While promoting The Matrix Resurrections, actor Keanu Reeves offered his two cents on the surging popularity of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens. Suffice to say, he's not that keen.
The problem with these things is that they just suck. Firstly, cryptocurrency is so volatile that even Elon Musk is able to cause its value to plummet into the subterranean levels of the Earth. Of all people and of all things, Elon's comments on one Saturday Night Live episode should not have that sort of effect on a nascent form of currency. Plus, a group of ne'er-do-wells made off with $200 million in cryptocurrency last week through hacking Bitmart, which was previously described to be "the most trusted cryptocurrency trading platform."
Then, there's the environmental cost of NFTs. People have spent millions of dollars on the proper ownership of these works of art (YMMV) yet the proof of work required to validate transactions on blockchains has significant greenhouse gas emissions attached to its generation. Ethereum, for example, uses the same amount of electrical energy as Bangladesh. Let that sink in - the same amount as the eighth-most populous country in the world.
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In an interview with The Verge, Keanu Reeves and co-star Carrie-Ann Moss spoke about The Matrix and how prescient its themes are across the past couple of decades and into the future. When the topic of the Resurrections NFTs was brought up, Reeves looked to Moss and said he hadn't noticed how popular the limited-edition tokens were with fans. "When you think about the concept of digital scarcity and things that can't be copied-" said the interviewer when Reeves interjected with: "That can't be easily reproduced?" He then laughed to himself (it's a brilliant laugh) as Moss watched him with a similar smile.
"I wonder what, do we get a cut of that?" he asked his co-star about the profits that were raked in with the NFTs. The moment where Reeves cuts in about the theoretical uniqueness of the tokens has been a hit on Twitter where it has racked up eight million views. Well, you've heard it here first. The actor who plays the hero in a movie about a simulated reality where intelligent machines are siphoning off humans' bioelectric energy isn't a fan of non-fungible tokens.
Featured Image Credit: The Verge via YouTubeTopics: TV And Film