NFTs have dominated pop culture for the past year. Almost every day, new celebrities announce their interest in new technologies. Normally you would delete the NFT collection.from Quentin Tarantino’s pulp fiction NFT To Snoop Dogg’s NFT Music Label, Various celebrities are beginning to realize the creative value that NFTs offer. Celebrity involvement has played an important role in raising mainstream awareness of the various use cases and investment potential of NFTs, but it has also angered some fans.
In the midst of the hype surrounding the NFT phenomenon, there is growing concern about the environmental impact of technology. As an example, the popular Korean boy band BTS Faced important Pushed back a few months ago in response to their plan to debut their own NFT collection. The backlash experienced by BTS is one of many similar cases, and as a result, some artists are cautious about exploring NFT trends themselves.
That’s what many fans miss teeth It is possible to create NFTs in a way that does not sacrifice the environment. In fact, many NFT platforms employ more environmentally friendly casting methods by incorporating energy efficient blockchains such as Tezos, Flow, Polygon and Solana. These blockchains operate using a consensus mechanism called Proof of Stake (PoS) to validate transactions on the blockchain, such as creating NFTs. This type of consensus mechanism requires significantly less energy than Proof of Work (PoW), the previous major method for verifying transactions, as will be explained later.
However, given the amount of NFT terminology and misinformation, barriers to entry can be overwhelming when it comes to conducting due diligence. Before an artist enters the NFT Arena, there are four important factors to consider in order to maximize environmental consideration. PoW, PoS, side chain, carbon neutral.
Related: How Blockchain Technology Is Transforming Climate Change Countermeasures
Proof of work
Environmental problems surrounding NFTs are mainly Proof of work.. In essence, PoW acts as a security detail for cryptocurrency transactions. To ensure that the transaction is safe and legal, the computer needs to solve any mathematical puzzle as a validation. The computers involved in this process require a lot of power, so some celebrities received a community backlash after launching NFTs on the PoW chain.
Related: Green Bitcoin: Impact and Importance of PoW Energy Use
Proof of stake
Fortunately, not all blockchains require PoW, and contrary to common misconceptions, NFTs can be created in an environmentally friendly way.Where is this Proof of stake Present a compelling solution. PoS requires individuals to cryptographically participate in transaction validation to earn rewards, as opposed to requiring energy-intensive computers to solve puzzles to validate transactions. Just ask to bet.
As mentioned earlier, popular PoS blockchains include Tezos, Flow, Solana, and Polygon. Tezos, in particular, has received a lot of attention due to its low energy consumption. By simple comparison, 50 million transactions in Tezos generate carbon emissions for only 17 global citizens.
Related: Proof of stake or proof of work, that’s the problem
In addition, Ethereum, one of the major blockchains in the NFT ecosystem, will soon move from PoW systems to PoS systems.The future of the network, according to the Ethereum Foundation switch From PoW to PoS, which are rumored to be available this fall, energy efficiency will be increased by approximately 2000 times and total energy usage will be reduced by 99.95%.
Sidechain and layer 2 solution
Another alternative to avoiding excessive energy consumption of PoW is the sidechain, which is an independent blockchain that runs in parallel with the mainchain like Ethereum. This independence allows sidechains to develop their own rules surrounding transactions, security, and governance. The sidechain does not have to rely on a distributed network of computers to validate transactions, resulting in a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
A good example of a popular sidechain in NFT spaces is Polygon. In particular, Polygon is also a Layer 2 solution, a third-party protocol, that supports Ethereum’s main chain by improving transaction speed and gas efficiency. The community-driven nature of many of these sidechains is particularly well-matched with creators and developers seeking to build mutually beneficial economies with their fans, making them attractive to those who enter the crypto space. Make it an option.
Carbon neutral
Regardless of whether your project uses PoW, PoS, or sidechain, it’s important to recognize and maintain accountability for your carbon footprint.
There are many ways a project can work devotedly towards achieving carbon neutrality, such as implementing carbon offsets by integrating with a carbon removal project. For example, the integration of the popular carbon removal markets Nori and Rarible earlier this year allowed anyone to offset the carbon dioxide emissions of most Ethereum NFTs listed on Rarible.
With these factors in mind, it’s important to make sure that artists are choosing to perform due diligence and adopt NFT marketplaces and projects that maintain their values.
connection:Green finance requires a functioning voluntary carbon market
Some have created NFTs as cash grabs regardless of the environment, but this trait misrepresents the intention to focus on the futurist and innovator communities of Web3 behind the technology. By adopting environmentally friendly, utility-driven NFTs, artists can connect and unleash new possibilities for sharing value with their fans.
This article does not contain any investment advice or recommendations. All investment and transaction movements carry risks and readers need to do their own research when making decisions.
The views, ideas and opinions expressed herein are for the author only and do not necessarily reflect or express the views or opinions of Cointelegraph.
Alex Sarnikov Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Rarible, a community-centric NFT marketplace. Alex, a pioneer of the blockchain and active in the field of cryptocurrencies since 2012, was formerly Chief Technology Officer of Coin Offering. This is the first company to offer stock in the form of blockchain assets. Alex has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master’s degree in data science, spanning a variety of disciplines such as market analysis, decentralized finance, NFT, and tokenomics.
