So, let's say that, ****hypothetically**** the resident of SHF, Tiaf decided to make some art
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But then a creeper came, and decided to steal his work,
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And Tiaf answered,
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But the creeper was more shameless than he expected
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And so, Tiaf was forced to withdraw
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Because of this, it's better to have a signature on your work.
Not only a signature proves this object is yours, if someone comes across it, they can just search the signature which will lead them to the original artist's Twitter or Instagram.
But, then I see that Senior Tiaf decided to not have a signature, but rather have a watermark of a girl made using Waifu Labs.
This...is very strange because...it doesn't solve the problem at all?
I can still steal his work and then claim it is still mine?
The anime girl doesn't give any method of tracing it back to Tiaf, so...free real estate?
And then I find the despite Waifu Labs being free, Tiaf paid someone else to make them? Who just used Waifu Labs to make them for free?
So...that's my understanding of NFTs.
Am I missing something here? Do they really have any applications?
So... NFTs use Blockchain technology. The same technology that Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies use.
A blockchain works by forcing your computer to do some complicated math puzzles in order to do transactions, mine the bitcoin and whatever. And as the blockchain evolves further, the puzzles get harder and harder, making it harder and hard to like, mine the bitcoins and the like.
This results in a stupidly slow system that consumes a buttload of energy. It's horribly inefficient and it's really bad for the environment (Bitcoins consume more energy than Argentina, to give you a notion of how inefficient the system is).
What are the benefits of Blockchain? It is essentially a decentralized database that cannot be edited. You cannot erase anything from it, you can only add stuff to it. This allows you to always keep track of transactions, while also allowing you to make monetary transactions without the need of a third-party intermediary (like a bank).
How can this be useful on day-to-day life...? In all honesty, it can. Anything you can come up with that blockchain can do, already existing technology can do too, but the normal technology is faster, safer, more efficient, and consumes less energy than bitcoin does, so like... Better for the environment and whatnot.
... Except cryptocurrencies that is. Blockchain is good for cryptocurrencies. Normal tech can't do cryptocurrencies.
With this out of the way, let's talk about NFTs. NFTs use blockchain technology, and they're essentially a certificate of ownership. If you own the NFT of an art, you have a digital certificate that proves that this art is yours.
... Except you can't really stop anyone from using print screen and copying the art.
Nor can you be sure that the NFT you purchased came from the original artist. Maybe someone just downloaded the original art from Devianart and then minted it as an NFT, essentially selling you a certificate of ownership of a product they didn't even own.
Does this seem useless to you? Yes, it is useless on any practical terms... But it's not like something needs to be practically usable to have value attributed to it.
NFTs are essentially a speculative market. Let's assume you bought an ugly monkey drawing for 200$. The art is extremely ugly and your 5 years old nephew could make something better, but that's irrelevant... You also don't know if this was sold by the original artist or not, but you quite frankly couldn't care less about the copyright related to the ugly monkey.
What you do with the NFT as soon as you buy it? You put it up for sale, for like... 250$ or something.
Who will buy it? Someone that wants to sell it for 300$, of course.
Essentially, the system works as a way for people to try making a profit based on a product with no intrinsic value to it. There is always a risk with it, since you have no real way of knowing if anyone will buy your NFT, since... Well, on practical terms it is worth nothing, but there is also a considerable potential of profiting from this by simply buying and reselling things like that. If you're good at this kind of stuff, you can make some bucks from this system.
... And of course, the system is also great for money laundering, but that's just an added bonus to the nonsensical mess that NFTs are.
In other words... NFTs are a completely useless system that relies on buying and selling certificates of ownership that not only mean nothing, but that also have no real value... And this is done by using some horribly inefficient technology that is slow and bad to the environment.
It's probably the dumbest technological innovation I've ever heard of, but I don't think it's going anywhere unless some countries start deeming it as illegal... Which I think is a real possibility in all honesty.
To wrap it all off, I'll finish this by linking to an old article on blockchain that can resume everything that defines Blockchain with its title alone:
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