Save Money and Reduce Carbon Impact with these NFT Strategies
Industry Secrets and Best Practices for Interacting with NFTs on the Ethereum Blockchain
An intimate look at methods being used by artists, collectors and founders to save money and reduce Ethereum’s carbon impact.
Earlier this year, sustainability became a touchy subject on the NFT scene. Many concerned outsiders were throwing shade on Ethereum for the impact of its proof of work mining system on carbon emissions. There is growing pressure for blockchain businesses and entrepreneurs to ‘atone’ for the environmental impact of their success, but responsibility also lies with casual users. Every Ethereum user has the capability to make more strategic decisions regarding the cost and frequency of their transactions on Ethereum. In doing so, they not only save themselves money, but convey a sense of accountability for the projects they create and participate in. Let’s review some strategies to do just that!
Sustainability for Collectors
Save Money When Buying — Be Patient and Let the Deals Come to You
Massive gas spikes are due to FOMO, which sometimes happens when a hyped up new project begins minting. I explored this phenomenon in detail in my previous medium article. During the initial spike in price, users will buy in at high prices, and then are later observed selling the item at a loss. Their motivation for doing so remains unclear, but it is often to restore liquidity to quickly complete other transactions on the network.
The more conservative move is to wait for deals to pop up on the secondary market, as price charts for NFTs tend to follow the same patterns as regular stocks and cryptocurrencies. Even popular projects like 0n1 Force recently saw a 40% drawdown in prices.
Fight the urge to mint during gas spikes, especially if users can mint a dozen or more in one transaction. Wait for the NFTs to appear on OpenSea or other auction websites. You’ll often get a window of time with better selection and more competitive pricing. This strategy also provides you time to evaluate the merits of the project and pros and cons of collecting. In addition, many NFTs minted will be put up for sale before being revealed, so you can still get a chance at a rare NFT.
Example: Robotos
The chart below shows the amazing Robotos collection from Pablo Stanley. At .05 Ethereum per mint, the price of each unit was fairly economical. With incredible interest in the project, the gas cost spiked to 700 gwei during minting, causing each NFT to cost nearly .2 Ethereum. The fee was 300% higher than the unit cost of the product!
With the price of Ethereum up 25% since the launch on August 4, and users selling their more common Robotos, the floor price has settled to .1 ETH and can be purchased with reasonable gas prices.
When NOT to Use Slow Gas
Two examples of when the FAST gas option should be used in MetaMask:
- If you are trading a token on Uniswap or another decentralized trading platform that is highly volatile by the minute, or adding/removing liquidity for that token pair, you are likely to see a failed transaction if you put the gas at low, or even at average.
- If you are bidding on an NFT on OpenSea or another auction platform, and the auction is running out, or feel the NFT may be purchased quickly by another user.
Sustainability for NFT Artists
Save Money When Minting Your NFTs: Lowball the Gas Prices
Set a lower gas price for your transaction in MetaMask using the “advanced” tab. This can be done for any transaction, such as creating NFT “collections,” minting the NFTs themselves, and even distributing NFT airdrops to prior collectors.
GasNow is a popular website for the most accurate estimates on gas costs, which can be volatile at times, especially with spikes in network activity during NFT minting. Getting a feel for the network requires time, patience, and experimentation! Let’s check out some NFTs and collections successfully minted below cost.
Example 1 — Zoe Snags 56% Off Collection Minting
When Zoe Winters created the Zoe Kanpeki Box ERC721 collection on August 4, 2021, the gas cost was an average of 45.77 gwei per transaction. By setting the gas low and waiting 8 hours, Zoe was able to complete the transaction for 20 gwei — 56% lower gas cost than the daily average.
Example 2 — Minting in Bulk to Save Trees
Kaija’s Kappeleita collection was created on July 9, 2021. The daily average gas cost that day was 30.27 gwei, and put through for 14.84 Gwei and took 5 hours to complete. This was 51% below the daily average gas cost.
In addition, using ERC2309 technology on Cargo.Build, the entire Kappaleita collection was minted in 1 transaction, for 37% below the average daily gas cost.
The Cargo UI allows users to make multiple different ERC721 NFTs in the same transaction. Many collectors prefer ERC721s with the artist’s own custom branding, vs an ERC721 token named after the platform it was minted on.
Sustainability for Founders — Charity
Many NFT projects are giving a portion of their proceeds to charity. A donation to registered charities can be written off on taxes in many countries. Ethereum projects making donations to charity is becoming an expectation for more and more community members, and if this trend continues, the Ethereum blockchain community stands to have a sizeable impact on numerous organizations worldwide.
In an effort to offset the environmental impact of trading, NFT creation, and blockchain research activity, CryptoHydrate has donated over $6000 USD to Conscious Impact since 2017, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to assisting earthquake impacted communities in the Sindupalchowk region of Nepal.
Conscious Impact has built several homes, a women’s collective, schools, and other infrastructure in the village of Takure, and employ local Nepali people to create locally sourced construction materials using their famous brick press. They have also planted over 1,000 trees, helping locals plant crops like coffee, lemon grass and fruit orchards.
Michael Yamashita’s MY EARTH Collection
A world-renowned photographer with over 40 years at National Geographic under his belt, Yamashita has seen first-hand the impact of human activity on the environment. In partnership with Origin and artist Zoe Winters, he recently released 31 NFTs which include photography from Japan, Tibet and the remote Jiuzhaigou lake region of China. I recently won his auction for 4 of these unique NFTs, which also includes unique physical prints.
Michael Yamashita’s goal is ambitious. To offset the cost of all NFT creation on the Ethereum blockchain. With his MyEARTH and future NFT collections, Mike aims to open his vault of photography to the NFT world, and use the proceeds to fund environmentally friendly causes.
Turning Towards Sustainability in NFTs
Advocates of sustainability on blockchain must know where we currently are. The fear of missing out is an extremely influential factor in the cryptocurrency community. If a drop is popular enough, some Ethereum users will risk paying over 1000% more cost in gas fees just to get a chance at owning rare NFTs, risking numerous failed transactions that waste precious block space on Ethereum. Ethereum 2 will have compatibility with Optimism to reduce carbon emissions using Layer 2 technology, but the technology has not yet been integrated into everyday transactions.
Sustainability can’t be implemented overnight. When outsiders express concern about the environmental impact of blockchain projects, especially if those concerns are overblown, it does not motivate users to rally behind their cause. Dismissing Ethereum as a polluter fails to recognize the positive contribution of the community, and harms the effort to push Ethereum communities towards a carbon conscious future.
My advice to blockchain novices seeking to reduce the carbon impact of NFTs:
- Join NFT communities and get to know them.
- Research minting technology so you can encourage others to make a difference.
- Help celebrate wins for sustainability, such as charitable donations or the adoption of Layer 2 solutions that retain the security and decentralization of Ethereum while offering more carbon conscious options for creating digital art.
- Do your part! Share this article, use the strategies contained within, and join the ranks of those who have made sustainability part of the work they do every day.
Environmentalism in NFTs is a growing movement. With the worldwide interest in blockchain, the NFT community stands to make a positive impact on charitable causes and sustainability for years to come. From financial technology to fine arts, the Ethereum ecosystem is leading this blockchain revolution in the way people exchange value worldwide. The Ethereum community is incredibly vibrant, resilient, and open to new ideas and innovation.
The growth of blockchain represents one of the biggest transfer of wealth in our modern history, and with that comes the burdens of wealth generation in our carbon based society. It is my hope that each of our communities will contribute to bettering our world in their own unique way, and feel comfortable doing so at their own pace.
