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NFTs are the cryptocurrency equivalent of those companies that will sell you a star. Sure... there is something written down somewhere that you "own" something.

NFTs are the cryptocurrency equivalent of those companies that will sell you a star. Sure... there is something written down somewhere that you "own" something. In any practical sense, it's completely meaningless.

blueboo 6y ago
I agree, but a historical post in the past is somewhat unlike a piece of art media like a bitmap or animation. Consider the Herbert quote... "The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it." If Dorsey agrees that the "owner" has the prereogative to destroy (delete) it, they plausibly "own" it insofar as they control its existance.
atweiden 6y ago
Much of cryptocurrency is better understood as nouveau billionaire “artwork” than meaningful technology.
Inception 6y ago
This isn't a fair comparison and there will be plenty of use-cases that go beyond tweets and art. For example, the Dallas Mavericks are exploring issuing their season tickets as NFTs and charging a fee everytime a ticket is resold to disincentivize scalpers.
Animats 6y ago
That's definitely true for some of them. Genies [1] being one. See their "you own nothing" terms of service. Same for Yellowheart.[2] Both reserve the rights to take your "ownership" away at will. This is seen by some as a way to put some teeth into the "licensed merchandise" business. Mark Cuban, who owns some sports team, is into that. Non-fungible tokens are not regulated investments. Fungible tokens are either a security or a commodity, and the SEC and the CFTC don't like pump and dump promotions of them. But you can pump and dump Beanie Babies or sneakers or Authorized NBA Merchandise all you want, constrained only by weak false advertising laws. The first NFT crash has already happened.[3] Enthusiasts are now talking about "taking advantage of the volatility of the market". Unlike fungible items, there won't be one price and a liquid market. Reselling will look more like early eBay, with people trying to unload their "antiques". You can still trade Beanie Babies on eBay. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Animats&next=26288803 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Animats&next=2628880... [2] https://www.yellowheart.io/kol/terms_and_conditions.pdf https://www.yellowheart.io/kol/terms_and_conditions.pdf [3] https://youtu.be/thWPoiQGsow https://youtu.be/thWPoiQGsow

blueboo 6y ago

I agree, but a historical post in the past is somewhat unlike a piece of art media like a bitmap or animation. Consider the Herbert quote... "The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it." If Dorsey agrees that the "owner" has the prereogative to destroy (delete) it, they plausibly "own" it insofar as they control its existance.

atweiden 6y ago

Much of cryptocurrency is better understood as nouveau billionaire “artwork” than meaningful technology.

Inception 6y ago

This isn't a fair comparison and there will be plenty of use-cases that go beyond tweets and art. For example, the Dallas Mavericks are exploring issuing their season tickets as NFTs and charging a fee everytime a ticket is resold to disincentivize scalpers.

Animats 6y ago

That's definitely true for some of them. Genies [1] being one. See their "you own nothing" terms of service. Same for Yellowheart.[2] Both reserve the rights to take your "ownership" away at will. This is seen by some as a way to put some teeth into the "licensed merchandise" business. Mark Cuban, who owns some sports team, is into that. Non-fungible tokens are not regulated investments. Fungible tokens are either a security or a commodity, and the SEC and the CFTC don't like pump and dump promotions of them. But you can pump and dump Beanie Babies or sneakers or Authorized NBA Merchandise all you want, constrained only by weak false advertising laws. The first NFT crash has already happened.[3] Enthusiasts are now talking about "taking advantage of the volatility of the market". Unlike fungible items, there won't be one price and a liquid market. Reselling will look more like early eBay, with people trying to unload their "antiques". You can still trade Beanie Babies on eBay. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Animats&next=26288803 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=Animats&next=2628880... [2] https://www.yellowheart.io/kol/terms_and_conditions.pdf https://www.yellowheart.io/kol/terms_and_conditions.pdf [3] https://youtu.be/thWPoiQGsow https://youtu.be/thWPoiQGsow