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The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

nautil.us

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Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#141

Post by 0x64 »

dralley wrote: post #72
Zamicol wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NTF's aren't on Bitcoin. They're on Ethereum which is switching over to PoS.

>They're on Ethereum which is switching over to PoS. It's been switching over to PoS for years. I distinctly remember articles in 2019 about how they'd switch by the end of 2020, articles in 2020 about how they'd switch by the end of 2021, and here we are in 2022. The point holds until they actually do make the switch.

In 2019 you probably read about the launch of the PoS beacon chain, as in the "phase 0" of what was then known as the Eth2 roadmap. Beacon chain launched in December of 2020, and since then the work on the merge has been ongoing, which is the hotswap of the network's consensus from Pow to PoS.

We're now in the phase where public testnets of full PoS Ethereum are running [1, 2]. Ideally, we'll have the merge before the next difficulty bomb goes off in June.

[1] https://kintsugi.themerge.dev/ [2] https://beaconchain.kintsugi.themerge.dev/

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#142

Post by temp438 »

What is really worrisome is a recent flood of cryptoposts in HR top about smth which doesn't matter at all. It starts to look like black PR already. "oh no, nfts!! Oh no, web3!! Oh no, a scam! Memcoins! Ponzi scheme!!"

These money would've ended in some bullshit anyways. We are in the middle of economical crizis. Bitcoin, selfdriving cars, tesla, space tourism or whatever just create a false sense of activity in the market while everything is going down.

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#143

Post by temp438 »

deergomoo wrote: post #75
threeseed wrote: post #21

The worst thing is the constant and malicious lie being perpetuated. You do not own an NFT in any legal or moral sense. The ownership is not recognised in any country, by any court or international body. All you have is an entry in a logical database that says you own it. But unless you have signed a contract with the seller transferring or licensing copyright then it as meaningless as you buying a certificate saying…

Even aside from the baloney idea of ownership they offer, the thing that continues to baffle me about NFTs is that the very nature of them assumes that ownership is inherently valuable. Buying a painting allows me to hang it on the wall and admire it, where is where I derive the value of owning that painting. Buying a digital videogame allows me play it, even though there is no physical good (and is also a questionab…

> Buying an NFT allows me to...show off I guess?

And buying some other piece of shit for millions doesn't, right? What's the difference? Why nfts are so important?

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#144

Post by rich_sasha »

acdha wrote: post #82
legutierr wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"NFT" means "Non-fungible token". It means that one token of a type is not strictly equivalent to another token of the same type. It does not mean "a link to a JPEG that is hosted on OpenSea." > You do not own an NFT in any legal or moral sense. Often this is the case, but it doesn't need to be the case, it shouldn't be the case, and it was never intended to be the case. Yes, it is stupid that people are buying NFTs…

The problem is that the salespeople _frequently_ misrepresent NFTs as having legal meaning as a key part of the explanation for why you should pay so much for one and they _never_ mention that the same basis you'd need to convey the legal contract also means that you have a system you can use instead of a blockchain at much lower cost.

Has this been tested in court?

Common law is very flexible, and (IANAL) I wouldn’t be surprised it if recognised an NFT sale as one. Eg if both parties believe and represent the transaction as a sale at the time, does that in itself make it a sale, regardless of finer technicalities?

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#145

Post by acdha »

rich_sasha wrote: post #144
acdha wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that the salespeople _frequently_ misrepresent NFTs as having legal meaning as a key part of the explanation for why you should pay so much for one and they _never_ mention that the same basis you'd need to convey the legal contract also means that you have a system you can use instead of a blockchain at much lower cost.

Has this been tested in court? Common law is very flexible, and (IANAL) I wouldn’t be surprised it if recognised an NFT sale as one. Eg if both parties believe and represent the transaction as a sale at the time, does that in itself make it a sale, regardless of finer technicalities?

In most cases it doesn’t need to be tested: the party making the sale isn’t responsible for what some random cryptocurrency salesperson on social media claims.

If the actual seller made misleading claims and the fine print didn’t clarify, it might be actionable. Typically what we see, however, is that the terms do note that you’re buying the link rather than its target.

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#146

Post by danaris »

majewsky wrote: post #130
danaris wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just positive thinking; it's about creating a new kind of scarcity-based status symbol.

So like beanie babies, then?

At least with beanie babies, after the market crashed, you still had a cute stuffed animal. My family still has a large collection of the purple platypus "teeny beanies".

When and if the NFT market crashes, anyone who bought one will have....nothing.

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#147

Post by rsynnott »

labrador wrote: post #11

I'm as concerned as the next person about energy use, but I did read some counterpoints in an article published yesterday [1] The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee is reportedly going to investigate cryptocurrency’s effect on the environment... But the meme that bitcoin or cryptocurrency uses as much power as one country or another, promoted by The New York Times last Sep…

I mean, always consider the source. Most people wouldn't consider the AEI trustworthy on energy/emissions issues.

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#148

Post by cassianoleal »

danaris wrote: post #146
majewsky wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So like beanie babies, then?

At least with beanie babies, after the market crashed, you still had a cute stuffed animal. My family still has a large collection of the purple platypus "teeny beanies". When and if the NFT market crashes, anyone who bought one will have....nothing.

I thought they would be allowed to keep the JSON. /s

Re: The Worrisome Rise of NFTs

#149

Post by golemotron »

hnbad wrote: post #96
golemotron wrote: post #36

> The much bigger question, though, has less to do with these emergent upstarts in our informational world and more to do with humanity’s overall trajectory. Any species that endlessly grows, and continually invents energy-hungry processes, may not be destined for a happy ending. Unless energy consumptive processes lead you off-world for more resources. I'm surprised that the author, an astrobiologist, doesn't see a…

Too bad we don't live in sci-fi land. Crypto is burning resources here and now as we already face a climate catastrophe and drag our heels in replacing fossils with renewables. There's currently no pressure to drive anyone "off-world" for more resources. "Off-world" is not only completely speculative and untested but also prohibitively expensive. Even if we could solve all the technological problems overnight simply…

> There's currently no pressure to drive anyone "off-world" for more resources. "Off-world" is not only completely speculative and untested but also prohibitively expensive.

Well, good thing people are making it cheaper now. The people who don't think it's possible will benefit from that eventually despite their grumbling. It's the way of the world. Endless cycles of laughing at Colombus and then enjoying imported tea.

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