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NFTs may be the future of art but are they threatening the future of the planet? By Sophie Lewis Crypto enthusiasts burn and digitize Banksy artwork
A digital artist known as Beeple sold a piece of entirely digital art through Christie s for over $69 million in March, flipping the art world upside down. But the digital registry where that piece of art, called an NFT, is stored is responsible for the annual emission of more carbon into the atmosphere than most small countries.
So why is everyone so eager to jump on the NFT bandwagon?
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are original, unique digital collectibles and they have taken over the art world in the past few months. They hold a unique string of code, stored on a digital ledger known as a blockchain, and their value fluctuates depending on demand.
Tesla owner Elon Musk has announced that the electric-car maker will no longer be accepting bitcoin in exchange for its vehicles due to the cryptocurrency s contribution to climate change.
The U-turn comes after Tesla purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February and announced that it would start accepting payments in the cryptocurrency in March. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel, Musk wrote on Twitter. Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment.
Musician Imogen Heap has created a collection of six audiovisual NFTs that are carbon negative and hope to set the bar for what digital art can and should be .
The Firsts Collection is Heap s first foray into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and features short, improvised audio clips called Rifffs, which she created during live, collaborative jam sessions with users of the music app Endlesss.
Sold via digital collectables marketplace OpenSea, these soundbites are accompanied by swirling, kaleidoscopic visuals courtesy of Heap s longtime design collaborator Andy Carne.
Imogen Heap created six NFTs
Half of the profits from the sale were split fairly between all contributors while 45 per cent of Heap s earnings were donated to her Creative Passport project, with the exact breakdown listed in the description of each NFT in a bid to foster greater transparency.