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Whoever understands NFTs let's make one for DonationCoder

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Deozaan:
The good news for users of Ethereum is that they are taking steps to transition to proof of stake.
-Deozaan (March 17, 2021, 03:18 AM)
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For anyone that didn't know what Proof of Stake was, I did the research for you as I didn't know either.

Proof of Stake (PoS) (via Investopedia)
-wraith808 (March 17, 2021, 07:28 AM)
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Thanks.

I also summarized it elsewhere like this:

Have you heard of staking (proof of stake, or PoS)? It's like mining but without all the crazy electricity demands. It has an initial financial demand instead. It feels more similar to earning interest on money you already have.

In contrast to traditional proof of work (PoW) mining blockchains, which have everybody in a fierce competition frantically hashing as quickly as possible to be the first person to mine a block and propagate it to the network, PoS blockchains assign people their turns to mine in a raffle-like manner based on how much of the coin has been staked. Everyone knows their turn well in advance of when it actually needs to be done, so you keep your "mining" hardware connected to the chain (or at least connect it early enough that it can catch up to the current state of the chain), wait your turn, and then it mines a block when it's your turn. It's all very orderly and relatively cordial. It's more of a cooperation than a competition. There's no need to constantly be maxing out your CPU/GPU/ASIC 24/7 because you know in advance exactly when it will be your turn to produce a block. This means that the hardware requirements are (or can be) much lower in PoS blockchains than what is typically required for PoW blockchains. Some chains can even have low enough requirements that blocks can be produced with a Raspberry Pi.

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4wd:
An opinion piece on the current NFT craze:

NFTs Are a Pyramid Scheme and People Are Already Losing Money

“NFTs are entirely for the benefit of the crypto grifters. The only purpose the artists serve is as aspiring suckers to pump the concept of crypto — and, of course, to buy cryptocurrency to pay for ‘minting’ NFTs.”
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Deozaan:
I think that headline and the quote (which came from someone other than the author of the article) are too generalized and strong. There are too many blanket statements made as absolute fact when they actually apply only to a very specific niche.

I don't understand the current NFT craze. I think it is illogical and a "speculative mania" but NFTs are not inherently a pyramid scheme nor are they entirely for the benefit of grifters.

I see the current craze as more like a gold rush. And in a gold rush there are many people who choose to put everything (or at least too much) on the line in the hopes of striking it rich. Few people actually succeed, while the vast majority end up at a loss. Meanwhile, the shovel, pickaxe, and minecart vendors are happy to have the business.

If the quote was more specific, such as "the current craze over NFTs on Ethereum primarily benefits grifters" or if the article specified that "service X and/or Y selling NFTs is a pyramid scheme" then I'd find myself agreeing with the premise more.

But just because something is used by some people for nefarious or "dangerous" purposes, doesn't mean it is inherently nefarious or immoral.

Just because there was a tulip mania doesn't mean all sales of tulips are always without value and motivated by deceit or FOMO.

I'm not an art collector, and even if I became a multi-millionaire (or billionaire) I will likely never pay even hundreds of dollars for a single painting. But some art collectors are willing to spend millions on a piece of art. Why would someone pay millions of dollars for the original when you can buy a reproduction that looks virtually the same for a relative few dollars?

Similarly, why would anyone pay hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency for what is, essentially, an internet meme, when anyone can just copy and share it?

Some people will find some kind of value in those kinds of ownership. I may not understand or agree with it, but that doesn't mean it isn't legitimate.


Are some people choosing to engage in something that appears to be or operate similar to a pyramid scheme? Yes. Are some people grifting others out of their money? Yes. Is this unique to NFTs? No. Is this the sole purpose of NFTs? No.

I'll point out that NFTs are not entirely new. It's just that there is a renewed (speculative) interest in them because cryptocurrencies are currently experiencing a boom in value. The last NFT craze I can think of was crypto-kitties, and it happened at the height of the last boom in late 2017. That's the craze that spawned many of the NFT sites/services that are being used for the current craze on Ethereum.

Between then and now, NFTs have been used more quietly and more "boringly" on more sane and rational projects, which nobody really bothered complaining about because it wasn't exciting enough to generate clicks.

To me, this article, and its line of thinking, come across as moral panic akin to "rock music is evil" by people who don't understand (or like?) new things. Especially because the people involved in that article seem to think that NFTs exist only on Ethereum where minting them is (currently) very expensive in terms of both electricity and cryptocurrency. But I just sit back in bemusement and think of the adage "a fool and his money are soon parted."

wraith808:
To me, this article, and its line of thinking, come across as moral panic akin to "rock music is evil" by people who don't understand (or like?) new things. Especially because the people involved in that article seem to think that NFTs exist only on Ethereum where minting them is (currently) very expensive in terms of both electricity and cryptocurrency. But I just sit back in bemusement and think of the adage "a fool and his money are soon parted."

-Deozaan (March 22, 2021, 02:58 PM)
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To add to this, the fact that there are costs associated with 'minting' NFTs and that people are doing it for the most superfluous of reasons seems to be the primary reasons for naming it a pyramid scheme, which seems disingenuous at best, in all honesty. There are no get rich quick schemes, and NFTs are no exception to that rule.

tomos:
I'm not an art collector, and even if I became a multi-millionaire (or billionaire) I will likely never pay even hundreds of dollars for a single painting. But some art collectors are willing to spend millions on a piece of art. Why would someone pay millions of dollars for the original when you can buy a reproduction that looks virtually the same for a relative few dollars?
-Deozaan (March 22, 2021, 02:58 PM)
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Not so important, but fwiw, there is a huge difference between e.g. a painting, and a reproduction photo/print of that painting. (I would agree all the same that it's crazy the money that is paid for some art.)

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