I tried to save the earth and all I got was this NFT.
The need for a proper discussion on the impact NFTs have on our climate and environment.
Misinformation and Poor Framing
If you’ve been paying attention to the NFT space at all the last few months you’ve seen some of the messaging and accusations that NFTs are harmful to the environment. This is the most poorly framed claim I’ve ever seen as it relates to crypto. We can have a debate about the impact NFTs have to the environment but the fact that artists and creatives are being attacked as horrible people and not caring about the environment is highly problematic and not the proper next step from those who have concerns.
What is even more troubling is that the communities of some crypto projects are piling onto this narrative without objective evidence and using projected guilt as a basis to get new users onto their platforms. How do we move forward from this? We talk about it objectively and properly framed. In the meantime there are some options for artists who want to steer clear of the Proof of Work boogie man.
Note: Ethereum(where ~95%+ of NFT activity has lived) is moving from Proof of Work to staking over the next 2-3 years and started the first phase of that move in December.
One of those options is Polygon(formerly known as Matic). Polygon is a sidechain of Ethereum meaning that Polygon has its own blockchain and validators separate from Ethereum. Those validators operate under a staking consensus so the concern of wasteful energy(albeit inaccurate) is not the case with Polygon. The option you have with a sidechain is you could bridge your tokens(e.g. NFTs, LINK, etc) to and from Ethereum if you so choose in the future. Think of Ethereum like the big city and Polygon(and many others like xDAI, Loopring, etc) as suburban small towns.
Airdrop
I’ve sent 2.5 MATIC to the first 160 people who replied to this tweet:
Paste bin of addresses: https://pastebin.pl/view/a4682c58 to check if you’re in the list.
Polygon Airdrop Transaction: link
What is the MATIC for? See below to see why you’ll need it…
Getting “This NFT”
Now to the fun part. You’ll need to do the following to get 1 of 256 NFTs on Polygon(Matic). They were minted using Cargo.Build and deployed to Polygon/Matic under the collection name, “This NFT” and symbol, “tNFT”
The NFT is as free as I could make it. Cargo would not let me use 0 MATIC as a value so I used the minimum value of 0.00000001 MATIC, which is currently $0.00000000356814. 160 people were airdropped 2.5 MATIC to be able to buy the NFT via Cargo and mint future NFTs on a staking chain!
Instructions to Setup Metamask and Cargo Account
Step 1: Follow these steps to add Polygon/Matic network to your Metamask if you have not: link
Step 2: Go to Cargo.Build and setup an account if you haven’t: https://app.cargo.build/marketplace and then login.
Step 3: Click this link to go to the collection and find an available “This NFT” and buy it with MATIC. You will need to be initially connected to the Polygon/Matic network you previously setup in Step 1. You do this by clicking the networks drop down to the right of the Metamask Fox icon in Metamask. If you got the airdrop you should see at least 2.5 MATIC listed. You now can use Metamask just like you would use it to perform transactions on Ethereum but instead on Polygon.
Step 4: There are only 256 “This NFT” in the collection and will be available for 0.00000001 MATIC and no more will be minted. If you can’t find one for that price you can attempt to buy/bid from the secondary market on Cargo.Build and other marketplaces. There is a 5% royalty which will go to @sarah_script. I will receive nothing from any resales or initial sales.
As we move forward in the NFT space, I hope these NFTs help spur the proper conversation around NFTs and their impact and roll in our lives.
Step 5: Don’t be selfish. Grab one and leave some for others.
Link to “This NFT” collection: https://app.cargo.build/collection/607b93d45ce82f734eef11bf
The collection has been minted but not listed for sale yet. I will send out a tweet when you can go buy them. This will happen within the next 24-48hrs. Might be a good idea to turn on notifications for my tweets.
Feel free to share the NFTs you got from Cargo on your social media and those who were airdropped MATIC can mint on Polygon via Cargo for small fractions of a penny.
Disclaimer:
I was not paid anything or requested to do anything by Cargo, Polygon or anyone else for producing this collection. This was done by my own doing(along with the artist who’s work I commissioned) to send a message to those who wish to continue spreading misinformation and propagate a poorly framed narrative about NFTs and the creators in the NFT space. I will receive nothing from the sale of these and the artist will receive 100% of all royalties.