Jump to content

NFTs again (Non Fungible Tokens)


Recommended Posts

Came across a photographer on Twitter announcing (with great excitement) their new collection and how delighted they were that several had already sold. The link took me to an alien and quite disturbing world that I knew nothing about, digital 'NFT' photos selling in a currency (ETH) that I had never heard of either. The platform is called OpenSea and there's very little on it that makes any sense to me. Just as a sampler this link takes you to a search for photographs costing between 0.2 & 5 ETH.

 

ETH refers to Ethereum, a Bitcoin currency, currently standing at $3691.41, but presumably fluctuates wildly. Brave New World, rather unsettling in fact, to me anyway.

  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeh, the concept of NFT where you, THE PUNTER owns the actual original rights but lots of others can kind-of have access to the same image is OK escapes me, but I struggle with just facebook and google as web access.  Would you really  part with good money in this area?Assuming we are talking real money, not some blockchain concept

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure where I saw it but there was a news story reported today that someone had bought in an OpenSea auction a supposed NFT of a Banksy work which seemed to originate on the artist's own website. The virtual currency used was real enough though, the money disappeared and the artwork/NFT was found to be imaginary.

 

Not only are NFT's and virtual  currencies strange concepts to begin with, it seems you now have to negotiate a world where two things which only exist as binary data to begin with may well be unreal as well.

 

I think I will stay well clear.

  • Love 2
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think cryptocurrency is like the 17th century tulip mania, it's just a massive bubble waiting to burst. When people that know nothing about investing are jumping on the bandwagon and buying up crypto because of FOMO (fear of missing out), then it's all just going to go wrong. Same for NFT's, can't see people spending silly money on them in 10-20 years time. I could be wrong and stranger things have happened... But just look at all the bubbles in history. And as soon as something starts going wrong and the prices start dropping, all the casual investors get scared and start selling up, and that drives the prices down further and then the whole thing just starts snowballing.

 

Or maybe I just have schadenfreude because I don't own any crypto and NFTs.... 🤔

  • Love 1
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, Joseph Clemson said:

Not sure where I saw it but there was a news story reported today that someone had bought in an OpenSea auction a supposed NFT of a Banksy work which seemed to originate on the artist's own website. The virtual currency used was real enough though, the money disappeared and the artwork/NFT was found to be imaginary.

 

Not only are NFT's and virtual  currencies strange concepts to begin with, it seems you now have to negotiate a world where two things which only exist as binary data to begin with may well be unreal as well.

 

I think I will stay well clear.

 

Well, all money is virtual (or digital) these days, same thing. Except currency is backed up by a government and if your bank account gets hacked and it's not your fault for giving away your password, your bank is obliged to reimburse you (in theory). Not so with cryptocurrency, if you're digital wallet gets hacked or you forget your password, tough. I can't see any benefit for using crypto currency except it's not managed by a central bank and transactions can't be traced - just good for money laundering then. And FOMO people...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a long look at NFT art sales a few months ago. What scared me off was it was a certain genre of art and mixed media that was selling and the buyers (collectors as they are called) were few and far between but were making multiple purchases - seemed like market makers to me. I am still not sure it will ever be an outlet for non-art photography. You also have to "pay to play". I still am following the whole thing.

 

Theres a very interesting Damien Hirst project called "The Currency" you should look at (its on YouTube as well) whereby I think he is mocking the NFT and art worlds but will make millions out of the project.

Edited by Panthera tigris
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

12 hours ago, Harry Harrison said:

Came across a photographer on Twitter announcing (with great excitement) their new collection and how delighted they were that several had already sold. The link took me to an alien and quite disturbing world that I knew nothing about, digital 'NFT' photos selling in a currency (ETH) that I had never heard of either. The platform is called OpenSea and there's very little on it that makes any sense to me. Just as a sampler this link takes you to a search for photographs costing between 0.2 & 5 ETH.

 

ETH refers to Ethereum, a Bitcoin currency, currently standing at $3691.41, but presumably fluctuates wildly. Brave New World, rather unsettling in fact, to me anyway.

 

In a similar vein, male anti-vaxxers reckon that their semen will be a type of Bitcoin currency in the not-too-distant future. Any actual science refuting the basis of this will be part of the big conspiracy, of course.

 

What a time to be alive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Celluloid Hero said:

 

Am I to understand that we are now required to identify as a BitCoin in a non-binary way whilst wearing gender neutral suspenders?

 

 

Yes, these are required for suspension of disbelief.

 

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What seems crazy, in this era of attempting to drive down carbon emissions, is the amount of energy being consumed by "mining" bitcoins. This alone would seem to make the long term future of the existing crypto-currencies debatable or even unsustainable.

 

Mark  

Edited by M.Chapman
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
6 hours ago, Panthera tigris said:

but it does makes one wonder if these sales are genuine or just market making. 

Hmm, yes, only one bid so it goes for the reserve price, 100 Ether (?) to a 'visionary and disrupter'. That's equivalent to $300,000 in real money, but is it real money?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.