Let’s be clear: I’m not here to denounce all art NFTs as devoid of value. Indeed, some are genuinely beautiful, while others poignantly encapsulate the zeitgeist of our contemporary era. However, the stark reality is emerging that merely publishing art on the innovative “blockchain medium” doesn’t automatically elevate artworks to masterpieces. Observing our home life, whether during television viewing or Zoom calls, it’s evident how few people display artworks on their walls. In stark contrast, our living spaces are adorned with artworks, from expansive wall paintings to diminutive shelf frames; even our table placemats are art reproductions. And the truth is, whether you appreciate our artwork or not doesn’t matter to me. It’s a matter of personal preference, and while they aren’t up for sale, they also aren’t particularly valuable!

It’s crucial to acknowledge that the vast majority of splendid artworks exist in multiple forms, such as on record album covers, movie posters, key rings, and t-shirts, among others. But perhaps, for those who don’t frequent art galleries or purchase pictures to adorn their homes, the ease of on-chain art purchasing has unveiled “art ownership” to a new audience. I’m merely pondering aloud here.

Before delving deeper, another point about NFTs demands attention, and this isn’t confined to art NFTs but extends to the wider “crypto” space. In my view, cryptocurrency has transformed into a glorified quagmire of hyper-capitalism. There exists a deeply unsettling “belief” that crypto tokens, whether NFTs or “coins”, are designed to enrich early holders — essentially acting as a free money printing press. This belief, paradoxically juxtaposed with the fervent opposition many crypto enthusiasts have towards the printing of national currencies, is profoundly damaging to burgeoning economic activity on blockchains and strikes at the core of my discontent, and subsequent joy, at the devaluation of NFTs.

Why?

In the most straightforward terms, I write and publish flash fiction stories on-chain. And yes, some can be purchased as NFTs. But here lies the fundamental problem: I don’t want to sell merely one or two copies of a story for someone to hoard and trade for their enrichment. To earn a living, I NEED hundreds, even thousands of people to read each story, necessitating the creation of hundreds, even thousands of copies of each story, which starkly contradicts the NFT scarcity model.

What do I mean by the scarcity model?

Bear with me, as I was attempting to avoid technical jargon. Because NFTs exist on a blockchain, it’s possible to ascertain exactly how many copies there are, and by limiting the number of copies, one creates scarcity, which is believed to enhance the value of NFTs, i.e., there are either “no other copies” or a limited number of copies. While scarcity is highly effective for the high-end luxury market, most of us don’t inhabit that world. Most of us purchase copies of items in Real Life. Our lives are filled with copies of items, such as clothes, refrigerators, tables, chairs, and cars.

You see, I argue that if there were only ever 500 copies of [insert your favourite novel here], then the chances are you wouldn’t ever have been able to read it as we live in a world of many hundreds of millions of people. I argue that scarcity and the written word don’t mix.

However, this “allergy to scarcity” isn’t exclusive to the written word. The same is true of music, art, and indeed, many, many things. You see, the problem isn’t NFTs. The problem, in my opinion, is unbridled capitalism.

Anyway, let’s proceed.

I adore a good moan, a gripe, a grouse. And if you’ve come this far, you’ll go the rest of the way (I hope:)

In order to manifest a robust digital economy, we need the capacity, the ability, the functionality, to distinguish between “authorised copies” and “unauthorised copies” of digital items. And this isn’t exclusive to the items people create; it has enormous relevance to every kind of digital data, from national statistics about health, education, and transport, to the supply chains of medicines, energy sources… and information — like NEWS! You know what I mean; we have no way of individually verifying the authenticity of the physical and informational items in our lives. The world has become too complex. And there is a nagging suspicion that the corporations our parents used to trust are no longer trustworthy. What are we to do?

Yes, there is a bunch of stuff for which authenticity is almost insignificant. Items like pencils and paperclips are pretty ubiquitous and irrelevant. Or are they? Have you ever wondered if the wood around the pencil you use has come from the Amazon Rainforest? I hadn’t, until now. But what if we could find out? What if we could scan an item with our phones and have the history of its journey through the supply chain immediately available because it has been recorded on a public ledger, on a blockchain? What if your favourite brand of mobile phone contains rare metals sourced from an authoritarian regime, or dug up by a child who has never been to school, and who barely gets a meal a day?

Colonialism is over, right… right?

So, this is why we need NFTs. Not because they can make us all rich, but because they can authenticate the originality, the history, the sources of the things we buy and consume. And they don’t have to be expensive. They can be practically free, or really super cheap… like my flash fiction stories. They can be bought, consumed, and discarded.

Hang on, you say, isn’t that a bit of the pot calling the kettle black? You know, chucking stuff away is wasteful, right?

Yes, but no.

The early NFTs were indeed made on blockchains burning through an absurd amount of energy, but over the last few years, there have been some significant innovations. For example, the chain I publish my stories on requires 0.008 Watt Hours per transaction, compared to 30 Watt Hours per transaction on the Ethereum Blockchain, which is where most of the art NFT madness of the last couple of years took place.

What am I asking of you?

Not a lot. Just keep an open mind. New technology can often be its own worst enemy. The inventors create new words to describe old concepts, which can obfuscate benefits, sow confusion, and generate enmity.

In the tumultuous world of NFTs, we find ourselves at a crossroads between digital innovation, moral acceptability, and ethical consumption. While the initial waves of NFT trading have been marred by speculative bubbles and environmental concerns, the underlying technology presents a compelling case for a future where authenticity and provenance take centre stage. It is imperative we foster a culture that doesn’t merely tokenise for scarcity and profit but leverages blockchain technology to enhance accessibility, verify authenticity, and ethically trace the origins of digital and physical entities alike.

Explore Nick’s on-chain flash fiction stories, published 100% on-chain in a publication called Scytale, with some available to read for free. Dive into them here: https://nuance.xyz/publication/Scytale/genesis-gist:-explore-for-free

And, this article is cross posted to Nuance: https://nuance.xyz/nickmyers/4035-zjfrd-tqaaa-aaaaf-qakia-cai/nfts-navigating-the-collapse-and-unveiling-future-potential

And Medium: https://medium.com/@nick_7899/nfts-navigating-the-collapse-and-unveiling-future-potential-18ef6c1ac8fa