NFTs are the hot new fad blowing up online, and if you're not in the know, you might be wondering, well... What even are they? Why are they monkeys? Why is everyone talking about them- and why are they just creepy-looking monkeys? How do you even purchase an image that exists on the internet? And, seriously guys, what's with the monkeys?
Well, I don't understand them very well, either. I've watched several videos on the subject, but the information is still pretty complex and weird. The world of crypto is a mystical and foreign land to me. I understand the very basics of why alt-currencies exist, but the "how" part escapes me. When it comes to NFTs, my understanding is only slightly better. So, the challenge for me is to try and explain them as though I know what they are.
NFT stands for "Non-Fungible Token", purchased with a crypto currency such as Ethereum. In English, this means they're irreplicable, one of a kind... At least, that's true if you're not focused on the pictures themselves. See, these tokens are represented by "art", a lot of which can just be randomly generated by AI, and these pictures can be of anything - such as, for example, the infamous Ape Family pictures. The common misconception is that people are buying the pictures themselves from these websites. What people are actually buying is a token that the image represents, and while the images can be used to represent multiple tokens on multiple sites, each token is unique to the owner. A YouTuber by the name of Folding Ideas compared these tokens to spots in a long, but otherwise useless, queue, using fun art to entice people into buying a spot in the queue to stand next to said work of art.
These pictures, as mentioned, are often generated by an AI due to the sheer amount of them. While this can allow for everyone to pick a randomized image they like most, it also means the images are being produced by a computer algorithm, and not by an actual artist. Of course, some custom art exists, too. A lot of it is plagiarized, though, or otherwise copyright stealing. Some of them use the likeness of celebrities or internet personalities without their permission; others steal art from online artists. NSFW NFTs exist, such as virtual girlfriends in various stages of undress, and some of them are even gifs.
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| Here's one I decided to screenshot- government name Monkey #7977, but I think I'll call him Paul. |
So, why buy them? If you're not buying the art, and the art is very rarely appealing to look at or legal to sell, what's the point?
Like all fads, a lot of people just want to be in the club. The other uses are more insidious. Scam artists will use NFTs to make loads of cash before selling it to people who aren't well-connected enough to make as much money as they did. NFT sellers also get a cut each time the NFT is traded, as far as I'm aware. Ethereum is already a ridiculously expensive crypto currency, so people make bank off of these things. But the scam aspect is not the only reason why a lot of people hate NFTs.
Crypto mining is an extremely energy-using task. By energy, I'm talking about electrical, world-powering energy. Making an NFT is equally as energy-wasting. From what I've heard, it's about the same as multiple refrigerators for one single token. Despite what people may believe about online activities, they can have an environmental impact. NFTs and cryptocurrencies are harming the planet, and while I've been told that some alternative mining processes are under way, I cannot tell you how true that is.
What I can tell you is that the future for alt-currency and online monkey-picture trading seems to be booming. Multiple companies are engaging in making NFTs out of their works, and the market keeps getting bigger and bigger. There's a pushback against the trend, from memes about screenshotting the images to boycotts on Twitter, but it still doesn't seem to be slowing. Sometimes I wonder how these people would react if Y2K simply came 22 years late and wiped out all crypto, and then I remember that I also spend my life on the internet, and would be equally as screwed.
I can't pretend to be an NFT expert, but I do think it's helpful to start learning as much as I can. If these pictures are the future currency, then we'll all be sad if we didn't.
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