So I just got off a zoom call with a “utility” NFT developer and it was truly one of the most frustrating, low-key terrifying, and shockingly informative conversations I’ve had in my life.

I wish I had recorded the conversation, because some of the things he said were so egregious.

At one point I asked him about privacy concerns related to the blockchain and he said they were “just trusting on the underlying technology to provide that security.”

I can’t help but think that NFTs are hugely inspired by the high-end contemporary art market. Like, both markets have some questionable values and artworks.

Buying an NFT is like owning the certificate of authenticity for a work you don’t have access to and also probably don’t care about.

A certificate of authenticity is kind of like a receipt for an artwork. It proves that the artwork you own is the artwork you say it is, and they’re very important in the high end art market. But when it comes to some of the more… esoteric installations, we kind of behave, legally anyway, as if the COA is the artwork.

A quick guide to 90% of NFT scam type news (it mostly falls into one of these categories):

1. Rich person got hacked and they lost their NFTs and therefore, money. Hacker gets rich.
2. Organization mints NFTs of stolen artwork and tries to sell them.
3. Rich person/corporation is ruining the lives of regular people by mining crypto.
4. Organization starts an NFT scam in order to get rich, then disappears.
5. People have discovered that this organization is buying its own NFTs in order to create hype and make them seem more valuable than they actually are to outside people.
6. Organization mints NFTs in “honour’ of people who do not or never would have wanted to be associated with NFTs.
7. Person minting NFTs forgets that photographs exist.
8. Crypto bros fail to understand how the real world works.
9. Public figure/corporation backs out of NFT project after receiving heavy backlash.
10. Hacker airdrops NFT malware into unsuspecting wallets.

And the worst thing is, I’ve seen small artists who are legitimately just trying to live off of their art get death threats on Twitter for making an NFT sale. Which… death threats are never a great reaction, but you’re definitely threatening the wrong person here.

I think opinions on social media follow the 80/20 rule, where people get 80% of their idea across, then stop, because the remaining 80% of the work is nuance.

Please don’t take this as me judging anyone. I just did it too. I do it all the time.

But do realize that this is what is going on.