30/11/2021 'You can gain everything and you can lose everything' — here's why experts remain skeptical about the NFT market

Non-fungible tokens — unique digital assets, like artwork andsports trading cards, that are verified and stored using blockchain technology — exploded in popularity in 2021. People create, collect and trade NFTsfor millions of dollars, some with the hopes to profit in the future. But experts are still skeptical that NFTs are a good investment.

The surge in NFTs is still fairly new, but massive amounts of money has already exchanged hands among collectors. Since 2017, for example, NFT collectibles have generated over$6.2 billionin sales while digital art has generated over$1.9 billion, according to NonFungible, which tracks historical sales data of NFTs.

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"I think things like artworks and collectibles have become the big commodity of NFTs because they naturally fit into what NFTs are," according to Jon McCormack, a professor of computer science at Monash University. "Digital being copyable, having this extra Certificate of Authenticity is really important to show ownership of that particular thing."

Researchers are concerned that it may be a bad time to enter the market, which has grown too big, too fast under immense hype and speculation. NFT trading volume grew 38,000% year-over-year to hit$10.7 billionduring the third quarter, for example, according to ananalysis by DappRadar, a company that helps people track NFTs and other decentralized assets.

"This may well be the apotheosis, the peak in the paradigm of everything bubbles," said Michael Every, Rabobank's head of financial markets research for Asia-Pacific. "It worries me intensely even if I fully understand the dynamic that drives younger people in particular."

Experts suggest buying an NFT because you want to own it, not because you want to get in on the hype.

"Don't buy it because it's an NFT," said Evan Cohen, co-founder of Vincent. "Buy it because you like the art or buy it because you think the collectible is cool or the community is cool. You want to participate for the asset, not the underlying technology that powers this."

Arts

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/11/29/heres-why-experts-remain-skeptical-about-the-nft-market.html

Interesting NFTs
CryptoKitties
*waves*! My name's Kitty #87065. I once peed on John F. Kennedy Jr.'s cat. They had it coming. When no one's home, I invite my pals over and we listen to Coldplay. Can you make my wondrous dreams come true?
#77075
By OthersideDeployer
Alex in Wonderland
A figure, Alex, stands mostly naked in the midst of a physical and psychological maelstrom. He is clad only in nostalgic 80’s era socks, on a tenuous island between active waters and a variety of shark denizens. Sharks on the right side of the image are all beached, including a shark with a quartz crystal snout, an orange shark wrapped in a life buoy, and a shark further in the distance wearing an 80’s style shirt with the number “88”. On the left side is the largest shark, wearing bright glossy red lipstick and brandishing prominent teeth with braces. She is cordoned off from the figure by a roped float divider, and within her thought bubble is a warning symbol. Behind the figure, hovering in the air, are Grey aliens emerging from the distance, out of a series of elliptical UFO shaped interdimensional membranes. The Greys take on the visual form of spermazoa ostensibly impregnating the interdimensional thresholds. As is typical, these Greys inhabit a zone just behind the unconscious topology of Alex’s dissociative mind. Though Alex’s bottom half is representative, his top half mutates into a psychological cornucopia. In a manner akin to “Auto-Erotic Sphinx”, a predecessor work, the figure has self suctioned—an act of sensual infatuation, enjoyment, and exploration. Upward exists the figure’s primary conscious eye, adorned with a revolutionary beret emblazoned with a Bitcoin badge. The figure’s summit features the nose of a fighter jet facing off against video game Bullet Bills, one of whom is marked by a communist North Korean star. A cropped section of a UFO observes the contest. Alex’s mind branches both left and right. To the left is more singular embodied consciousness, manifesting two eyes and a Ganesh trunk grasping crayons. The right branch dissociates upward diagonally, emerging into an array of eyes, faces, teeth, tail, a unicorn horn, and much more—all of which participate in expressing his unconscious being; a democracy of psychic factions representing thought impressions and associations. All illumination and darkness– fernal, infernal, high consciousness and corporeal underbelly–reside in this realm. In the distance are relatively languid, light clouds, and against the firmament hovers a colossal distant eye peering over the scene and far beyond. This painting possesses underlying genetic traits with previous works such as “Auto-Erotic Sphinx with Toys”, “Dionysus”, and “Fuku-Shiva”. The work serves also as a nod to an earlier period of art inspiration during late teens and early twenties— born out of the nakedness, vulnerability, curiosity, and wonder inherent to coming of age and all subsequent psychedelic revelation.
No Future #2/15
None.
Dreaming at Dusk
More than 15 years ago, Tor onion services were brought to digital life. An ecosystem of onions has been blooming ever since. To commemorate this landmark in the history of privacy, we collaborated with @ixshells to create a one-of-a-kind digital artifact: a generative art piece derived using the private key of the very first onion service, duskgytldkxiuqc6.onion. This auction benefits the Tor Project, the nonprofit protecting your human right to privacy. 1020*1280 / 60fps / .mp4 / RSA1024