What are NFTs (Non-fungible Tokens)?

[Fleetinglife]

This the best definition of them I found:

''NFTs are basically just an extreme symptom of financialization. It's not that much different to how many stocks no longer represent the value of anything tangible beyond speculation. You invest in the 'idea' of a lion jpg much like you invest in the 'idea' of Tesla. Tesla has a total stock value of 1 trillion, yet the company only has actual assets of 52 billion. That is 948 billion dollars worth of investment into nothing more than an idea. Same with a zombie monkey jpg.''

https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq

[Stovo]

You can read the definition here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token

The difference between them and cryptocurrency is that 1 NFT is not equivalent to another NFT, whilst 1 bitcoin is equivalent to 1 other bitcoin and can easily be subdivided and interchanged. 

 

In regards to whether they have value... Well, the Mona Lisa also holds extreme value as an idea. The cost of the actual materials that make up the Mona Lisa is minuscule in comparison. 

Humans coalesce around ideas, cultures, memes, and so on. This is why NFTs have value. 

[Fleetinglife]

4 hours ago, Stovo said:

You can read the definition here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token

The difference between them and cryptocurrency is that 1 NFT is not equivalent to another NFT, whilst 1 bitcoin is equivalent to 1 other bitcoin and can easily be subdivided and interchanged. 

 

In regards to whether they have value... Well, the Mona Lisa also holds extreme value as an idea. The cost of the actual materials that make up the Mona Lisa is minuscule in comparison. 

Humans coalesce around ideas, cultures, memes, and so on. This is why NFTs have value. 

Thanks for the explanation about their value exchange dynamic and for confirming my assumptions about what I read about them so far. Much appreciated for setting the time to explain it breifly to me! I will check the Wiki Article as well. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Fleetinglife

[Fleetinglife]

4 hours ago, Stovo said:

Well, the Mona Lisa also holds extreme value as an idea.

I dont know how lion captain.jpeg compares to be honest. I've seen the digital art it is much lower quality in my opinion in terms of creative effort, intellect that went behind it and originality than some digital high quality art by free lance artist that don't draw it for the sake of it becoming an NFT in my personal opinion.

[Philipp]

NFT are also more than just the idea, they are also a proof of ownership. So it transforms these digital artworks into a status symbol. I think it has a bright future. But it is something for the egoic mind. 

[Fleetinglife]

4 hours ago, Philipp said:

they are also a proof of ownership. So it transforms these digital artworks into a status symbol.

It is a very arbitrary status symbol in my opinion - some .jpegs have artwork not different from those you would see on acid tabs - I've not seen much qulaity work put in behind them (in comparision to some other art) but they look even easily reproducable - that's why I saw moslty people who dont  dabble in crypto speculation or any other for that matter or own some NFTs making fun of them as a money pissing away playground for the well off and rich to fit as status symbols for them having money to pay for them and the fact that they can be easily copied by anyone apart from not owning them. 

Edited November 10, 2021 by Fleetinglife

[Apparition of Jack]

13 hours ago, Stovo said:

In regards to whether they have value... Well, the Mona Lisa also holds extreme value as an idea. The cost of the actual materials that make up the Mona Lisa is minuscule in comparison.

But the difference is there's only one Mona Lisa - sure there are copies, but they're imperfect copies, and the actual, singular Mona Lisa, with all its specific flaws and qualities, can only ever be that one painting in the Louvre.

But with NFTs, right-clicking + saving one gives you exactly the same image as whoever "bought" it. In fact, NFTs aren't even the images themselves but rather just the "proof of ownership" token. If someone posted a NFT image here, I could easily just save that image and I'd have the exact same experience and enjoyment of it as whoever paid money for it.

It's literally creating scarcity where there is none - an internet image is infinitely repeatable, and yet somehow paying thousands of dollars for a token means you "own" it? How does that follow?

Edited November 11, 2021 by Apparition of Jack

[Stovo]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:55 PM, Fleetinglife said:

I dont know how lion captain.jpeg compares to be honest. I've seen the digital art it is much lower quality in my opinion in terms of creative effort, intellect that went behind it and originality than some digital high quality art by free lance artist that don't draw it for the sake of it becoming an NFT in my personal opinion.

A .jpeg is not an NFT. The NFT IS the Mona Lisa, the .jpeg is a picture you took of the Mona Lisa whilst visiting The Louvre. 

If anything NFTs have more valuable than real-life artworks. They are easier to store and are more liquid. 

Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Obviously, there is a bubble in many NFTs, but these are the earliest NFT projects. Crypto Punks are so valuable because they are one of the earliest projects. 

[Stovo]

On 11/11/2021 at 3:57 AM, Apparition of Jack said:

But the difference is there's only one Mona Lisa - sure there are copies, but they're imperfect copies, and the actual, singular Mona Lisa, with all its specific flaws and qualities, can only ever be that one painting in the Louvre.

There can only ever be X copies of an NFT

[Apparition of Jack]

28 minutes ago, Stovo said:

There can only ever be X copies of an NFT

What do you mean? 

[Fleetinglife]

4 hours ago, Stovo said:

A .jpeg is not an NFT. The NFT IS the Mona Lisa, the .jpeg is a picture you took of the Mona Lisa whilst visiting The Louvre. 

If anything NFTs have more valuable than real-life artworks. They are easier to store and are more liquid. 

Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Obviously, there is a bubble in many NFTs, but these are the earliest NFT projects. Crypto Punks are so valuable because they are one of the earliest projects. 

I have a jist of an idea of where they are coming from but I still see it, in the early phase of how it looks and what pictures are those that have an inflated value as a 1. extreme symptom of financilization and speculation in our current economy with no tangible value as of yet (that one that either uplifts people culturally, socially or mentally or satiates the physic or material needs that they have) and 2. as a hobby of  the rich and those well off in enough to get the motivation in the first place to invest in acquiring such a thing as 'proof of digital ownership'.

Crypto Punks series just seems not so well drawn to me tbh - their style looks like a copy of Gorillaz characters and album cover - and it seems that people who are interested in owning the NFTs in the series are a niche of crypto currency speculators and the ownership of these thing being their internal cultural thing and status symbol to others in terms of how well they are doing financially and in the crypto market.

To closest thing that I can relate to that impulse and desire is me floating the idea in my mind of wanting to buy easily reproducable ultra rare digital Yu Gi Oh cards in an online multiplayer competitve PvP Yu Gi Oh game I played so I can use them in it and include them and build around my F2P deck around them so I can enjoy the game more in having a chance of beating other players in the game more easily in PvP - but as with it, its  a highly addictive and competitive escapist entertainment crutch from life for a period of time that doesnt even require much mental effort and intellect like other always available gmaes like chess  and also at the same time, as it is with these things a, hobby of the relatively more privilleged and well off in society who would even consider spending money on such a thing, digital cards exclusive for a game and not even real physical ones mind you.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Fleetinglife