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People Don't Understand NFTs

robert-chung.medium.com

31–36 of 36 posts

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#31

Just bc people don't agree that a surprisingly shitty rendition of a pixel alien is worth $140,000,000, that doesn't mean they "don't understand NFTs", it just means their bullshit detector actually works.

I thought that going into the article but after reading it it provided some interesting analogies to luxury goods that expanded my perspective a bit.

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#32

> Finally, here’s where Gucci & Chanel differ from CryptoPunks — and one of the main ideas of why NFTs are revolutionary: you can’t fake it. Why not? This seems to be a popular sticking point in the NFT crowd, but it's never really been made clear to me. There seem to be oodles of duplicate NFTs out there (much less ones based on stolen art), so why can't I just make another?

Because the picture of Calvin peeing isn't the NFT, the NFT is a cryptographically-secure blockchain that records ownership. They exist so that people can "own" the "real copy" of data that has no reason to be scarce. And like the article says, this worthless math is indeed mostly used for cash grabs and money laundering.

Even worse, what happens when Bill Watterson sues for copyright violation and wins? What happens when a court serves an order on every US person / exchange to remove the NFT from their platform or be shut down?

Note: The Calvin peeing image is derivative and was never drawn by him. The artist might have a defense of fair use but it is not clear in precedent.

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the picture of Calvin peeing isn't the NFT, the NFT is a cryptographically-secure blockchain that records ownership. They exist so that people can "own" the "real copy" of data that has no reason to be scarce. And like the article says, this worthless math is indeed mostly used for cash grabs and money laundering.

I know the picture of Calvin peeing isn't the "proof," it's just the public facing instrument. But this still isn't satisfying: anybody can put another transaction on that same blockchain (or a different one) with another proof of ownership. So which one is the real one?

Fun fact: the entire NFT crypto system is powered by Walter Benjamin[1] spinning in his grave!

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Work_of_Art_in_the_Age_of_...

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#34

Just bc people don't agree that a surprisingly shitty rendition of a pixel alien is worth $140,000,000, that doesn't mean they "don't understand NFTs", it just means their bullshit detector actually works.

Well you see that's the whole idea, pixel alien isn't the NFT, the NFT is a cryptographically-secure blockchain that records ownership. They exist so that people can "own" the "real copy" of data that has no reason to be scarce. And like the article says, this worthless math is indeed mostly used for cash grabs and money laundering.

Yeah, I get that. You don't even own the thing at all, which makes it more of a ripoff. You essentially own a digital record that says that someone agrees that you paid money so that there is a record that you paid them money.

As soon as 1 person issues a replacement NFT due to theft or something the entire idea comes crashing down bc now the "real copy" is actually "owned" by some thief and a new "real copy" is being created. From what I read a while back you kind of just have to trust that ppl won't sell the same "real copy" over and over again. This works fine in the real world of tangible goods but when people can be anonymous it's just begging for abuse.

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#35
I’m considering a spin-off of NFTs which cryptographically proves that you dont own a link to a real or virtual object.

Of course it won’t prove whether or not you do own the real or virtual object, but that’s a tired old argument by people who don’t “get” the technological advancement.

Re: People Don't Understand NFTs

#36

Just bc people don't agree that a surprisingly shitty rendition of a pixel alien is worth $140,000,000, that doesn't mean they "don't understand NFTs", it just means their bullshit detector actually works.

Well you see that's the whole idea, pixel alien isn't the NFT, the NFT is a cryptographically-secure blockchain that records ownership. They exist so that people can "own" the "real copy" of data that has no reason to be scarce. And like the article says, this worthless math is indeed mostly used for cash grabs and money laundering.

That's a bit of nonsense there.

You don't own the artwork, you own an URL pointing to the artwork which can change or stop working at any moment and likely isn't maintained by you.

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