Hello. This is 6 Minute English from
BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.
And I’m Sam.
People collect all kinds of things for a hobby,
from stamps and coins to comics and football
stickers. Do you collect anything, Sam?
I used to have a big collection of Pokémon
cards but I have no idea where they are now.
Well maybe you should start looking for them
because all kinds of collectables – that’s objects
that people want to collect – are selling for
big money on the internet. It’s all part of a new
tech craze called non-fungible tokens, or NFTs for short.
Non-fungible tokens?
Basically NTFs are unique, one-of-kind items
that can be bought and sold like any physical
object but only exist in the digital world.
‘Tokens’ can be thought of as certificates
of ownership for these virtual possessions.
Hmmm, OK. I understand the ‘token’ part
but what does ‘non-fungible’ mean?
If something is ‘fungible’ it can be interchanged,
like money for example. With money you can swap
a £10 note for two £5 notes and it will have the same value.
So, something non-fungible cannot be interchanged
with something else. Is that because it has
special features that make it unique?
Exactly. Imagine something totally
unique like the Mona Lisa. You can take a photo
of the painting or buy a copy of it, but there will
only ever be the one original painting.
I can see that the Mona Lisa is one-of-a-kind
and extremely valuable, but it’s not for sale on the internet!
True, but lots of other things are, from signed
celebrity artwork to virtual football cards.
NFTs are like autographed photos –
collectors want something no-one else has,
even though there’s nothing physical
they actually own and keep.
And the value of NFTs is going up and up?
Massively. A digital sticker of French footballer,
Kylian Mbappé, recently sold for £25,000!
Which reminds me of my quiz question, Sam.
In June 2021, Sir Tim Berners-Lee sold the
original source code he used to invent the
World Wide Web as an NFT at a charity auction.
The sale started at $1000 but how much
did the source code eventually sell for? Was it:
a) 5.4 thousand dollars?
b) 5.4 million dollars? or,
c) 5.4 billion dollars?
If you’re asking me how much the internet
sold for, I’d say c) 5.4 billion dollars.
OK, Sam, we’ll find out later if that’s right.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee famously never made
any money from the World Wide Web, insisting
that his invention should be free for everyone.
But the world of NFTs is controversial and
not everyone thinks Sir Tim should be getting involved.
That’s certainly the view of Shona Ghosh,
technology editor at the ‘The Insider’ website,
as she told BBC World Service programme, Tech Tent:
I think there’s a balance to be struck between
exploring new technologies and Sir Tim Berners-Lee
is an amazing figure but NFTs are a wild west.
Not everything associated with NFTs are rogue,
but these so-called digital collectables
are going for lots of money.
Internet NFTs are very new and there are
no rules controlling what can be sold and
for how much, so Shona describes them as a wild west.
The Wild West means a situation where
people can do whatever they want because
there are no laws or controls, like the early
history of the western part of the United States.
She also calls some things about NFTs rogue -
behaving differently from what’s normal or expected,
often in a way that causes damage.
Love them or hate them, there are strong opinions
on both sides of the NFT debate, as Rory Cellan-Jones,
presenter of BBC World Service’s Tech Tent, explains:
To some NFTs are a brilliant innovation
which has promised to put a value on digital artefacts.
To others they’re little more than a dubious
pyramid scheme with a damaging impact on
the environment because of the way the tokens are created.
Some people are suspicious of the large amounts
of money collectors are willing to pay, comparing
NFTs to pyramid schemes - business tricks or scams
where money is obtained dishonestly.
But for others NFTs are a legitimate and useful way
to put a price on rare digital artefacts –
items, such as images, videos and music,
that are produced and stored as electronic versions.
Items like, for example, the original source
code for the internet. So how much money
did Sir Tim Berners-Lee raise for charity
when he sold it off, Neil?
In my quiz question I asked Sam how
much the NFT of the original internet
source code sold for at auction.
I said c) 5.4 billion dollars. Was I right?
You were… wrong! In fact it was less -
5.4 million dollars – but still far too
expensive for me to collect.
Hmmm, now I’m wondering how much
my Pokémon card collection would sell for.
If only I could find it!
Well, while you look for your collection,
Sam, let’s recap the vocabulary from this
programme all about NFTs which are digital
artefacts or items that are produced
and stored as electronic versions.
NFTs are virtual collectables –
desirable objects that people search for and collect.
And they are non-fungible meaning they
have special and unique characteristics that
cannot be interchanged with anything else.
If something is rogue it behaves in a different
way from what’s normal or expected, often causing damage.
The wild west describes a chaotic
situation without laws or controls.
And finally, a pyramid scheme is a business scam
where money is gained dishonestly.
If you’d like to know more about non-fungible tokens,
bitcoin and other trending internet topics
there’s plenty to find on the BBC website.
And for more interesting conversation and
useful vocabulary, remember to join us again
soon here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!
Bye!