Many companies and properties have begun producing NFTs, otherwise known as non-fungible tokens. Now it looks like Boruto has been used to perpetuate another of the many scams that have come with the new speculative art market.
The official Boruto Twitter account has posted notices to warn potential fans of the franchise that scammers are saying that they have officially licensed NFTs of Naruto properties which is not true. "We have been receiving inquiries regarding the authenticity of the information that spreads via the Internet about “officially” licensed NFT artifacts and games based on NARUTO," the Tweet read. "No license has been issued to authorize such products. Please watch out for false information." This announcement is likely in response to the NFT and cryptocurrency project Boruto Inu.
It makes sense that the Naruto and Boruto brand would want to curb any associations with NFTs. Not only does the creation of these tokens tend to spark controversy and ire amongst fans of other franchises but Shonen Jump — an imprint of Shueisha Inc. which publishes Boruto — has specifically gone out of its way previously to ensure fans that major announcements would not be for NFTs on social media.
Many other major names have spoken out against NFTs. Popular Twitch streamer xQc has called them scams and fellow streamer Asmongold has also criticized the tokens and those that purchase them. Several major game producers have also desparaged the possibility of NFT usage including It Takes Two director Josef Fares who said he would "rather be shot in the knee" than incorporate them in his games.
While some might say NFTs are here to stay, the results of companies implementing them would seem to suggest they are nothing more than a passing fad that could even be a bad investment. When Neopets launched their own NFTs the website actually saw its user base drop significantly as previous fans refused to play in protest. While Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Breakpoint also offered NFTs, they sold incredibly poorly which makes them a bad investment for the company and speculative players alike.
Still, it seems the world of anime and manga may still try to toy with NFTs. Toei animation is currently slated to create an anime based on the art collection of a nine-year-old called Zombie Zoo and Fanworks is collaborating with Tokyo Otaku Mode to produce a show based on the CryptoNinja non-fungible token project.
For now, it seems that fans of Naruto and Boruto can rest easy about seeing their favorite characters as NFTs as the company behind them seems to not want to make that happen. Boruto: Naruto Next Generations is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
Source: Twitter