While the concept of an NFT has been around since around 2015, they\u2019ve reached a peak in the last year or two but especially in recent months. With the success that has now been achieved, NFTs have penetrated the world of celebrities and influencers.<\/p>\n
Despite this sudden interest in NFTs, the image connected with the technology isn\u2019t entirely positive. According to research by Tidio, roughly 82% of those who are Gen-Z and 51% of millennials believe that NFTs are scams<\/a>.<\/p>\n Merav Ozair<\/a>, a blockchain expert and fintech professor thinks this perception comes from a misunderstanding of the technology, and a perpetuation of hype and gimmick culture from influencers.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cI have my reservations with influencers in NFTs because it gives a misconception of what they are. These influencers and all the hype and the gimmicks gives people the wrong impression. If they don\u2019t understand the technology behind it and what it can offer, they won\u2019t understand how important NFTs can be.\u201d says Ozair.<\/p>\n This is not to say that influencers shouldn\u2019t play a role in the advancement of NFTs, nor should they be prevented from investing in them. \u201cIf influencers want to be involved with NFTs, they also have to educate, there has to be a balance,\u201d says Ozair.<\/p>\n \u201cThe value of technology is definitely there; we just need more education to help people better understand it and see beyond the gimmick and understand the real use cases here.\u201d<\/p>\n The real use cases Ozair is referring to is around authentication. She sees NFTs as a key digital tool for authenticating everything from housing contracts, to marriage licenses and music royalties.<\/p>\n In its current form, it\u2019s understandable where the view of NFTs has come from. In January this year, OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace so far, announced that over 80% of the items created through its free minting tool were plagiarised, fake or spam<\/a>.<\/p>\n On top of this, despite the image that NFTs all sell for millions, the majority of sales occurring on OpenSea at its peak either weren\u2019t making a profit<\/a> or were barely breaking even. 33.6 per cent of sales were less than $100 and 20 per cent broke into the $100-$200 region. This is before fees are taken by OpenSea which can take well over half of your profit (or more).<\/p>\n Part of the issue stems from the lack of regulation and the speed that the technology advances. \u201cThe regulation is tough because we don\u2019t have a clear understanding of what it is right now. That doesn\u2019t mean there is no guidance but some of it doesn\u2019t actually make sense once you know the technology,\u201d said Ozair.<\/p>\n While the technology is currently unregulated, NFTs could end up seeing the same fate as cryptocurrencies, especially for influencers promoting and investing in them. Recently the Financial Conduct Authority announced it would strengthen risk warnings and ban incentives to invest around cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are concerned that too many consumers are just \u2018clicking through\u2019 and accessing high-risk investments without understanding the risks involved.\u201d the FCA said<\/a>. Under proposed rules from the FCA, firms and influential characters must have relevant experience and understanding of the investments they are promoting.<\/p>\n A number of influencers are also currently caught up in legal issues over their promotion of crypto coins, especially those who were making false promises in their promotion.<\/p>\n This regulation is an important step for the unwieldy world of cryptocurrencies and NFTs could soon see similar regulation. Most people won\u2019t make the kind of profits influencers have made so \u201cpeople need to focus on the technology and not the hype and misconception that they can make a million with an NFT, this is highly unlikely. Most people weren\u2019t successful in the internet bubble, it\u2019s the same idea. If you want to invest, do your due diligence like any investment and understand the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n Merav is a blockchain expert and fintech professor at Rutgers Business School. She is a global leading expert on blockchains, cryptocurrency and NFTs.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section><\/body><\/html>\n By Alex Hughes Published: Monday, 28 February 2022 at 12:00 am Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the latest craze taking over the internet, with seemingly unknown artists suddenly making millions. But following in the same chaotic path cryptocurrencies have taken before, the world of NFTs has exploded into an uncontrollable phenomenon. While the concept of an […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6290,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts.jpg",1200,501,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts-300x125.jpg",300,125,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts-768x321.jpg",768,321,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts-1024x428.jpg",800,334,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts.jpg",1200,501,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2022\/02\/are-social-media-influencers-misleading-their-followers-about-nfts.jpg",1200,501,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Alex Hughes Published: Monday, 28 February 2022 at 12:00 am Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the latest craze taking over the internet, with seemingly unknown artists suddenly making millions. But following in the same chaotic path cryptocurrencies have taken before, the world of NFTs has exploded into an uncontrollable phenomenon. While the concept of an…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/6289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""\u00a9\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/4\/2022\/02\/GettyImages-1366858043-edb1958.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"New\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>About our expert, Dr Merav Ozair<\/h4>\n
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