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Our Rebirth on the Blockchain, cont.

Our Rebirth on the Blockchain, cont.

Previously published work, perceptions about NFTs, the energy conversation

January 16, 2025

Last week we announced Atticus Review’s intention to venture into the NFT space. Responses to our news ran the gamut from curious approval to abject horror. Quite a few people nominated previously published Atticus poems as contenders for our first batch of NFTs. (Thank you!) We are still open for submissions. Just click here to nominate favorite poems.

Past Work

On that note, rest assured: Atticus Review will not mint NFTs of previously published work without involving the author and getting explicit permission. Previously published Atticus Review WordPress posts will remain on the website. Future published work will also appear on the website, exactly like before.

The difference with new work is: it will also be offered as an NFT.

Negative Perceptions

Yes yes yes, we realize that some people associate NFTs with bro culture, scams, and environmental disaster. To us, it’s a powerful, emerging technology. We’re trying to learn it, keep up with it, and include the literary community. We expect a catalyst to come along someday that will spark mass adoption of the blockchain into daily digital experience. Atticus hopes to be there when it does.

The Elephant in the Room

Let’s address the environmental impact of the blockchain and the power consumption associated with it. We plan to mint the Atticus Review NFT’s on the Polygon network. Polygon is at the very low end of power consumption compared to other blockchain currencies and especially compared with Bitcoin. (Figure below)

While we’re making comparisons, let’s measure blockchain technology against the traditional finance infrastructure. Our worldwide financial system (trad-fi) consumes at least 32 million times more energy than the Polygon blockchain.

We realize there are huge differences in scale and usage between a cryptocurrency like Polygon and the traditional financial institutions. Still, we are betting that blockchain can lead to a more energy-efficient finance infrastructure than what we have now. The more people who adopt it, the more efficient it will become. Further reading on this topic in the links below.

Estimated Annual Power Consumption in Terrawatts:

Worldwide Banking System: between 258 TWh and 4,981 TWh
Bitcoin: between 120–170 TWh
Gold: 131 TWh
Ethereum: .01 TWh
Polygon: .0000075 TWh

If you missed last week’s newsletter, you have no idea what we’re going on about. Here’s a link, and an important reminder:

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The umbrella of ideas we’ve been celebrating here (NFTs, smart contracts, permanent ledgers) are referred to as Web3. Authors who want to go forward with Atticus are authors who are curious and/or drawn to this burgeoning digital framework.

Atticus Newsletter: Jan 9th, 2025

More Discussion

There’s wider explanation of our shift onto the blockchain over at Medium: Fugitive Words, the Atticus Extension.

We also loved Becky Tuch’s interesting take on her Substack, Lit Mag News. Thank you, Becky! If you haven’t subscribed to Becky’s Substack, we highly recommend you do!

And don’t forget our site and newsletter. Stay tuned for more on what we’re doing, including tutorials! You can find us on Instagram, YouTube, and Threads.

Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.

David and Boo