Last year, collaborated with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Rolling Stone magazine's latest report: Your NFT article is worthless

The mainstream US magazine Rolling Stone has collaborated twice with Bored Ape Yacht Club, and at the end of last year also reported that the value of NFTs for creators is on the rise. However, recently they published an article titled "Your NFT is Ultimately Worthless", discussing the phenomenon of NFTs crashing after the hype.

95% of NFTs Worthless

Rolling Stone magazine quoted a report from the analytics firm dappGambl in the article "Dead NFTs", with the majority of the report forming the basis of the article.

The report analyzed 73,257 NFT collectibles, of which a staggering 69,795 have already dropped to zero value, indicating that 95% of NFTs are worthless.

For an asset class that saw a trading volume of $17 billion during the bull market in 2021, this is an epic collapse, with the report stating that around 23 million investors still hold these NFTs that have no real-world utility or value close to zero.

The report outlined the flaws and current status of NFTs:

• Lack of clear use cases

• Lack of compelling narratives

• Lack of genuine artistic value

• Market supply far exceeds demand

• Only 20% of NFTs have ownership rights

Another Challenge for NFTs: Environmental Impact?

Rolling Stone also highlighted the environmental concerns mentioned in the report, stating that an estimated 195,699 NFT projects with almost zero market value consumed energy equivalent to 27.7892 GWh and generated 16,243 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Most NFT projects currently choose to mint on Ethereum, but the report seems to overlook Ethereum's transition to Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism.

The Cambridge Centre for Energy Studies at the University of Cambridge estimates that Ethereum's energy consumption will drop by 99% after transitioning to PoS, with an annual energy consumption of around 6.49 GWh, which is lower than the 6.70 GWh annual consumption of the Eiffel Tower or the 14.48 GWh of the British Museum.

Rolling Stone's Divergent Reporting

Interestingly, Rolling Stone collaborated twice with Bored Ape Yacht Club in June last year to release exclusive Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Check out the article here.

Furthermore, in November last year, Rolling Stone published an article "The NFT Bubble Has Burst, But the Value Creators Are Just Heating Up", which discussed NFTs in loyalty proof and as economic rewards in gaming, but now they have released a polarizing report.

Rolling Stone ends "Your NFT is Ultimately Worthless" article with a sarcastic tone:

Of course, NFT enthusiasts need not worry too much. When NFTs see a minor resurgence in the future, climate issues will be brushed aside. After all, we can't let these things get in the way of the next wave of NFT fever.

On the flip side, the drastic change in mainstream media's attitude towards NFTs in 2022 and 2023 begs the question: does this signify that NFTs are about to emerge from the bottom?