Curious what the community thinks of NFT collections

Hey STS Community.
My name is Denis and I've recently found this forum.
As someone who is part of a project looking to raise funds to help endangered animals via an NFT collection, I was wondering what the community thinks of NFTs.
Do you guys see different use cases and do you think NFTs can be seen as "digital collections" or is it just another bubble.

Welcome here Denis!

I admit to be very old fashioned, so for me my collection is very much so a physical object interest. I appreciate the artistic variables and the detailing/realism for each individual model or an obvious "character" present when in hand. So an NFT itself would not interest me as a collector.

However, I also think that the aspect of the funds going to such a passionate cause such as conservation, which is another aspect of this hobby and community that appeals to collectors here for obvious reasons is a great idea. For me, I would absolutely consider buying NFTs simply as part of a charitible donation to the creatures that I love so much.

That's my two cents. 

Thanks for your input.
I'm really glad you see this technology differently, since the majority of people I've talked to, which have not taken time to do any research other than a random Facebook post, are very against NFTs because they see it as another cash grab. I'm going to admit that there are some vary shady things going on with some NFT collections but that percentage is fairly low and yet seems to affect people's opinions the most.
I'm not sure if this is a good idea, since self promotion isn't usually allowed in most forums, but I'd like to post a link to the project's website if that's okay with you : )

I don't automatically assume scam or money-making opportunity, I know a lot of people are using them these days and obviously the buyers get some satisfaction out of it...I just don't find the NFT concept to be something I'm remotely interested in. They're something I think of as for other people, who'd enjoy them - same way I feel about cars or children or designer clothes

For my model animals I'm very much a physical collector - if I can't paint it or take a photo of it and put it on a shelf in my bedroom, it's not real enough for me to want it

I would like to preface that I mean no disrespect to you, Dennis, in saying any of the following. I am not trying to imply that you are stealing art or damaging the environment, since I do not know your process and I would like to hope that you are a good person :) I am simply listing off my opinions on NFTs in general. I think, like most other commodities, they could certainly be used for good in some circumstances, but serious changes must be made to the way they are implemented first.

I seriously dislike (might even go as far as hate) NFTs. On a very personal basis I find them annoying, and a waste of time and money. But to provide some better reasons:
First of all, they are extremely energy inefficient (as are cryptocurrencies in general). The existence of keeping an individual NFT’s certificate in the blockchains they are kept in is equivalent to more than a month’s worth of electricity for the average person. I will not pretend to understand all of the ins and outs of how these things work, but the amount of energy required to support NFT trading systems and keep the insanely inefficient ownership certificates in existence is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. There are plenty of articles online with more statistics than what I have provided here, but the environmental impact of NFTs is one major reason I dislike them.
The other reason, which is very different, is that as a person who identifies as an artist and both posts and sells my work from time to time, I find NFTs to be an insult to the art community and I know many others who feel the same. One major NFT platform, OpenSea, regularly steals and sells the artwork of millions of artists who are unaware that this is happening. Artists make no money off of this process and in fact the new owners of the “NFTs” can copyright claim the work of the original artist and make them unable to use their own art. It has happened many times already. Not to mention that on a personal level I generally find them to be ugly, boring, and lack any and all creativity.

NFTs for endangered animal fundraising is kind of akin to sponsoring - you support an animal yet don't 'own' anything except it's story, though with an NFT you own the NFT's value and have the option of selling later if you wish. Whether that price goes down or up.
I wouldn't see it as a collection personally, primarily because it is virtual and 'owning' it is only in the form of a digital image + story (and it's value as an NFT), but from an investment point of view I would be interested in supporting animals this way. I understand the fundraising aspect and think it's a good idea, and has a future in fundraising/giving too.
Obviously due diligence would have to be done by the buyer. I've already seen NFTs in this category so I would be interested in knowing more.

Sorry to be a dinosaur- what's an NFT?

pipsxlch wrote:

Sorry to be a dinosaur- what's an NFT?

I had to google it (check Wikipedia) and inmediately arrived to the same conclusion than Endogenylove. I absolutely hate that concept. I wish that the creator of this idea was punished.

pipsxlch wrote:

Sorry to be a dinosaur- what's an NFT?

Pipsxlch this -guide here- is a good comprehensive guide to Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and explains the different aspects of them, security around them and advantages to artists selling the digitised versions of their work as NFTs.

selling digitised images of endangered animals as NFTs would raise money for the person/organisation selling them, hence using NFTs as a fundraising means for conservation groups etc.
You would own the 'digitised image' (read about this concept in the link above), and because you own it, and it has a value, you would also be able to sell your NFT at any point if you wish to do so. It's selling price would only be the price that a buyer would be willing to pay for it though.

pipsxlch wrote:

Sorry to be a dinosaur- what's an NFT?

To tell my two cents, you are not a dinosaur  NFT are dinosaurs...

How to make rare digital creations, the supply of which is theoretically infinite? How to make money by artificially limiting something that you can reproduce as much as you want. Modern technology at the service of the Middle Ages... Sorry, but I'm going to vomit

As a young person I think they're dumb as Doo doo

Most people who have looked more deeply into NFTs are aware that the processing power used for crypto market concepts such as NFTs has a negative ecological impact, creating extremely high carbon dioxide emissions, within the entire year of 2021, crypto farming has generated 38 million tons of CO₂, that is more than some countries.
With the current technology used you won't save the environment with NFTs, you will only contribute to an accelerated ecological destruction.
There are some hypothesis on how to make the whole concept more sustainable but those who have cashed in on crypto have already proven to not really care about that, so there won't be any eco-friendly options for NFTs within our life times, I am sure.
If you want to contribute to nature conservation, look for other means, but NFTs only destroy nature in the long run.