# Cryptocurrency and NFTs **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2022, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211 "2022-02-10T10:13:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/1 "2022-02-10T10:13:33Z")
Two things I don’t understand, despite many attempts by their aficionados to explain them to me. I wonder if there’s any connection between them, or if they just both happen to be concepts that seem to me incomprehensible, very recent, and based on some sort of ‘virtual’ value that didn’t exist before someone invented them out of thin air. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/2 "2022-02-10T10:44:05Z")
Both crypto coins and NFTs are based around a decentralised digital ledger. So there is a technological commonality between them. There are differences of course between a coin and an NFT. One of the most important ones is that an NFT is not divisible so it is considered non-fungible whereas crypto coins are fungible. I can see how coins might have some value or use (not as much as crypto-lovers think, but _some_). NFT’s… I’m far more dubious about. But at least they are not minted by using up huge amounts of energy. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/3 "2022-02-10T14:59:45Z")
And they are both indeed based on some sort of ‘virtual’ value that didn’t exist before someone invented them out of thin air. Like every physical item, they are worth what someone is willing to pay for them. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/4 "2022-02-10T15:08:01Z")
There’s an internet meme about NFTs that equates them to that old novelty gift where you can buy a star. You give some company your money, they give you a certificate and a photo of your star, its coordinates, all the identifying info. But there’s no way to collect your property, you don’t know that someone else hasn’t already bought it or that your star won’t be sold to someone else. And now, the companies that did the transactions are gone along with their sales records so…enjoy your NFTs. Is that a flawed comparison? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/5 "2022-02-10T15:13:52Z")
No, that’s a very good comparison, except that the claim is that the sales records are public and indelible on the blockchain. The main problem with spending your money on such things is that 1. The company doesn’t really have any legal right to give you any ownership claim on the star. 2. The thing you paid for isn’t a legal ownership claim in any sense. #2 is definitely true for NFTs, #1 sometimes is, although the fact that #2 is true means that #1 is sometimes irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/6 "2022-02-10T15:14:01Z")
Only in that star may actually be providing _someone_ with some use out there. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/7 "2022-02-10T15:23:58Z")
There’s a [whole 2-hour explanation video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ_xWvX1n9g&ab_channel=FoldingIdeas) that recently came out that explains NFTs. But really it’s about crypto. The 4th chapter mark is called “NFTs exist to get you to buy crypto”. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/8 "2022-02-10T18:08:13Z")
Someone should show that to Microsoft. I think they just invested 100 Billion into NFT’s ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/9 "2022-02-10T18:10:44Z")
You are only off by about 5 orders of magnitude there, as well as what was actually invested in. They didn’t invest in NFTs, they invested in the technology behind NFTs. And they didn’t invest 100 billion, their venture investment fund, along with several other groups, put up $27 million into a company that makes money off of other people investing in NFTs. Just because something is worthless doesn’t mean that it’s not worthwhile to sell it to suckers. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/10 "2022-02-10T18:26:42Z")
You’re right. It’s probably nothing. I’m sure a 2 hour YouTube video and a mid 1990’s message board will have the final say. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/11 "2022-02-10T18:33:34Z")
I was just pointing out the extreme error of your claim. It’s not a message board that says your claim is wrong, it is reality. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/12 "2022-02-10T19:24:06Z")
Just learned in the thread next door what NFT stands for: No F\*\*\*ing Talent. > [@Melania sells her art](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/melania-sells-her-art/956174/29): > > I just realized why the abbreviation “NFT” cracks me up. My former father-in-law was an artist, and he was very judgmental and dismissive of those artists a few rungs lower on the hierarchy of talent than he was (which was pretty high, technically speaking. Personally he was a major dick.) He used to look at others’ work and his word of disapproval was “NFT,” which stood for “No Talent.” I couldn’t agree more. And now for the Cryptothingy! ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/13 "2022-02-10T20:44:06Z")
You Googled “Microsoft NFT” and read the first article on Palm. Activision Blizzard makes 60% of it’s revenue from in-game purchases and microtransactions (An industry with an expected total revenue of 75 Billion in 2025). Microsoft has also been working with Enjin on their Azure Heros program for NFT/blockchain based rewards. A “skin” has zero real value. People spend billions on them. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/14 "2022-02-10T21:03:00Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > You Googled “Microsoft NFT” and read the first article on Palm. Your claim was that Microsoft invested $100 billion into NFTs. If you think that has _any_ validity at all, how about an actual cite? > [@sitchensis](#): > > A “skin” has zero real value. People spend billions on them. As I said, just because something is worthless doesn’t mean that it’s not worthwhile to sell it to suckers. But that has _nothing_ to do with your claim. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/15 "2022-02-10T21:15:13Z")
Yeah, got to agree with k9bfriender here. MS did just spend $70 billion, but for ActivisionBlizzard, which is a games company. ActiBlizz has some NFT stuff in the works (like many games companies) but that’s a far cry from MS investing $100 billion in NFTs. ActiBlizz’s main money makers are mobile games like Candy Crush and some AAA tiles like Call of Duty and some e-Sports games. I’m not seeing anything that suggests Microsoft invested anywhere near $100 billion in NFTs in particular, though there are articles suggesting they hope to make that kind of money in that market from suckers. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/16 "2022-02-11T02:14:33Z")
Another games company: > **[Ubisoft Celebrated Its Employees' Hard Work By Giving Them NFTs](https://www.thegamer.com/ubisoft-gave-employees-ghost-recon-nft/)** > > Thank you for your dedication and hard work. Here's a jpeg. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cryptocurrency-and-nfts/959211/17 "2022-02-11T09:16:37Z")
If you have any trust in the wisdom of canadian truckers or the ones manipulating them you might consider buying some Bitcoins: > **[The anti-vaxx Canadian truckers want to talk to you about Bitcoin](https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/9/22925823/canadian-trucker-convoy-anti-vaxx-bitcoin-press-conference)** > > The anti-vaxx protests have converged with Bitcoin.