Geoffrey Huntley, an Adelaide citizen, launched The NFT Bay 10 hours ago, which has a 17.96 terabyte archive of non-fungible token image copies and has since received 1.2 million visitors
“The NFT Bay” ??
“The NFT Bay” is an online repository of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) created by an Australian software developer. The JPEG copies of the NFTS are included in the repository, but not the blockchain-secured token itself.
Geoffrey Huntley, an Adelaide citizen, launched The NFT Bay 10 hours ago, which has a 17.96 terabyte archive of non-fungible token image copies and has since received 1.2 million visitors.
The Pirate Bay, a torrent website where users may download illegal films, video games, music, and other materials, has a similar style and logo. Users can, however, download JPEG versions of NFTs instead of blockbuster movies.
The NFT skeptic claimed in a statement that the hoax has an artistic purpose, calling it “an educational art piece” to help people comprehend and contemplate what they’re really “getting” when they buy NFT art.
Huntley believes that the concept of web3 is “very great,” but the underlying technology is “not so much.”
He told Cointelegraph that the ordinary individual has a misunderstanding of what an NFT is and thinks they’re buying a JPEG image rather than the unique blockchain-secured token that goes with it. “People are taking advantage of this lack of information and awareness of this technicality,” he continued, “which is just incorrect.”
“The image is not saved on the blockchain,” he stated, “and the bulk of photos I’ve seen are hosted on web2 storage, which is likely to end up as 404, meaning the NFT has even less value.” A 404 error message means that a page or file is not available.
WestCoastNFT’s CEO and founder, Steve Mitobe, refuted this, telling Cointelegraph that “Decentralized network storage technology, like as IPFS or Arweave, is the industry standard for most NFTs.”
What Others are Saying
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a peer-to-peer network that allows users to store and share data in a distributed file system. Arweave is a proof-of-access technology-based worldwide permanent storage solution.
Added Mitobe: “The metadata and photos are recoverable or permanent when these systems are used, and they aren’t reliant on a single point of failure (404 error).”
“Where I believe Mr. Huntley is incorrect is that he’s assuming that web3 only consists of the blockchain in its entirety. The Web3 infrastructure is actually made up of many different parts, including peer-to-peer storage systems such as arweave/ipfs. The blockchain is just one piece.”
Despite this, many NFT skeptics and “right-clickers” have praised the effort on social media. “More than anything else I’ve seen or read, this torrent may eventually disabuse everyone of the notion that NFTs have inherent worth,” UK software engineer Dress Hess tweeted.
“The Website is Humming just Fine”-Huntley
To run the project, Huntley rented a bare-metal server with 40 terabytes of storage, which costs him $200 AUD ($145.5 USD) per month. “Even though the website is going incredibly viral,” he remarked, “the website is humming along just fine.”
Rented a bare metal server at $200/AUD a month to pull this off. Got 4 x 10TB sata disks in RAID0. Worth it.
— geoff (@GeoffreyHuntley) November 18, 2021
Huntley travels around Australia in a van, living a “minimalist lifestyle.” He founded Australia’s first eSports championship and previously operated a company that ran computer gaming networks before spending his time unicycling across the world.
