PewDiePie, the controversial and currently the most-subscribed-to YouTuber, uses his platform to slam non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in his latest video.
The Swedish 32-year-old, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, explained on his latest upload that he thinks the technology has “a ton of potential.” However, the way it has been used lately by big corporations hoping for a quick cash grab has been “all about the money now; it’s not about the artist.”
NFTs are a blockchain-backed form of digital collectible, meaning similar to cryptocurrency, a public ledger lists the exchanges for the virtual pieces of art. Such a system provides instantly authenticable unique tokens to carry value due to having a digital signature from the artist who created it. Single NFTs or collections are often intentionally made scarce to become more valuable. Depending on the type one creates, subsequent sales of a single NFT can bring additional revenue to the original artist even after they’ve sold it to somebody else.
The phenomenon blew up as a money-making fad earlier this year when the artist Beeple sold a piece of artwork for $69 million.
While some have argued NFTs have the potential to put the power back into the hands of artists, others argue they may have adverse environmental repercussions. However, the perceived environmental aspect — which is somewhat debatable — was not mentioned by Kjellberg.
Instead, he took umbrage at the rapid corporatization of the technology and the way big name brands are now trying to milk the fad for all its worth. For example, game publisher Ubisoft, the world’s largest record label Universal Music Group, and even Marvel all came out with their own NFTs.
Kjellberg, who has 111 million subscribers, even said he did not authorize an NFT created in his likeness and branded with his name. It’s nevertheless worth $4 million, he said.
Kjellberg then reveled in actor Keanu Reeves recently breaking out in laughter at NFTs.
“Keanu Reeves, in that moment, destroyed NFTs,” Kjellberg said.
The YouTuber went on to say that the most egregious offense when it comes to NFTs is the fact that the late Stan Lee‘s Twitter account is also now trying to sell one of the digital tokens.
He called the move something that “perfectly summarized everything bad about NFTs.”
