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Sunmi defends NFT decision, fans disappointed: ‘Full of emotional manipulation’

Research claims one NFT transaction produces more carbon footprint than some countries do in a year while it also borders on art theft

Since late 2021, major K-pop companies like HYBE, YG and SM are entering the cryptocurrency and NFT business. However, it is met with much resistance from K-pop fans as they share research that states an NFT transaction is bad for the environment and has a huge carbon footprint, larger than what some countries produce in a year. Meanwhile, the whole idea of NFT borders on unethical practices, art theft, and scams according to research. Unfortunately, that has not stopped K-pop labels with Sunmi being the latest artist to get involved in NFTs.

In February last week, both Blackpink and Sunmi’s social media shared that they would be the latest K-pop acts to be creating NFTs in the future. Their fandoms caused quite the uproar on Twitter and Sunmi’s response to it further left fans disappointed. Sunmi’s label, ABYSS has teamed up with several NFT creating businesses and had shared on February 23 that they would be creating the ‘Sunmiya Club’ NFT, a new metaverse. 

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Sunmi defends NFT decision

Due to the backlash, ABYSS simply apologized for not alerting fans of these new developments earlier. However, it is Sunmi’s statement regarding the uproar that has fans further disappointed. Sunmi shared that she was making music only for her fans and simply wanted to shower them with more gifts and content. She explained, “Sometimes my decisions…I take might have hurt you and disappointed you. But don’t you know me well?” But it was her ending paragraph that shocked fans, “If you’re hurt and you’re tired then you can leave.”

People were surprised that Sunmi was ready to lose fans over NFTs and that she was defending it despite the Internet constantly sharing the harmful consequences of NFTs. K-pop Twitter also found it ridiculous that a fan’s only defense of not getting their NFT stolen was asking others not to screenshot or download the digital content when shared online as one user pretended to get an NFT and joked, "Just bought the sunmi nft pls don’t screenshot." They also pointed out that in this day and age where social media is used to flex their belongings, people would like to boast about the NFT product online which can be easily stolen by others.

'Change your stance'

K-pop Twitter has also been making huge threads explaining what NFT is and why it’s bad in the long run. One user shared links of the ecological damage and tagged Sunmi, “@miyaohyeah address this immediately. change your stance and undo the harm you are causing.” Another fan joked that NFTs were not worth the price and exclusivity, “Why does this looks like I would make in picrew 😭😭😭😭😭😭 btw wtf are this kpop and nfts together.” 

'Becoming a guilt tripping NFT supporting grifter'

One long-time fan shared, “Then leave ...I guess we will wish you the best of luck with your casual listeners and nft bros that dont care about you, your music, or us Miyane. We really are in Noir…” Many users were also surprised that Sunmi was the one to advocate NFTs as she has previously spoken up about the consequences of virtual reality, “Girl sunmi basically said if u not rocking with nft’s, you not rocking with me.” Another user added, “Sunmi becoming a guilt tripping NFT supporting grifter was not something I foresaw.” 

One fan was surprised that Sunmi had researched NFTs and still gone ahead with it, “So sunmi researched what an nft is ? and still decided to go through with it.” Another joked, “When the NFT war breaks out and i gotta kll sunmi.” One user was angry, “Sunmi saying she studied about nft and still wanted to do it just shows how she literally doesn't give a f**k about her career and the environment.” Another pointed out how Sunmi made the situation worse by speaking out, “The way I never would have known about the controversy if she'd just stayed quiet.” 

One fan commented, “Didnt expect this to be the hill she died on. just assumed it would be one of those things where we could all claim plausible deniability and blame the company. disappointed honestly, but not surprised. nfts are taking the arts world by storm and more and more people are getting into it. it's less of an if and more of a when for my favorite artists atp.” Many were also irked with her statement, “'I mean tbf a lot of yous are better than a lot of Is' - When issuing a public statement, definitely not. This is full of emotional manipulation and parasocial accusations.”

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