htxt.africast – NFTs and the great grift

In this week’s africast we discuss the rather divisive topic of (non-fungible tokens) NFTs. The issue came up following a recent scam discovered on X (formerly Twitter) in which the MultiChoice Group’s profile was used to link to nefarious version of a legitimate NFT project called BoldApe. While the issue is still being investigated by MultiChoice, it sparked a conversation around NFTs in general in the office, highlighting how the prices for these once coveted digital assets have plummeted in the space of two years. As such, we have to ponder whether this was one large, elaborate, industry-wide grift from the onset. Before we weigh in on that topic, however, we discuss the most interesting news stories of the week, starting with the rising temperature on the planet. This as NASA confirmed with a wide-ranging set of data that July 2023 was Earth’s hottest on record. Next is COVID-19, which has entered the public discourse once again as cases for EG.5, or Eris as it is colloquially known, have been discovered in South Africa. Deemed to be a subvariant of Omicron, this latest iteration of the virus is not as deadly as previous ones, although vaccinations and boosters are advised. Lastly we speak about cryptocurrency, which segues nicely into out non-fungible token discussion, as Luno released its latest report on who buys crypto in SA. Unsurprisingly, the data skews male for South Africa, but it looks like local purchasers hold onto their assets for longer than the global average. MENTIONED IN THIS AFRICAST: July 2023 the hottest on record – NASA COVID-19 Eris – why South Africans shouldn’t be too worried Not much has changed as far as who is buying crypto in SA Did MultiChoice just advertise an NFT scam on Twitter? Folding Ideas: Line Goes Up – The Problem with NFTs Beeple’s Everydays The First 5 000 Days NFT of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, originally purchased for $2.9M, is worth less than $4 in today’s market [Image – Photo by Niranjan _ Photographs on Unsplash] The post htxt.africast – NFTs and the great grift appeared first on htxt.