New Trend Emerges In Meme NFTs With The Removal Of Original Video Uploads, Sparking Backlash Online

NFTs centered around memes have been quite the craze lately, but a new trend among them has people voicing their opinions en masse after several notable viral videos are choosing to delete their original uploads.

Beginning last week with the classic “Charlie Bit My Finger,” the Davies-Carr family, who recorded the original and uploaded it back in 2007, stated that the video would be deleted from YouTube following the conclusion of their NFT auction. After selling for a historic $761,000 (or 290 ETH) on Sunday, the video has already been delisted from YouTube, but it remains in limbo with a note in the title stating “Waiting on NFT decision.”

This week, NetGems, a digital agency and brokerage that helps internet stars sell their viral videos as crypto-collectibles, put out a press release stating that “Numa Numa,” “The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger” and “Two Pretty Best Friends” would all be following suit and deleting their original uploads upon selling NFTs in the coming weeks (though Numa Numa’s original upload to Newgrounds no longer exists).

According to the announcement, these NFTs are the first of many that will be released as part of the “NetGems NFT collection,” which is hosted on the crypto-art platform OpenSea, and will kick off next week on Wednesday. Additionally, each of the NFTs will come packaged with original content made just for the winner of the auction, much like many other meme-related NFTs that’ve sold recently.

NetGems to release creator-backed NFTs for "Honey Badger Don't Care", "Two Pretty Best Friends", and "Numa Numa" viral videos on Tuesday May 25, 2021 https://t.co/O0REtOQNqY via @Yahoo

— NetGems (@netgems_co) May 21, 2021

Exactly why this trend of removing the original uploads behind these viral videos started isn't something most can wrap their minds around, but the general consensus seems to be that it creates a sense of scarcity, thus potentially increasing the value of the NFT. While this may aid in the original creator’s ultimate sale, many online have expressed their displeasure with the practice since it destroys the original upload, including comments, likes, views and other pieces of internet history.

My initial feeling on NFTs was 'Hopeful'. My current feeling now that 'Charlie Bit my Finger' is being taken off YTube to be sold as an NFT is 'Gross'. Yeah..maybe not fair. But that's how I feel. Cultural touchstones (what remain) will be removed and sold. Yuck.

— Pixel Fondue (@pixelfondue) May 21, 2021

the audacity of the “charlie bit my finger” uploader to put the 881M viewed video up as an NFT only to delete it from youtube for good after it’s been sold….

— cloudie @ umineko episode 7 (@fluffysmolcloud) May 18, 2021

Charlie bit my finger getting removed from YouTube is basically the modern day equivalent to the burning of the library of alexandria

— YouTube Kids (@RealYouTubeKids) May 20, 2021

Not everyone is speaking negatively about NFTs of iconic internet culture being sold off however, as some merely see it as a way for creators to be compensated for their contributions to the web.

If people who were the faces of our memes are making money off their NFT sales, that's true justice, in my opinion. Go get yours, Numa Numa guy. https://t.co/HBerVFstvx

— Steve Miller (Band?) (@MillerBadger) April 30, 2021