I'm wondering what people think about NFTs, and whether anyone has run into NFTs in their practices yet.
Brief, not particularly good, video trying to explain the concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fUaj8C0o0
Article on an NFT sale that happened at the end of 2020:
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a35500985/who-is-beeple-mike-winkelmann-nft-interview/
My own understanding of them, which is incomplete and may be inaccurate, is that they are a way of claiming authenticity and perhaps proving provenance of even digital artwork. The example I saw a few weeks ago was of the above sale by "Beeple", netting him millions in exchange for a few Android tablets stuck in plastic display stands with QR codes stickered onto their fronts. The tablets were displaying his drawings, and if the QR codes were scanned, they gave you a URL which would take you to a website with ownership information.
From what I understand, any transfer of the artwork to a new owner is only considered legitimate if the NFT associated with the artwork is also moved to the new owner, and furthermore, the contract with the "Nifty Gateway" company and artist requires that they be given a (large) percentage of the sales proceeds in order to effect the transfer. Also, the artist is still free to create copies, derivative works, and so on -- possession of the token merely means that you own "the original" of a digital artwork that can be copied exactly. So, rather than ownership, this is more of a single-use exclusive license which is never fully alienable and which requires permission and payment to transfer.
Thoughts?
Brief, not particularly good, video trying to explain the concept:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fUaj8C0o0
Article on an NFT sale that happened at the end of 2020:
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a35500985/who-is-beeple-mike-winkelmann-nft-interview/
My own understanding of them, which is incomplete and may be inaccurate, is that they are a way of claiming authenticity and perhaps proving provenance of even digital artwork. The example I saw a few weeks ago was of the above sale by "Beeple", netting him millions in exchange for a few Android tablets stuck in plastic display stands with QR codes stickered onto their fronts. The tablets were displaying his drawings, and if the QR codes were scanned, they gave you a URL which would take you to a website with ownership information.
From what I understand, any transfer of the artwork to a new owner is only considered legitimate if the NFT associated with the artwork is also moved to the new owner, and furthermore, the contract with the "Nifty Gateway" company and artist requires that they be given a (large) percentage of the sales proceeds in order to effect the transfer. Also, the artist is still free to create copies, derivative works, and so on -- possession of the token merely means that you own "the original" of a digital artwork that can be copied exactly. So, rather than ownership, this is more of a single-use exclusive license which is never fully alienable and which requires permission and payment to transfer.
Thoughts?