Are NFTs bad for the environment?

Last updated: 11-Sep-2025

Yes and no. NFTs minted on early generation blockchains, like Ethereum, generally require a lot of energy due to the way "proof-of-work" consensus algorithms behave to validate transactions. To mint a single NFT on “proof-of-work” blockchains is estimated to take the equivalent amount of energy it takes to power a U.S. household for over 4.5 days and produces as much as 300 pounds in CO2 emissions.

In contrast, OneOf utilizes more energy efficient “proof-of-stake” blockchains like Tezos and Polygon. The Tezos blockchain is known to use 2 million times less energy than traditional “proof-of-work” blockchains—taking the same amount of energy needed to send out a single tweet to mint an NFT. The Polygon blockchain is known to be more than 84,810 times more energy-efficient than Ethereum. Creating an NFT on Polygon is believed to take the equivalent amount of energy needed to send 2.5 emails, compared to 20,750 emails on Ethereum.

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