Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao just isn’t a giant fan of non-fungible-tokens (NFTs). He thinks that NFT craze is ‘bonkers’ and “people have lost their mind”. NFT is something beginning out of your artwork, drawing, music, GIF, and so on or perhaps a selfie will be became an NFT. Any digital file will be became an NFT on blockchain distributed database. It is a certificates of authenticity for paintings, music, movies, and even tweets.
In a recent interview with Fortune, Zhao said whatever your opinion of NFTs, they cannot be ignored. They “allow artists to monetize their work globally again…and reach a much wider audience.” He adds, “Some guy in Singapore can pay $69 million for your art.”
What makes NFTs unique from other digital forms is that it is backed by Blockchain technology. For the uninitiated, Blockchain is a distributed ledger where all transactions are recorded. It is like your bank passbook, except all your transactions are transparent and can be seen by anyone and cannot be changed or modified once recorded.
Not only Zhao but Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is not a big fan of NFTs, Buterin is worried about how Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) non-fungible-tokens (NFTs) have become a symbol of wealth and status. In an interview with Time magazine, Buterin called out the ape avatar collection “a different kind of ‘gambling”.
Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software. Binance was initially based in China, but later moved its headquarters out of China following the Chinese government’s increasing regulation of cryptocurrency.
NFT stands for non-fungible token—a unique, original digital asset that belongs only to its owner or owners. It’s a bit like a certificate of authenticity for artwork, music, videos, and even tweets.
NFTs can be sold individually or as part of a collection, as in the case of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of thousands of digital ape illustrations on the Ethereum blockchain. Those who purchase an ape graphic as an NFT gain membership to an exclusive club with members-only perks like access to “the Bathroom,” a members-only online graffiti board. Celebrities like comedian and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and Grammy-winning producer Timbaland are currently using their Bored Ape NFTs as their Twitter profile pics.
Whatever your opinion of NFTs, there is an undeniable plus, Zhao said: They “allow artists to monetize their work globally again…and reach a much wider audience.”
In the cast of last year’s record NFT sale, that “guy”—or guys—were MetaKovan (real name Vignesh Sundaresan) and Twobadour (Anand Venkateswaran), coowners of NFT-focused investment fund Metapurse. They wanted to add “a dash of mahogany” to the typically “monochrome…color scheme” of investors, financiers, and art patrons, the two blogged after the sale.