As NFTs have risen to prominence over the past two years, cultural institutions and heritage professionals have been required to understand, assess and engage with the environment and technologies that underpin them, including blockchains, smart contracts and cryptocurrencies.
To track museums that have marketed NFTs (almost always in partnership with an external company) related to their collections, earlier this year I made a simple Google Sheet to capture the most relevant information.
Data captured in the spreadsheet includes: the NFT sales platform and the network used; links to sales data (where available); estimated CO2 emissions (using the Carbon.FYI calculator) from Ethereum wallet activities; date of 1st NFT instance. Like the Open GLAM survey, this data is freely available for reference and reuse.
I update the spreadsheet every so often, for example when I hear about another institution embarking on NFT sales. If I’ve missed anything, please feel welcome to get in touch.
Personally, I am skeptical about NFTs and museums. If you want to know why, please read the interview and article below: