--- title: "Cory Doctorow Roasts NFTs as “Massive, Fraud-Ridden Speculative Bubble”" description: "According to Cory Doctorow, the grift behind non-fungible tokens (or NFTs for short) is unsurprising given the capitalist dystopia we call home." date: "2021-11-09" modified: "2021-11-09" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/cory-doctorow-roasts-nfts-massive-speculative-bubble" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" - "NFTs" tags: - "blockchain" - "cryptocurrency" - "nfts" - "the digest" --- # Cory Doctorow Roasts NFTs as “Massive, Fraud-Ridden Speculative Bubble” ![The grift behind NFTs is unsurprising given the capitalist dystopia we call home.]() *\Image: Bored Ape / Futurism\* ## Right-Clicker Mentality NFTs may not be as weird as you think. According to journalist and *Boing Boing* co-owner Cory Doctorow, the [grift behind non-fungible tokens]() (or NFTs for short) is unsurprising given the capitalist hellscape we call home. "In this age of stock markets that boom in response to mass unemployment, supply-chain collapse, monopoly and runaway climate emergencies, NFTs aren't really \*that\* weird," Doctorow tweeted in a worthwhile [thread deriding the digital art form](). Doctorow honed in on the "[right-clicker mentality]()" concept, a term NFT nerds use to criticize people who disrespect the value of their property by saving digital art without paying for it. "The term comes to us from the world of NFTs," he added, "which have blown up into a massive, fraud-ridden speculative bubble that is blazing through whole rain-forests' worth of carbon while \[transferring\] billions from suckers to con-artists." https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1457762049728057345?s=20 ## Same As It Ever Was It wasn't always meant to be this way, Doctorow mused. "The creators of NFTs envisioned them as a kind of bragging right that described the relationship between a creator and a member of their audience," Doctorow [said](). "When you paid for an NFT, you recorded the fact that you had made a donation to the artist that was inspired by a specific work. That fact was indelibly recorded in a public ledger — the blockchain — so everyone could see it." But it didn't take long, the Canadian *Boing Boing*-er noted, for the [blockchain bros]() to swoop in. "Instantly, the idea of supporting artists with NFTs was converted into a financial bubble," Doctorow [tweeted](). "The point of an NFT wasn't to support an artist — it was to acquire a tradeable asset that would go up in value because the buyer thought they could unload it for even more." He [added]() that it's "not surprising" that speculators have placed more value in the NFTs themselves rather than the artists behind them or the artwork they created. And really, who can blame him for criticizing such an [overt racket]()? **More NFT madness:** *[Person Furious That Someone Right Click Saved Their Precious NFT ]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()