Aphex Twin is the latest musician to enter the world of NFT’s with a sale of one of his graphic artworks today earning him the Ethereum currency equivalent of $166,092.21 AUD ($128,392.56 USD).
Prior to the artwork’s sale, the legendary UK producer said that a portion of the money earned from the sale of his digital artwork will be spent “on planting trees and either donating to permaculture projects or setting them up ourselves, depending on how much we get.”
The tweet has been met with some controversy, with fans raising the hypocrisy in wanting to plant a few trees with money raised from a controversial digital marketplace that is also in the business of selling complex legacies of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Verge detail that Ethereum, like most of the major cryptocurrencies, is built upon the foundations of a system called “proof of work” that requires a high consumption of energy to operate.
“Proof of work” is a psuedo-security system for cryptocurrencies – largely because there is no “bank” system to oversee transactions. In order to keep financial records and transactions secure, the system forces people to complete complex puzzles using machines that require a high consumption of energy to operate.
The Verge says that “Ethereum uses about as much electricity as the entire country of Libya.”
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We will spend a portion of the money on planting trees and either donating to permaculture projects or setting them up ourselves, depending on how much we get .
— Aphex Twin (@AphexTwin) March 14, 2021
