The NFT boom of 2021 continues as movie studios, athletes, and former first ladies release big-time projects. Like with any other major boom, the spike in popularity of the skeptical artform has created a kind of digital art gold rush. Projects are launching daily as everyone who is anyone is trying to get their share of the action. While celebrities and big brands getting in on the action can be fun in many ways it also threatens to do exactly what usually happens once things go hyper mainstream, it kills its core premise and turns it into a lazy capitalist opportunity.
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These NFT or Non-Fungible Token projects have become the art craze of the new age creating much buzz and fanfare among people intrigued by the new art form. It is not uncommon these days to read articles about virtual yachts selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or hearing stories of teenagers making full-time incomes off playing to earn NFT games. To many these things sound like something out of a sci-fi movie but the reality is this may be more than just a boom or a passing fad, the future may be here in the form of blockchain technology. Unfortunately, these art projects that helped bring this technology to our news feeds may be dying by their own sword.
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It seems like just yesterday that we started to see pictures of cartoon apes and little pixelated people clogging up our social feeds. Like anything else that starts to trend once you start seeing it enough you can't help but ask the question “what the heck is this?” As people start to get to know what these projects are all about, the verdict is still out and opinions on the subject are as divided as ever. On one hand, you have the ones that don’t understand it and have no interest in wanting to, the “it’s just a picture on the internet anyone can have it if they screenshot it.” On the other hand, you have the ones that not only understand and are intrigued by it but who also see the major financial opportunity that comes along with these digital images.
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Death by greed
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The major financial opportunity that creators and collectors alike have been lusting over may be part of the big problem surrounding NFT projects today. The story has been the same throughout history anytime something is brought to the mainstream with the promise of quick money, it gets riddled with opportunists and fast money chasers.
While I will never knock the hustle of collectors or creators of anything (I currently collect and hold a few NFTS) It’s usually the way things get oversaturated very quickly which not only ruins the novelty of it but also the value of a lot of these projects. Too often we see the same formula being used over and over again with these new projects, some sort of cartoon animal in front of a colored background, a limited amount with a specific mint date, and the copy and paste roadmap found on a lot of these quickly put together websites. While some of these projects may be cool in their own ways it not only becomes harder to keep up but also becomes harder for new people to sink their teeth into NFTs because they simply don’t know where to begin. Things that become overcomplicated usually end up turning off potential new collectors which in turn is needed for this wave to continue to catch on and eventually become the norm. Overcomplication is not the only issue here, with so many projects dropping daily it also becomes a quality issue as well. Things are done for the sake of quick money end up being put together quickly and it shows with the quality of a lot of these projects suffering due to the primary goal being a quick flip. Art is starting to become a second priority which I’ve always believed should be put as number one being that at the end of the day these are in fact art projects. The cheaper and lower quality products are the ones searching for the closest sucker… i mean novice NFT collector to get over on for a fast dollar. It’s things like this that begin to suck the soul out of the NFT space and set the advancing community back.
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Death by celebrity
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At the risk of sounding like an absolute hipster, I have to call it as I see it. Celebrities and other Hollywood personalities getting involved are killing what once felt like having a membership to an exclusive decentralized society. The matrix film franchise most recently released an NFT collection to commemorate the release of its latest film. The film’s star Keanuu Reeves notably scoffed at the idea of NFTs but that's a story for another time. The former first lady of the United States Melania Trump also joins the NFT parade with a collection of her own. Melania’s vision is a watercolor painting of her own eyes minted on the Solana blockchain and put for sale. This project of course has its own controversy surrounding it but we're not here to talk politics. While some say cash grab and others say tone-deaf we will leave it as just another instance of the NFT world going down a corny rabbit hole.
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Death by thieves
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Where there is smoke there is fire and when there is money to be made there is money to be stolen. Thieves and scammers never pass up an opportunity to ruin the party for everyone. No matter what the situation is in life you better believe there is usually someone lurking who wants to get it easier or free even if it means breaking the law. NFT scammers are out there and they are stealing money and property from people at alarming rates. Among the popular scams, copycat websites that look almost identical to the project's actual website are popping up daily and stealing from people who believe they are minting or purchasing from the project's legitimate site. These scams are being found mostly via the discord app where most projects host their communities. A reason it is always recommended to shut your DMs off as most projects will advise you. The major reason thieves and scammers are finding so much success in this space right now is due to how new it is and the growing number of new people joining the space every day leaves room for vulnerabilities. Many are still learning how to navigate through this space and educating themselves on NFTs and being robbed in the process. The big plus about these NFT communities that I've noticed is how much people are willing to help the next person. People helping one another out and advising newcomers is a great thing about these growing communities that helps avoid being scammed because as they say being educated is your best weapon.
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Conclusion
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While the NFT community continues to advance at an accelerated pace most will continue to tread lightly on the subject. Billion-dollar corporations see the opportunity and will continue to find ways to profit in the space as no matter what the narrative is we still do and always will live in a heavily capitalist society. Trends and hype will always equal financial gain. The development of the metaverse and this new crypto society we have found ourselves in will continue to gain steam via both the backers, the haters, and everyone else in between. This modern-day tale of citizens rising up to say WE WANT CONTROL! Shows no signs of slowing down as we witness the digital revolution being televised.
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