Source:
I love crypto.
I love money.
I love art.
I love the planet.
I am not the biggest fan of arguing with people on the Facebook with very little knowledge about how cryptos work, so i thought i would discuss the topic here.
One of the first criticisms of crypto we often encounter is the environmental impact it causes via wasteful Proof-of-work consensus mechanisms like Bitcoin. (Don't get me wrong , i love Bitcoin, and still support it. I will explain why further below)
First we should be mature enough as a community to honestly acknowledge and understand that crypto in its current form does indeed have an ecological price tag, and it's big.
It's as big as all of watching Youtube & gaming combined in terms of CO2 emissions. See chart above.
Bitcoin & PoW is the main culprit. As the graph above illustrates the problem is far greater than Bitcoin and is an issue we face in general about how do we power all kinds of modern technology.
Ethereum was the first to market as a smart contract crypto project that enabled NFTs & via PoW and now is desperately trying to upgrade to Proof-of-stake (PoS) in order to remain relevant in the industry, but the recent NFT art boom brought up some interesting ideas for me.
Firstly are the countless poorly made NFTs "worth" being on the blockchain ecologically? Do they have a right to exist in the current paradigm of energy production & consumption? Does this post have the right to exist on the blockchain?
NFT crypto art is trending now with all the hype and rush for artists to try cash in on the mania but to me the βart worldβ but the reality is most of it is pure garbage.
Have you seen enough versions of countless poorly crafted 3D renders of the statue of David with a space helmet glued on or similar? or worse just hastily painted photoshop effects called artwork.
Is cryptoart a detractor and least relevant reason to be discussing the actual value and usecases of blockchain technology.
In my mind I give Bitcoin the "eco-damage pass" because I believe that although PoW is more wasteful than PoS I am willing to pay this energy cost as high as it might be our only chance to end to the tyranny of Fiat currency system sooner rather than later.
Once a fair economic system is reestablished then we can slowly replace Bitcoin with something mores sustainable and in line with current Proof-of-stake systems like Cardano.
I hate to see bad crypto art being used as an excuse to write off the value of the entire blockchain industry. I worry that governments will start using the ecology card as a way to try and prevent crypto adoption.
Hopefully soon bad cryptoart NFTs will be soon possible on PoS systems like Cardano and other competitors in the coming months with certainty.
TLDR: Everything in life has an operational cost, can we morally justify the ecological cost of shitty NFT artwork on Ethereum's current PoW systems? Is my reason for justifying PoW for Bitcoin's social revolutionary potential justified ecologically?
Well said.
Itβs very refreshing to read a fair and balanced view on the topic.
Iβm a musician and lamenting the rush towards NFTs when the real prize is fair and fast streaming payments. Get that done first, then figure out if NFTs can add value beyond that. IMHO. π
Iβm sure NFT tech has itβs uses (Iβm a big fan of Rising Star NFT card game, for example), but the rush towards using them in everything and then folk trying to make a fast buck chucking anything up is unseemly. π
It would be very interesting to see the carbon foot comparison include two or three cities, add in Washing DC, Wu Han China, and London England, how much of a foot print would Ethereums NFT's have then? I use those cities as an example due to the word usage in your question.
Is all this talk about the carbon footprint of digital media/currency nothing more than another attempt to control the narrative? to divide and conquer people, to remove from people a common sense issue and to tax the middle class and below people on things and activities they consider fun. Where are the Carbon foot prints of all Yachts comparisons? No one talks about the cost of the rich peoples fun and games, just the middle class and below.
I was having that very same convo with Matt in private, it's all about controlling the narrative.
We see a lot of Carbon Foot Print stuff, so why no Carbon Foot Print from Wealthy Activities, like Yachting, or Polo, or the carbon foot print of Privately Owned Jets. It is all about telling people what we, as normal people, are doing to cause global climate change, not what the wealthy are doing to do it because they are important.
I think the same way than you, and it's also valid for this platform too. I don't think you went controversial at all, it's quite the opposite actually. It will encourage a healthy discussion. Thanks for your 500 words (WWOOOOOOWWWW)!!
Bad crypto art (or even purposefully bad "trash art") is an interesting topic scaring the crap out of people in entrenched power systems right now, which is one of the reasons that we're seeing a proliferation.
Art is always going to be one of those subjective things that will force questions around what it even is- and arguably, that sort of naval gazing in any other field has its own environmental impacts that could be considered on par (something like the devastating impact of streaming brain rotting 4k reality tv 24/7 into homes during a pandemic.) This is a hot sector at the moment and it will draw the eyes of people who want to defend it and detract from it equally, and as you say, there will be those who try to use this as an excuse to try to hold the crypto ecosystem back.
That being said... NFTs tied to art of all sorts are already taking off on the Hive blockchain at nftshowroom.com, so when someone wants to start down that the eco-sustainability road, point them our way :D
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Imma make this post into an NFT now! Seriously though its been something I want to try, making a few NFTs but for entirely different reasons than normal I think, I see the potential for NFTs to possibly be used to verify the origins of physical goods, as well as copyright, ownership etc. not to mention making pictures of the statue of david in a helmet, That should be use #1 well worth the energy expense. The possibilities are endless in my mind but like every newfangled craze it will take a bit to calm down.
While were at it, can someone lend me a few million to buy the first tweet on twitter?
LMAO, haha amen bro. I am totally with you on the 'more important' use-cases of NFTs. Voting systems, real estate and self-sovereign identity are just some of the few potentials. Heck, even works of art of quality should benefit from the blockchain. Hopefully more eco-friendly systems of Proof-of-stake just makes it ok for EVERYTHING to be easily and cleanly processed on the blockchain. Sustainable energy sources also play a big part of this equation too. Thanks for making me lol man. :-)
I agree! I'm always happy to provide some lighthearted amusement, working on becoming a dogecoin millionaire, Then I can spend the rest of my life butt naked in a Mud hut eating snails and tree bark.
Gotta have goals right ?
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