Those Stupid NFTs Are Destroying The Environment

The latest tech fad that purports to be changing the world for the better, but in fact is destroying it, comes from — where else? — the world of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have no actual use for buying anything real, but are on pace to consume more energy than all of Australia. So in an attempt to hype this worthless virtual money into appearing to be worth something, they’ve created yet more blockchain bullshit called NFT’s (non-fungible tokens) that The Verge describes as a “one-of-a-kind trading card.” But as Mashable points out, these Nonsense Fucking Things use even more electricity than cryptocurrency mining.   

When we say "crypto mining is destroying the planet" this is what we mean. Even if it's 100% powered by renewable energy, that's THOUSANDS of processors that could be used to do ANYTHING for humanity other than just print money for douchey techbros. https://t.co/m5ksmvwTkf

— Phio says 'Go play Outer Wilds' (@BallaImpala) April 24, 2021

How much energy is being wasted on NFTs and cryptocurrency? Check out the above video, where a horrible human being explains, “I own a 5.4 megawatt mining facility in Iowa. We use a ton of energy. We use wind power to print money. Inside we have thousands of servers that mine for Bitcoin. These supercomputers run 24/7.”

When you buy NFT art you are not buying artwork you are more buying the idea of the artwork and some code that refers to it and that code can be changed after the fact which means some NFTs are disappearing after people pay hundreds or thousands for themhttps://t.co/JwWRUmTdc8

— Jason Koebler (@jason_koebler) March 29, 2021

These NFTs are going for millions of dollars in some cases, on the baloney-ass claim that you now “own” what is still just effectively a jpeg or GIF that anyone in the world can simply copy and paste. But people, have we not learned that  you don’t own anything if it’s digital. The tech company can just change their terms of service on you, or go bankrupt and their shit stops working, or they offer zero technical support if you forget your password.

One of the most popular NFT sites for creators and artists @mintable_app has revenge porn listed in full view of the public on its landing page. I blurred out the image. @Davidgerard @Frances_Coppola @ruskin147 @GCHQ @metpoliceuk @FBI pic.twitter.com/WixyqYhyqp

— Shokunin (@SHOKUNIN_STUDIO) March 13, 2021

And of course, there is a sizable amount of revenge porn being sold as NFTs, because no one in crypto has any form of ethics whatsoever.

NFTs are cool because we’ve all been like “corporations are behind the worst of climate change” but now we know that if given the chance the individual will also sell out the environment for tons of money

— charles foster kane (@justbrizigs) April 24, 2021

There is an old (and previously true) adage that individual behavior does not do much to affect climate change, and it’s the behavior of large corporations that really drives global warming. But creating an NFT requires a lot of computing, which therefore burns through a great deal of energy. So NFTs are responsible for a shit-ton of carbon emissions. 

If the tech bros wanted to truly create something important, they would invent a way to mine cryptocurrency and manufacture NFTs sustainably. Society at large can inform them of the environmental problems their Bitcoin-mining servers are responsible for, but these people are just not wired to care about anything but themselves