FeeOnly Summit 2022: NFTs were born way back in 2014, but they have only reached peak success in the last year and a half.
Today, Non Fungible Tokens are known not only by the most knowledgeable in the fintech industry, but also by those who only observe this world.
However, the popularity of NFTs has also been accompanied by great doubts and concerns about the environmental impact that non-fungible tokens themselves may have on our planet.
For some time now, the crypto community has had to answer questions regarding the impact of cryptocurrencies and NFTs on the environment, trying to work on all possible alternatives to find solutions to this huge problem.
The environmental impact of tokens is also a barrier for a large segment of investors and institutions, which should not be underestimated in a long-term perspective.
FeeOnly Summit 2022: The possible eco-friendly alternatives for NFTs
The PoS
Finally, after talking about it for a long time, the long-awaited Merge took place a few days ago.
The biggest and most impactful change has happened.
With the Merge, Ethereum went from a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake mechanism.
For the entire crypto ecosystem, especially those who work in it, this milestone represents a huge victory and a starting point for making Web 3.0 even more easily mainstream.
For the uninitiated, with this step it will be possible to greatly limit the ecological impact that blockchain operation has on the environment.
According to Tim Beiko, the coordinator of Ethereum’s protocol developers, Ethereum’s move to Proof-of-Stake will succeed in reducing its environmental impact by 99.9%.
Michel Rauchs, a research affiliate at the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, says:
“This would essentially mean that Ethereum’s electricity consumption over the course of a day or overnight will drop to almost zero.”
That said, it goes without saying that the world of NFTs will also benefit from this major transition.
Non-fungible tokens are traded on different marketplaces that rely on multiple blockchains but the most widely used is Ethereum’s.
Layer 2
NFTs can be more sustainable by leveraging layer 2 solutions.
Through layer 2s, the number of transactions required on the blockchain is greatly reduced.
Carbon credits
This third solution would not solve the root of the problem but would help limit the damage.
If one cannot be totally eco-friendly, a solution that would minimize the damage could be carbon credits.
It could be stipulated that a portion of the profits made from the buying and selling of NFTs should, in some way, be allocated to the purchase of carbon credits, credits that help reduce the impact of carbon emissions on the environment.
Renewable energy
Finally, the most obvious solution to the problem of carbon emissions from NFTs is to use clean energy. If more mining machines used clean energy, emissions would decrease significantly.
Unfortunately, this solution is only partially feasible.
In fact, experts argue that energy from renewable sources is still scarce and valuable and must be used to meet more important needs first: heating and lighting.
Thus, it can be said that the process of making NFTs and the whole ecosystem more eco-friendly has been started, even reaching important milestones (such as the Merge).
However, there are still many aspects that can be improved and will still require some time and work from the biggest advocates.
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