. ^ Solomon, Tessa (2021-02-25). "Beeple NFT Artwork Sells for $6.6 M. Ahead of Viral Christie's Auction". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  15. ^ "Artist Krista Kim sells "first NFT digital house" for over $500,000". Dezeen. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  16. ^ michael.huber (2021-08-31). "Künstler Erwin Wurm steigt mit fettem Porsche in den NFT-Markt ein". kurier.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  17. ^ "Erwin Wurms "Fat Car" als digitale Signatur - "Get rich or die tryin'": NFTs und der Kunstmarkt". Deutschlandfunk Kultur (in German). Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  18. ^ "BREATHE IN, BREATHE OUT. ERWIN WURM IN CONVERSATION ABOUT HIS FIRST NFT". misa.art. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  19. ^ "Berlin's MISA Launches NFT Marketplace". www.sleek-mag.com. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  20. ^ "Generative Art and NFTs". ArtNews. 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  21. ^ "Fortune NFTy 50". Fortune. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
  22. ^ "How a 10-second video clip sold for $6.6 million". Reuters. 2021-03-01. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  23. ^ "NFTs in Practice – Non-Fungible Tokens as Core Component of a Blockchain-based Event Ticketing Application". Researchgate. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  24. ^ "Golden Ticket: How NFTs Can Help Artists Profit From Ticket Resales". MiamiLaw. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  25. ^ "NFTs: The future of ticketing?". IQ Mag. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  26. ^ "How NFTs Are Set to Disrupt the Music Industry". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  27. ^ "Yourticketprovider moves into NFT ticketing". IQ Mag. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  28. ^ "GET Protocol unveils Yourticketprovider NFT tie-up". The Ticketing Business. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  29. ^ "NFT Ticketing Goes Mainstream – GET Protocol Launches 'Digital Twin' Product With First User Yourticketprovider". Digital Music News. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  30. ^ "Visa Buys NFT of Digital Avatar With Mohawk for $150,000". Bloomberg. 23 August 2021.
  31. ^ "Virtual real estate plot sells for close to $1 mln". Reuters. 18 June 2021.
  32. ^ "Musicians will lose two-thirds of their income in 2020". BBC News. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  33. ^ "Music-related NFT sales have topped $25m in the past month". Music Business Worldwide. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  34. ^ a b Brown, Abram. "Largest NFT Sale Ever Came From A Business School Dropout Turned Star DJ". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  35. ^ Steele, Anne (2021-03-23). "Musicians Turn to NFTs to Make Up for Lost Revenue". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  36. ^ "CEO of Sweet Talks NFT Partnership with Rapper Lil Pump". Cheddar. 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  37. ^ "Musician NFT Projects, Ranked by How Many F's I Can Give". Vulture. 2021-03-18. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  38. ^ "Rappers and NFTs – How Hip-Hop Is Cashing In on Non-Fungible Tokens". XXL Mag. 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  39. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C. (2018-08-03). "'Deadpool 2' Jumps On The Digital Collectibles Bandwagon". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  40. ^ Halperin, Shirley (2021-04-21). "Mike Dean and Shepard Fairey Team for NFT Offering 'OBEY 4:22' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
  41. ^ "Eminem's First NFT Drop, 'Shady Con,' Includes One-of-a-Kind Slim Shady-Produced Beats". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  42. ^ "Deadpool posters can now be bought as NFTs". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  43. ^ Chmielewski, Dawn C. (2018-08-03). "'Deadpool 2' Jumps On The Digital Collectibles Bandwagon". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  44. ^ a b "Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah (Exclusive NFT 1st Ed.)". rarible.com. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  45. ^ Ravindran, Manori (2021-03-15). "NFT Craze Enters Film World: 'Claude Lanzmann' Documentary is First Oscar Nominee to Be Released as Digital Token (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  46. ^ "NFTs are Confusing Everyone, But the Newest Internet Token is Raking in the Memes". www.news18.com. 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  47. ^ UREEQA (2021-06-17). "In its Latest Triumph, UREEQA is Validating a Hollywood Film Score". Medium. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  48. ^ "World's First Movie Score & Soundtrack For Sale As An NFT [EXCLUSIVE]". ScreenRant. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-09-08.
  49. ^ Bosselman, Haley (2021-03-31). "'Godzilla vs. Kong' to Have First Major Motion Picture NFT Art Release". Variety. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  50. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (2021-04-13). "Kevin Smith To Sell Horror Movie 'Killroy Was Here' As NFT, Launches Jay And Silent Bob's Crypto Studio". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  51. ^ "NFTs and me: meet the people trying to sell their memes for millions". the Guardian. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  52. ^ "Iconic 'Doge' meme NFT breaks record, selling for $4 million". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  53. ^ "Charlie Bit Me NFT sale: Brothers to pay for university with auction money". BBC News. 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  54. ^ Griffith, Erin (2021-02-22). "Why an Animated Flying Cat With a Pop-Tart Body Sold for Almost $600,000". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  55. ^ "Zoë Roth sells 'Disaster Girl' meme as NFT for $500,000". BBC News. 2021-04-30. Retrieved 2021-07-17.
  56. ^ Arnovitz, Kevin (October 21, 2019). "How investing $150K in Spencer Dinwiddie would actually work". ESPN. Retrieved April 1, 2021.
  57. ^ "Sources: Spencer Dinwiddie to convert his NBA contract into a secured digital investment. Here's what that means". The Athletic. 2019-09-12. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  58. ^ Beedham, Matthew (2019-12-10). "Nike now holds patent for blockchain-based sneakers called 'CryptoKicks'". TNW | Hardfork. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  59. ^ Clark, Mitchell (2021-03-03). "People are spending millions on NFTs. What? Why?". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  60. ^ Dickson, EJ (16 March 2021). "Porn Creators Are Getting In on the NFT Craze". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  61. ^ Cole, Samantha (19 March 2021). "'Building the Cockchain:' How NSFW Artists Are Shaping the Future of NFTs". Vice. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  62. ^ a b "UC Berkeley Will Auction NFTs for 2 Nobel Prize Patents | Inside Higher Ed". www.insidehighered.com. Retrieved 2021-05-29.
  63. ^ https://foundation.app/@UCBerkeley/the-fourth-pillar-uc-berkeley-2021-41258
  64. ^ "Grads to get digital certs too from post-secondary onwards | The Straits Times". The Straits Times.
  65. ^ "Students graduating from local schools to receive 'tamper-resistant' digital certificates". Channel News Asia.
  66. ^ "Fully vaccinated? How you can 'notarise' a digital Covid-19 test certificate for travel". Vulcan Post.
  67. ^ "Gary Vaynerchuk is launching art NFTs linked to ethereum cryptocurrency". CNBC.
  68. ^ "I Joined a Penguin NFT Club Because Apparently That's What We Do Now". New York Times. 12 August 2021.
  69. ^ "Why Bored Ape Avatars Are Taking Over Twitter". The New Yorker. 30 July 2021.
  70. ^ Gallagher, Jacob (2021-03-15). "NFTs Are the Biggest Internet Craze. Do They Work for Sneakers?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  71. ^ a b Thaddeus-Johns, Josie (2021-03-11). "What Are NFTs, Anyway? One Just Sold for $69 Million". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  72. ^ Salmon, Felix (March 12, 2021). "How to exhibit your very own $69 million Beeple". Axios. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  73. ^ a b Clark, Mitchell (March 11, 2021). "NFTs, explained". The Verge. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  74. ^ "NFT blockchain drives surge in digital art auctions". BBC. March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  75. ^ "Memes for Sale? Making sense of NFTs". Harvard Law Today. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  76. ^ Burton, Amber (2021-03-13). "Want to Buy an NFT? Here's What to Know". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  77. ^ a b c Volpicelli, Gian (24 February 2021). "The bitcoin elite are spending millions on collectable memes". Wired UK.
  78. ^ a b c "NFTs are both priceless and worthless". Engadget. 2021-03-11. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  79. ^ "Uniswap UNI Token was "Shining Star" of DeFi this Past Week, while Ethereum based NFTs Rising in Popularity, OKEx Reports". Crowdfund Insider. 2021-03-07. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  80. ^ "EIP-721: ERC-721 Non-Fungible Token Standard". Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  81. ^ a b "EIP-1155: ERC-1155 Multi Token Standard". Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  82. ^ Sparkes, Matthew (March 30, 2021). "NFT developers say cryptocurrencies must tackle their carbon emissions". NewScientist. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  83. ^ Ponciano, Jonathan. "Solana Skyrockets To New High—Amassing Nearly $40 Billion In Market Value As Competition With Ethereum Heats Up". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  84. ^ a b Dash, Anil (2021-04-02). "NFTs Weren't Supposed to End Like This". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  85. ^ "The Cult of CryptoPunks". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  86. ^ "PixelMap.io: Own a piece of Blockchain History!". pixelmap.io. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  87. ^ McBride, Adam (2021-08-24). "Pixel Map — Lost 2016 NFT Project". Medium. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  88. ^ "Should You Buy a Bitcoin-Inspired Image of Lindsay Lohan?". Bloomberg.com. 2021-03-08. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  89. ^ Abbruzzese, Jason. "This ethereum-based project could change how we think about digital art". Mashable. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  90. ^ Chevet, Sylve (2018-05-10). "Blockchain Technology and Non-Fungible Tokens: Reshaping Value Chains in Creative Industries". Rochester, NY. SSRN 3212662. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  91. ^ "CryptoKitties Mania Overwhelms Ethereum Network's Processing". Bloomberg.com. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  92. ^ "CryptoKitties raises $12M from Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  93. ^ Cheng, Evelyn (2017-12-06). "Meet CryptoKitties, the $100,000 digital beanie babies epitomizing the cryptocurrency mania". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  94. ^ Hankin, Aaron. "People are making more than 500% buying property that doesn't actually exist". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  95. ^ "How to Make a Killing in Virtual Real Estate". Bloomberg.com. 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  96. ^ Gallagher, Jacob (2021-03-15). "NFTs Are the Biggest Internet Craze. Do They Work for Sneakers?". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  97. ^ "CryptoKitties developer launches NBA TopShot, a new blockchain-based collectible collab with the NBA". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  98. ^ Young, Jabari (2021-02-28). "People have spent more than $230 million buying and trading digital collectibles of NBA highlights". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  99. ^ "The NFT Market Tripled Last Year, and It's Gaining Even More Momentum in 2021". Morning Brew. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  100. ^ "NFTs Are Shaking Up the Art World—But They Could Change So Much More". Time. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  101. ^ Clark, Mitchell (2021-03-03). "People are spending millions on NFTs. What? Why?". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  102. ^ a b c Howcroft, Elizabeth (2021-03-17). "Explainer: NFTs are hot. So what are they?". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  103. ^ Kastrenakes, Jacob (2021-03-01). "Grimes sold $6 million worth of digital art as NFTs". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  104. ^ Griffith, Erin (2021-02-22). "Why an Animated Flying Cat With a Pop-Tart Body Sold for Almost $600,000". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  105. ^ Hissong, Samantha (2021-03-03). "Kings of Leon Will Be the First Band to Release an Album as an NFT". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
  106. ^ Hissong, Samantha (2021-03-09). "Music NFTs Have Gone Mainstream. Who's In?". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  107. ^ "Beeple's masterwork: the first purely digital artwork offered at Christie's | Christie's". www.christies.com. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  108. ^ a b Thaddeus-Johns, Josie (February 24, 2021). "Beeple Brings Crypto to Christie's". The New York Times. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  109. ^ "The Next Frontier of the NFT Gold Rush: Your Tweets". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2021-04-07.
  110. ^ Reyburn, Scott (2021-03-30). "Art's NFT Question: Next Frontier in Trading, or a New Form of Tulip?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  111. ^ Small, Zachary (2021-04-28). "As Auctioneers and Artists Rush Into NFTs, Many Collectors Stay Away". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  112. ^ Tarmy, James; Kharif, Olga (April 15, 2021). "These Crypto Bros Want to Be the Guggenheims of NFT Art". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  113. ^ Shaw, Anny. "NFT prices are plummeting. What could this mean for the art world?". CNN. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  114. ^ "NFT representing Tim Berners-Lee's source code for the web to go on sale". theguardian.com. theguardian.com. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  115. ^ "This Changed Everything: Source Code for WWW x Tim Berners-Lee, an NFT". sothebys.com. sothebys.com. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  116. ^ "The web's source code is being auctioned as an NFT by inventor Tim Berners-Lee". cnbc.com. cnbc.com. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  117. ^ Lawler, Richard (30 June 2021). "Sir Tim Berners-Lee's web source code NFT sells for $5.4 million". The Verge. VOX Media. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  118. ^ "CryptoKitties craze slows down transactions on Ethereum". BBC News. 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  119. ^ CryptoKitties. "CryptoKitties | Collect and breed digital cats!". CryptoKitties. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  120. ^ Rapp, Timothy. "LeBron James Lakers Highlight Sells for Record $208K on NBA Top Shot". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  121. ^ Reyburn, Scott (2021-03-11). "JPG File Sells for $69 Million, as 'NFT Mania' Gathers Pace". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  122. ^ Piven, Ben. "NFT craze: Why are non-fungible tokens all the rage?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  123. ^ "What are NFTs and why are they so popular?". MoneyWeek. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  124. ^ MacColl, Margaux. "These Gen Z VCs are getting in on the NFT frenzy — here are the 4 NFTs they've collected so far". Business Insider. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  125. ^ Jazmin Goodwin. "Still not sure what NFTs are? 'SNL' explains with Eminem parody". CNN. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  126. ^ "If you haven't followed NFTs, here's why you should start". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  127. ^ "What are NFTs and why are they suddenly so popular?". euronews. 2021-04-02. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  128. ^ "Why every major entertainment company will get into NFTs, according to the VC behind NBA Top Shot". news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  129. ^ Locke, Taylor (2021-03-26). "Mark Cuban: The Dallas Mavericks are thinking about 'turning our tickets into NFTs'". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  130. ^ a b c Calma, Justine (2021-03-15). "The climate controversy swirling around NFTs". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  131. ^ Krause, Max; Tolaymat, Thabet (2018). "Quantification of energy and carbon costs for mining cryptocurrencies". Nature Sustainability. 1: 814. doi:10.1038/s41893-018-0188-8.
  132. ^ Gallersdorfer, Ulrich; Klassen, Lena; Stoll, Christian (2020). "Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin". Joule. 4(9). doi:10.1016/j.joule.2020.07.013. PMC 7402366.
  133. ^ deVries, Alex (2018-05-16). "Bitcoin's Growing Energy Problem". Joule.
  134. ^ Cuen, Leigh (2021-03-21). "The debate about cryptocurrency and energy consumption". TechCrunch.
  135. ^ De-Mattei, Shanti Escalante (2021-04-14). "Should You Worry About the Environmental Impact of Your NFTs?". Art News. Retrieved 2021-06-02.
  136. ^ Matney, Lucas (2021-03-30). "ConsenSys launches a more energy-efficient NFT ecosystem with a project from artist Damien Hirst as its first drop". Techcrunch. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  137. ^ Di Liscia, Valentina (2021-04-05). "Does Carbon Offsetting Really Address the NFT Ecological Dilemma?". Hypoallergic. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  138. ^ Howson, Peter. "NFTs: why digital art has such a massive carbon footprint". The Conversation. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  139. ^ Williams, Rhiannon (2 April 2021). "NFT digital art: Would you pay millions of pounds for art you can't touch?". inews Technology. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  140. ^ Kwan, Jacklin (28 July 2021). "An artist died. Then thieves made NFTs of her work". Wired. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  141. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58399338
  142. ^ a b Schneider, Tim (21 April 2021). "The Gray Market: How a Brazen Hack of That $69 Million Beeple Revealed the True Vulnerability of the NFT Market (and Other Insights)". artnet news. Retrieved 28 August 2021.