The head of a leading South Korean cryptocurrency exchange has recently promised that its non-fungible tokens featuring the world-famous K-pop band BTS will be minted by “low carbon, eco-friendly” technology after receiving backlash from environmentally conscious young fans about the energy use of NFTs. Be more environmentally-conscious. The metaverse and NFTs aren’t environmentally harmful technologies. These technologies can help save the world and provide a better future for humanity.
Crypto Mining for Minting Supports Green Energy Development
South Korea is not only among the leaders of the global cryptocurrency and blockchain race — the fans of South Korea’s most successful, world-famous K-pop band BTS are also very educated on the subject. When Hybe, the entertainment company that manages BTS, announced that they would issue BTS-themed NFTs that will play music, the reaction of the fans was not “what is an NFT,” but rather “NFTs are not eco-friendly.” Sirgoo Lee, CEO of Upbit’s operator Dunamu which is in a joint venture with Hybe, had to promise in response that Hybe would use “low carbon, eco-friendly” technology to mint the NFTs.
It is mostly about energy consumption that the controversy around crypto mining and NFTs has centered. However, crypto mining farms often are found in countries with low temperatures and high latitudes where electricity is cheaper. This is because it is possible to generate electricity from renewable resources such as hydroelectric or geothermal power. Crypto mining can even be done with energy generated from volcanic eruptions. Bitcoin Mining Council recently calculated that 56% use renewable energy sources.
Although some industry experts do argue about the calculation, it’s undeniable that seeing cryptocurrency and NFTs as environmentally unfriendly technologies demonstrates an isolated and narrow view of what cryptocurrency and NFTs can actually do for mankind and the environment.
You can buy more NFTs than you would physical goods or commodities.
Gift boxes, plastic and nylon wrappings, holiday décor, limited editions, special collections, you get the idea. For centuries, humans have had a strong desire to own and purchase unnecessary items. Merchants and brands try to create additional products that are of special value to this consumer in order to continue to feed it. It would be difficult to kill or suppress this centuries-old desire for consumption, but there are alternatives.
Instead of purchasing, owning, and later discarding and littering physical objects everywhere — which are totally not biodegradable and would end up floating on or sinking deep into the oceans — why not migrate this desire to the metaverse and keep it digital?
It isn’t an addition to our already fragile environment that we are mining NFTs. As more people shift their consumption to the Blockchain-based Metaverse, we can expect that the traditional consumption of goods and junk will soon be replaced with the more sustainable and eco-friendly NFT.
Over the last six months, a growing number of celebrities and politicians have made their NFT collections available on blockchain. It’s amazing to see people with influence leading the charge by releasing digital limited editions.
Instead of Accumulating Mileage, Let’s Meet in the Metaverse
People around the globe noticed that the Covid-19 pandemic caused nature to return some of its vitality and energy, with no human interference. The fields became green again, there were wildflowers blooming and blue skies returning.
Although it’s sad that BTS fans were not able to fly all the way to Europe or the West Coast of the U.S. to attend the concerts, and people were forced to do all the meetings on Zoom, the saved mileage and the reduced CO2 emissions were a great blessing to the environment. It’s a great idea to keep it that way.
The Snoop Dogg concert in The Sandbox, which is one of The Top Metaverse Experiences, was an extremely successful experiment. We can create exciting meetups or large events in the metaverse, without having to drive people all over the place, fly them around and then pack everyone into one location using a small number of expensive tickets.
Perhaps the United Nations Climate Change Conference could consider a metaverse-based conference that empowers attendees to reduce their carbon footprint.
Would you support K-pop if you could buy an environmentally-friendly token that is not fungible?
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