Everybody’s doing NFTs. There’s an NFT supergroup, the Charlotte Hornets are doing NFTs, Hollywood is thinking about NFTs. Non-Fungible Tokens are “unique digital goods” if you squint and otherwise are an environmental hazard built to grift desperate people into believing they hold something of value.
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I honestly believe that all of the media puff pieces coming out concerning NFTs are mostly bought and paid for by "high rollers" with a large stake in NFTs.
Take this into account and consider the sheer amount of articles published by CNBC, CNN, New York Times, etc. that appear to be specifically targeting a children/teen demographic. Just makes it seem extra scummy and ghoulish.
... this badly-drawn picture of a monkey is worth $500,000 now, so your badly-drawn picture of a lion could be worth $100,000 if you had just spent $5000…or maybe you’re lucky to get in on the “ground floor” of some other NFT thing - which you’re buying for “access” to something,...
This is, of course, the essential structure of a swindle, the old Spanish Prisoner model. A huge windfall is within your grasp, and you just have to spend $5000 for "access fees" or "handling fees" to actually grasp it.
Another odd constant is the 100k and 5k. Radio and TV programs used to dramatize swindles to provide a mental self-defense for the listeners. Back around 1950, the standard windfall was 100k and the access fees were 5k. Strangely these numbers haven't been adjusted for inflation. I guess that's a good thing...???
Many thanks for this! Being fully engulfed by the crypto/NFT bubble it is not easy to even find contrary opinions, in particular, those that are as harsh as yours.
I would have appreciated a more in-depth discussion of the way that crypto has failed to deliver any value. Asking what hole these technologies would leave in the average person's life if "entirely eradicated tomorrow" seems partial to me. A recent statistic shows that about 16% of people conducted a crypto transaction before and likely the average person will soon too.
The potential applications of decentralized cryptographic verification of ownership are wide and deep. Certainly, it takes more time and effort to realize them but making them available to more people will IMO bring an unprecedented change in the way we collaborate.
If you are keen on a recent example, I'd suggest reading about how the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) created a public good and turned itself into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
-"Just like regular crypto, the only way to actually get rich is to either be insanely lucky or to know about something in advance that’s already set up to be pumped by someone."
this quote perfectly highlights how limited your understand of this space is. you do realize that bitcoin alone has AVERAGED 200% ROI YEAR OVER YEAR FOR THE LAST DECADE right? so no you didnt need to get insanely lucky or be involved in a pump and dump, all you would have had to do was simply buy some ANYTIME IN THE LAST DECADE and as long as you didnt sell in the same 6months-year you bought, you made money.
It was probably a boomer who wrote this article. Also, why write a long opinion piece about a topic you barely understand? It reminds me of the old negative articles on Bitcoin from 8 years ago. They didnt age well and neither will this.
The Nihilism and Exploitation of the NFT Industry
Call me a conspiracy theorist but I honestly believe that all of the media puff pieces coming out concerning NFTs are mostly bought and paid for by "high rollers" with a large stake in NFTs.
Take this into account and consider the sheer amount of articles published by CNBC, CNN, New York Times, etc. that appear to be specifically targeting a children/teen demographic. Just makes it seem extra scummy and ghoulish.
Reading NFT replies on Twitter threads is like listening to people who used to go on about Amway. Or Rodin + Fields. Or any other pyramid scam.
You've struck the central point here:
... this badly-drawn picture of a monkey is worth $500,000 now, so your badly-drawn picture of a lion could be worth $100,000 if you had just spent $5000…or maybe you’re lucky to get in on the “ground floor” of some other NFT thing - which you’re buying for “access” to something,...
This is, of course, the essential structure of a swindle, the old Spanish Prisoner model. A huge windfall is within your grasp, and you just have to spend $5000 for "access fees" or "handling fees" to actually grasp it.
Another odd constant is the 100k and 5k. Radio and TV programs used to dramatize swindles to provide a mental self-defense for the listeners. Back around 1950, the standard windfall was 100k and the access fees were 5k. Strangely these numbers haven't been adjusted for inflation. I guess that's a good thing...???
Many thanks for this! Being fully engulfed by the crypto/NFT bubble it is not easy to even find contrary opinions, in particular, those that are as harsh as yours.
I would have appreciated a more in-depth discussion of the way that crypto has failed to deliver any value. Asking what hole these technologies would leave in the average person's life if "entirely eradicated tomorrow" seems partial to me. A recent statistic shows that about 16% of people conducted a crypto transaction before and likely the average person will soon too.
The potential applications of decentralized cryptographic verification of ownership are wide and deep. Certainly, it takes more time and effort to realize them but making them available to more people will IMO bring an unprecedented change in the way we collaborate.
If you are keen on a recent example, I'd suggest reading about how the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) created a public good and turned itself into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
My 10 year old son said the other they to me "I don't get this NFT thing it is so stupid why do they even exist?" Think that explains everything.
Yes and thank you. What they are doing is destroying almost all sense of value
-"Just like regular crypto, the only way to actually get rich is to either be insanely lucky or to know about something in advance that’s already set up to be pumped by someone."
this quote perfectly highlights how limited your understand of this space is. you do realize that bitcoin alone has AVERAGED 200% ROI YEAR OVER YEAR FOR THE LAST DECADE right? so no you didnt need to get insanely lucky or be involved in a pump and dump, all you would have had to do was simply buy some ANYTIME IN THE LAST DECADE and as long as you didnt sell in the same 6months-year you bought, you made money.
Im sorry but this piece is just piss poor on so many levels. From the get go your tone hints at a serious bias
which is confirmed by the absolute absence of a balanced point of view throughout. It seems your largest complaint
(which you annoyingly stated repeatedly in slightly different ways) regarding NFTs are this idea of the rich getting
richer at the expense of the poor little guy. Do you know anything about the music industry? 360 deals? Labels
signing young talent under horrible contracts essentially capitalizing on the naivety of up and coming artists. You
were convinced from the get go NFTs solve no real problem so im sure you failed to realize the impact they have in
just this one specific scenario, in creating a foundation to free the music industry from the corporate label ball
and chain. Annecdotally my younger brother is a college student living on his own and scraping by with a part time
while going to school. He got really into the NFT market and was able to build up 2x what his part time would pay
him in an entire year in 3 months of trading NFTs. Theres hundreds and thousands of stories of the little guy
realizing this potenial, coming up, freeing themselves from corporate middlemen, becoming financially independent,
or even just improving their financial situation from direct interaction with the crypto market. But since your
committed to your extremely narrow, poorly informed, cynical and intellectually lazy point of view you missed or
ignored these stories. I think the truth is, deep down inside, the story about my brother pisses you off just as
much as the supposed fat cat capitalists because you dont actually give a rats ass about poorer people getting
taken advantage of. You just cant stand the fact the people are finding vast improvements in their lives using
a new technology that you just dont seem to have the capacity to fully understand, or even attempt to view in a
whole way. best of luck to you.
Hi ser, do you happen to be an anti-vaxxer?
It was probably a boomer who wrote this article. Also, why write a long opinion piece about a topic you barely understand? It reminds me of the old negative articles on Bitcoin from 8 years ago. They didnt age well and neither will this.
Can I make this post an NFT and title it NGMI?