The age of cryptocurrency has dawned a new way of trading funds and with it a variety of opportunities and drawbacks. It was inevitable, but did we expect it to happen so soon?
One of 5,000 images from artist Beeple's work “Everydays — The First 5000 Days" which sold as an NFT for $69.3 million at a Christie's auction. Christie's Images Ltd.
Crypto has reached the art world with its own problems in tow. The newest “fad,” in the online art community concerns NFT’s, or non-fungible tokens, a form of digital currency that, unlike their popular counterparts, are—as the name suggests—non-fungible. This means their value is entirely unique per transaction. Whereas the value of a Bitcoin is the same in every exchange, NFT’s can have values as one-of-a-kind as a fingerprint.
Like a certificate or a deed, this identification of ownership theoretically ensures that an individual is the sole possessor of their art; this “signature” also includes resales, which secures payment even after the initial purchase. Such an appealing medium would naturally draw attention from artists seeking to increase the return on their creative efforts. This rising market has amassed millions of dollars in investments, but just like any cryptocurrency, this information must be stored somewhere.
And by somewhere, this means data warehouses; data warehouses mean a carbon footprint.
Data is stored in a physical place, requiring electricity to run servers at all times. img src. absolutdata.com
One of the primary controversies surrounding NFT’s is their increasingly prominent carbon footprint, left by the sheer amount of energy consumed by the process of sales. From bidding to multiple editions to simply “minting” currency, there is a multitude of factors that require energy. NFT data is stored in Ethereum’s blockchain, a software platform that verifies and secures cryptographic transactions. But constantly running computers requires electricity, a source of power that is seldom eco-friendly.
Though crypto art is not the worst culprit of carbon emissions, it is important to note the growing popularity of the digital art market‘s relationship with cryptocurrency. These merging industries have inadvertently affected the environment to some degree in a matter of months, so addressing the magnitude of crypto art, and ultimately cryptocurrency’s, influence on climate change will likely remain a hotly debated topic.
Opening up a general discussion regarding the future of carbon emissions and the switch to clean energy in respect to technology production, data storage, and more may be a significant step in the right direction.
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