Editorial: Cons of NFTs

NFTs does not stem from where the tokens stand currently in today’s world but rather where they are headed. Washburn said he believes that NFTs will play a larger role in the metaverse and our digital society and that they will potentially serve a different purpose in the future.

“You know, it isn’t just about the artwork,” Washburn said. “It’s about what they come with. … It could be a membership or special access to an event or collection of media.

… Let’s say you want to buy my NFT, maybe you’ll get a T-shirt in the mail too or an exclusive DJ mix.”

Stefanick agrees that the potential of NFTs has yet to reach its climax. She said that she believes that NFTs have a lot of potential and will potentially be implemented into many aspects of life.

“There’s so much potential it’s ridiculous,” Stefanick said. “Maybe we’ll all receive an NFT for graduating Ithaca [College]. There’s just so much that goes beyond the NFTs themselves.” While NFTs specifcally are still being experimented with in terms of everyday application, cryptocurrency has already been integrated into our average consumer lives, with various banks and stores offering services to accept cryptocurrencies.

Even social media platforms have jumped onto the trend. Twitter users may see a pop-up that encourages them to invest in cryptocurrency, making this trend a part of daily life for everyone, even for people who do not invest.

“There are digital assets called stable coins, like USDC, that are pegged to the dollar and can be spent as currency with a Coinbase debit card,” Volkov said. “There are ways to spend any cryptocurrency you own at a store with the Coinbase debit card. Of course, there’s a conversion fee for going from crypto to dollars.”

Washburn has already implemented such services into his business, Washburn Entertainment. Customers can use crypto as a form of payment for Washburn’s music services.

“I started to think, ‘How can I make my company innovative?’” Washburn said. “We started taking cryptocurrency a few years ago as a form of payment for weddings and such. Not a lot of people do it, but every time I tell people we take cryptocurrency, their eyes light up because it’s a cool and innovative thing.” While millions of people around the world engage with and embrace the fnancial and cultural infuence of

Editorial: NFTs have negative long-term effects

2014 marked the experimental era of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 2021 was the year of the NFT explosion, making any digital image available for purchase. Moving from the obscure internet into the mainstream, 2022 projects us into the future of NFTs. However, the path forward is twofold. The future of NFTs provides an opportunity to the otherwise ordinary individual to be a part of something and experience fnancial success in ways that were never accessible before. The more glum, corrupt and arguably realistic side results in fnancial instability for those who do not have the knowledge it takes to succeed in this rapidly growing market: 21st-century artists getting ripped off rather than protected, allowing a place for global tycoons to take refuge and environmental harm due to the sheer amount of energy that is required. The degree of environmental damage is not yet known and not worth fnding out. There is limited understanding of NFTs, and with NFTs, many are dismissive. this comes a limited understanding of what is to come. Cryptocurrency is often crit- In other words, the naive glorifcation of the short-term icized for being environmen- benefts negates its long-term effects. tally harmful. According to While the solution is not to wish for an Investopedia.com, 30 kilotons of internet-free world, a solution is not found with hopeelectronic waste are produced an- ful projections into an uncertain future. It is dangerous nually as a result of Bitcoin mining. when projecting into a future so unknown. Haven’t we Another criticism more specifc to read many a cautionary tale of exponential progress

NFTs is the impact they have had on the resulting in a halting crash? art community. Anyone can make an Let us pump the brakes. NFTs cause us to be NFT out of any digital media, hence distracted from our current problems, which have many artists who post content online been glaring at us for far too long. Instead, let’s have had their work stolen and sold focus our attention here on the present, on what as NFTs. is already broken at the center — a pressing cli-

Whether or not NFTs will tri- mate crisis, poverty and a greedy 1% happy with umph and persist into the future as the way things are — for the center will not hold a crucial staple of fnance and an inte- much longer. gral part of culture or become a delicate fad is unknown. However, Washburn said that in the end, he thinks that most people buy and share NFTs so that they can be involved in somthing new and trendy.

“[Investing] is the same reason someone would spend $200,000 on a Rolex rather than $20 on a Timex,” Washburn said. “You’re going to buy these NFTs for a certain amount of money because it’s cool.” Washburn commissioned a variety of illustrations to create a potential line of NFTs for people to buy.