Aside from their applications as fashion wearables, gaming collectibles and art, NFT developers are finding social applications for this technology as well. For example, charities are using them to fundraise. More recently, Ukrainians have turned to NFT technology to preserve their cultural DNA in the midst of the Russian invasion. Additionally, artists are using them to offset their carbon footprints.
Let’s talk about how NFTs are being used for each of the above-named use cases:
- NFTs for fundraising
Many artists are creating NFT art with the intention of donating proceeds from their sales to charities around the world. Given that many NFTs are selling for millions of dollars, these contributions are making a world of a difference to charities that need support to further their missions.
In March last year, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet ever at 1630 ETH (an equivalent of $2.9M). Dorsey donated the money from this sale to GiveDirectly – a charity that sends funds to African families affected by COVID-19. GiveDirectly is well known for its dedication to the UN’s sustainable development goal 3 (SDG 3) – good health and wellbeing.
Following this, many sustainable NFT platforms have sprung up to fund SDG-focused charitable organizations around the world.
Following the Russian invasion, Ukraine has received donations totaling 300 NFTs to support the country’s efforts to raise money for medical supplies and military gear. Among these donations is a CryptoPunk that has been valued at $200,000. Ukraine will be selling these NFTs on OpenSea to raise funds for the supplies required by both citizens and military.
The prevalence of NFT donations has only increased with the growth of the NFT space. In January The Giving Block – a non-profit fundraising platform in the crypto industry – reported that over $12 million worth of crypto comes from NFT initiatives. That’s 30% of the donations that The Giving Block receives.
- NFTs for preserving cultural data
As NFT technology develops, experts in this niche are also using them as cultural artifacts to depict important moments in history and valuable monuments around the world. For example, the South China Morning Post, based in Hong Kong, has partnered with The Sandbox, a Metaverse game, to create NFTs that represent cultural monuments. An example of the monuments The Sandbox is supposed to reproduce in NFT form is the Kowloon Walled City. These NFTs will then be incorporated into the metaverse in The Sandbox.
Similarly, the Ukrainian government has sold museum NFTs worth $700,000 depicting scenes from the ongoing war. In addition to raising funds that the country needs, the sale of these NFTs has encapsulated a significant historical moment in digital form for future generations to see.
Another example of an NFT project that is memorializing significant historical moments is Moving Images. The team at Moving Images unveiled the project’s first NFT collection on May 24, 2022. This is the first and only NFT collection designed to celebrate the opening of the Elizabeth line, named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II. The collection consists of 70 pieces altogether, one for each year of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign. The NFTs were minted on the opening day of this new tube line. Given that the tube line was so named to celebrate the queen’s platinum jubilee, these NFTs are an important piece of England’s history.
“These NFTs were created to celebrate an important moment in the queen’s life and in our land,” says Moving Images founder Christian Walker. “By buying one of these NFTs, you can own a piece of history.”
These Elizabeth line NFTs from Moving Images are available for sale on OpenSea.
- NFTs for the environment
As with any other project on the blockchain, NFTs have become notorious contributors to global warming. In fact, each NFT-related transaction on the Ethereum network consumes over 260 kilowatts of energy. This is equivalent to the amount of electricity one American household consumes in 9.05 days. Given that minting, selling, and transferring an NFT all require separate transactions, the amount of energy one NFT consumes throughout its life is mind-boggling.
Why does NFT technology consume so much energy?
Most NFT art runs on the Ethereum network which depends on Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanisms. This is a technique used to validate transactions that relies on a network of miners or nodes – machines that solve complex mathematical equations. As more nodes are added to the network, the level of complexity, and thus energy needed to solve each equation, increases. Miners on the Ethereum network are rewarded in gas fees for solving these equations.
Given that there are multiple transactions behind each NFT, NFTs generate a larger carbon footprint than the average transaction that runs on the Ethereum network. To put this into perspective, each stage from the minting, bidding, cancelling, sales and ownership transfer of an NFT requires a separate transaction.
Many NFT artists have recognized the impact of their art on the environment and decided to do something about it. Some sell their NFT art with a carbon offset. Where artists don’t make this decision themselves, NFT marketplaces are selling carbon offsets alongside each NFT.
Other NFT projects, like Moving Images, have adopted a philanthropic business model and donate part of their proceeds to environmental charities.
What is Moving Images?
Aside from being the first NFT project to commemorate the opening of the Elizabeth line, Moving Images is an NFT project built to tackle the climate crisis. To this end, the project creates collectible, limited-edition NFTs whose proceeds are directed towards environmental charities. These charities are chosen every quarter.
Moving Images NFTs are based on photos that the team members take while travelling around the world. These photos are focused on themes of travel and nature. In order to ensure that NFT holders can own pieces that are truly unique, the Moving Images team is committed to ensuring that no NFT is like another. In this way, there will only ever be one of each NFT in existence. The first collection – the Elizabeth line NFTs – are a truly collectible set.
With each NFT sale, Moving Images donates the profits to environmental charities that are doing important work to restore our world. The Moving Images team is also working on a new digital currency at leafbird – one that transfers transaction fees to environmental charities. With this project model, Moving Images is creating art for a better world and supporting vital environmental work.
Click here to invest in Moving Images, own a piece of history and contribute to environmental conservation. You can also get updates on the current collection as well as upcoming collections on Instagram.
