NFTs are 92 times worse for the climate than regular art

josh jackman
Written By
Updated on 14 April 2021

An NFT artwork is responsible for 92 times more carbon emissions than a physical piece of art.

The average NFT creates 211kg of CO2, compared to the 2.3kg emitted by an artwork that exists offline, according to Quartz analysis.

At the time of writing, 147,719 NFTs have been sold over the past 30 days, according to market tracker NonFungible.com.

That means a monthly emissions total of 31,169 tonnes of CO2, placing NFTs above nations like Burundi – which has a population of 11.5 million.

Everydays: The First 5000 Days

Beeple’s $69 million artwork can be displayed here with no problem

NFT stands for ‘non-fungible token’.

It’s a digital certificate that means you own a unique item. Unlike regular money, bitcoins, or most Pokémon cards, it can’t be traded for an identical item.

It’s like the certificate you’d have if you owned the Mona Lisa, Newcastle United, or Leeds Castle – but it’s digital, and so is the artwork.

NFTs are formed on the Ethereum blockchain, and paid for in Ethereum, which is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.

Artists retain the copyright over their works, so they can continue to reproduce pieces of art that they’ve sold, and other people can copy the artwork or simply download it from the internet, for free.

So in many ways, an NFT is a status symbol. It simply proves that you’re the official owner of the original, affording you all the bragging rights this fact brings you.

And for collectors, each NFT is an investment – just like physical art.

Because NFTs are in fashion, in a big, expensive way.

In March 2021, digital artist Mike Winkelmann – known as Beeple – sold his opus of 5,000 artworks, titled “Everydays: the First 5,000 Days”, for $69.3 million (£50.5 million) at Christie’s auction house.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has sold his first tweet for $2.9 million (£2.1 million), a piece of art by Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland sold for $1 million (£730,000), and a unique edition of the beloved GIF Nyan Cat (seen in the header) was bought for $590,000 (£428,000).

But it’s not just about the priciest purchases. The past 30 days’ sales add up to $207.8 million (£151.5 million).

And considering each bid produces 23kg of CO2, every sale emits 51kg, and each transfer is responsible for 30kg, the NFT market is clearly having a major impact on the environment too.

This is big business, with all the opportunities and pitfalls that come with a new, expensive trend – including fears that NFTs are being used for money laundering, and a backlash against the effect it’s having on the climate.

Written by

josh jackman

Josh has written about and reported on eco-friendly home improvements and climate change for the past four years.

His data-driven work has featured on the front page of the Financial Times and in publications including The Independent, Telegraph, Times, Sun, Daily Express, and Fox News, earned him the position of resident expert in BT's smart home tech initiative, and been referenced in official United Nations and World Health Organisation documents.

He’s also been interviewed on BBC One's Rip-Off Britain, BBC Radio 4, and BBC Radio 5 Live as an expert on everything from renewable energy to government policy and space travel's carbon footprint, and regularly attends Grand Designs Live as a Green Living Expert, giving bespoke advice to members of the public about heat pumps and solar panels.

Josh has also used the journalistic skills he developed at The Jewish Chronicle and PinkNews to investigate and analyse every green government grant in existence, and examine the impact on the climate of cryptocurrency, Glastonbury Festival, and the World Cup.

You can get in touch with Josh via email.

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