After that Elon Musk has made up his mind to stop the acceptance of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency as a payment method for Tesla’s purchases, giving the strong and negative impact of the blockchain on the environment as a motivation, many have begun to wonder what is the level of eco-sustainability of other cryptocurrencies and in particular of Nft.
What are NFTs
Non Fungible Tokens are nothing more than digital documents whose authenticity and uniqueness is guaranteed by the blockchain, which in most NFTs is that of Ethereum. The operation is simple: a digital object guaranteed by the blockchain has a value like a real Picasso painting, while the other files that run on the Net – even if they were to graphically represent the same work – are worthless reproductions. So what the blockchain does is ensure that one is the original work, the real creation of the artist, while the others are copies or fakes.
Nft technology has existed since 2017, thanks to the invention of the Erc721 protocol, but it is only in 2021 that it has begun to take root especially in the art world thanks to customs clearance by Beeple, who in March of this year sold one of his works, precisely in the form of Non Fungible Token, for the record sum of 69 million dollars, becoming the third highest-rated living artist in the world.
According to the data of Nonfungible.com, in the last month over 33 thousand addresses have exchanged these non-fungible tokens, there have been over 100 thousand sales on the primary market and over 35 thousand on the secondary market for a total value of 127 million dollars. Even in Italy the phenomenon is expanding with the works of artists such as Federico Clapis, Giovanni Motta, the Hackatao e Dangiuz, which auction record numbers with each publication.
Nft and environment
By now, one in four companies invests in sustainability and according to a recent study by BCG.com, 70% of 3 thousand respondents worldwide said they were “concerned about the environment”, even more so after the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. And it is precisely in this perspective that various perplexities and fears have also arisen regarding crypto art and the growth of the NFT market. An Ethereum transaction, a process that also serves to create or sell an NFT, according to Digiconomist.net data it consumes 85.08 kWh as the mechanism on which this blockchain is based, that is the mining and therefore the Proof of Work, is energetically rather expensive.
In fact, making a comparison, that’s what a Tesla Model S 75 consumes to cover 450 kilometers (data from Tesla.com), i.e. less than the distance between Milan and Rome. Furthermore, as revealed by a study conducted by the University of Cambridge, “the consumption of always-on but inactive devices in US homes consumes 60% more” than the blockchain (in this case the study was on Bitcoin, which consumes a lot of Ethereum, by the way, is trying to solve this problem and will soon be switching to a process called Proof of Stake which will consume less energy. however much technology can pollute, this process will not be interrupted but new ways will always be found to have a lower impact on the environment.
Finally, it must be considered that the blockchain is revolutionizing e revitalizing the art world (and beyond) for the best, in a time when artists are in crisis due to the coronavirus and the blockade of exhibitions and museums. Big cities like Venice, for example, lost 13.2 million visitors, as well as 3 billion euros in lost income; the Louvre lost 72% of visitors and more generally in the art sector, according to data from the Art Market Report, sales in galleries around the world fell by 36%. With these numbers having nothing positive, it is clear that the Nft represents a digital alternative to allow artists to continue exhibiting, also thanks to virtual museums, and to sell and create their works.
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