Brian Eno Took a Swing Against NFTs, Sees “Hustlers Looking for Suckers”

Music Pioneer Brian Eno made it clear that he is not a fan of NFTs! Between drops from leading musicians and the launch of dedicated platforms, the music industry is easily at the forefront of the growing popularity and adoption of NFTs. However, Eno is having none of it!

In an interview with Crypto Syllabus, he said, “I’ve been approached several times to ‘make an NFT.’ So far, nothing has convinced me that there is anything worth making in that arena. Worth making’ for me implies bringing something into existence that adds value to the world, not just to a bank account.”

More About Brian Eno’s Take on NFTs

Eno’s disdain springs from two things. Firstly, he described NFTs as a tool for globalization and financial calculation. Secondly, he has specific issues with the effect of NFTs and cryptocurrency as a whole on the environment.

Eno shared, “If I had primarily wanted to make money, I would have had a different career as a different kind of person. I probably wouldn’t have chosen to be an artist. NFTs seems to me just a way for artists to get a little piece of the action from global capitalism, our own cute little version of financialization. How sweet — now artists can become little capitalist assholes as well.”

He also doesn’t fancy the speculative aspect of NFTs, claiming that the world is “absolutely awash with loose money and speculation.” He blames the government for this status quo claiming that “they solve every problem by printing more money to throw at it.”

As for the environmental aspect, he highlighted that NFTs use vast amounts of energy, so it is “insane” to still use it given global warming. For him, the use of energy is not worth it, given that NFTs only “establish a certain badge of exclusivity.”

Eno continued: “All that energy is making nothing that we need. I know there’s ‘proof of stake’ but I don’t know if that can actually work unless everybody changes over to it. And even if it did, it doesn’t address the other issues that bother me.”

Future Plans

So the big question now is if Eno would be open to changing his opinion on NFTs.

Eno said, “I am trying to keep an open mind about these questions. People I like and trust are convinced they’re the best thing since sliced bread. so I wish I could have a more positive view but right now, I mainly see hustlers looking for suckers.”

So what can we take from this? One, we won’t be seeing an NFT Drop from Eno any time soon. Two, despite the meteoric rise and commercial success of NFTs, there are still skeptics and critics. That’s not necessarily bad because a bit of check and balance can lead to improvements.