NFTs are more environmentally friendly than the traditional art market but face a ‘skewed narrative’ from mainstream media, according to Harrison Seletsky, Head of Communications for the NFTrade marketplace.
Seletsky’s comments came in an exclusive interview with BeInCrypto in which the NFTrade communications head covered a range of topics including the environment, the public perception of NFTs, and what the future of the sector might look like.
We spoke to Seletsky about a prevailing mainstream media narrative at pains to emphasize the environmental impact of the industry. It is a narrative that Seletsky does not buy into.
“What is the environmental impact of the millions, if not billions of pounds of canvases, paintbrushes, paint, cameras, etcetera, that are produced each year to satisfy the physical art market?” Seletsky said.
“Creating digital art and assets is infinitely more environmentally friendly than creating physical art, and there is a skewed narrative that doesn’t really address the problem at its core. On top of that, with the push towards proof-of-stake verification mechanisms, NFTs will be even more environmentally friendly than their physical counterparts – art, receipts, tickets, etc. – with no more additional impact than having your computer turned on and running.”
For NFT fans, Seletsky’s remarks offer a welcome counterweight to the often one-sided analysis offered by mainstream media outlets. Earlier this year Enjin co-Founder Witek Radomski told BeInCrypto that the cultural importance of non-fungible tokens was being ‘overlooked’ in the environmental debate.
Seletsky now adds his own line of argument to further challenge the ‘NFTs bad’ narrative which has polluted public perception. According to Seletsky, he expects the public image of NFTs to improve over time as the technology becomes more familiar to the public.
“As NFTs become more integrated into our everyday lives through various use cases, this [public] image will inevitably change, similarly to the cryptocurrency industry in general,” he said.
Looking to the future
With the year is coming to a close, we asked Seletsky about his predictions for the market in 2022.
“The next big trend of NFTs is already starting to pop its head up – gaming,” he told us. “Both play-to-earn and NFT-based gaming have begun to redefine the multi-billion dollar gaming industry. The leisure economy, i.e., the ability to monetize your leisure time, will change how gamers and interested users around the world interact online, and NFTs will be the economic drivers behind all of it.”
What about in the longer term, what will NFTs bring over the next 10 years?
“Every gaming item will be an NFT, musicians will use NFTs to monetize themselves without having to give up the lion’s share of their earnings to studios, NFTs will represent digital ticketing, and so much more. It’s kind of hard to say to the fullest extent where NFTs will be, as there will most likely be some revolutionary use cases that haven’t been discovered yet.
“It is kind of like trying to quantify the impact of the internet in the 90s without knowing the power that social media will introduce. To think that there was a time before social media is almost hard to imagine, especially for younger generations, and we may see a similar concept replicated through NFTs.”
As for the roadmap towards wider acceptance, the Head of Communication for NFTrade shared some final thoughts.
“There is still a very high technical barrier to entry, meaning you have to have pretty in-depth insight just to be able to purchase an NFT,” he explained. “As these barriers lower through things like fiat integration, easier to use and more accessible wallets, and adoption throughout a variety of sectors, the public will begin to have a better understanding of the capabilities NFTs present.”
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