4 ms·

Are NFTs not successful then? Note I'm not trying to argue one way or another about intrinsic value or any type of moral value or any of the other unrelated ta

by 2cb 5y ago

Are NFTs not successful then? Note I'm not trying to argue one way or another about intrinsic value or any type of moral value or any of the other unrelated tangents I often see discussions about NFTs turn into. But objectively, as a product that exists solely on top of blockchains, NFTs are very very successful. Something that has allowed multiple individuals to auction off artworks for upwards of $60m cannot be called a failed use case.

_manifold 5y ago
If your metric for success is simply how much money is being pumped through it, then in a sense NFTs are successful (although NFT prices and volume have been plummeting recently [0]). However, I believe that the majority of people driving the popularity of NFTs fall into two overlapping camps: people who are simply trying to make money, and people who misunderstand or are otherwise oblivious to how the technology works and its limitations. To me it just seems more like a gold rush situation and does nothing to inspire confidence in the underlying technology. Certainly there are people out there trying to leverage NFTs for more legitimate purposes - such as digital rights management and virtual items for video games - and those applications may be dubious enough by themselves. In the way they are generally being used, though, I wouldn't call NFTs a "success" any more than the South Sea Bubble was. [0] https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2021/04/30/prices-nfts-dropping/ https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2021/04/30/prices-nfts-dropping/
Hjfrf 5y ago
The only selling point of NFTs is that they are poorly understood, making them useful for fraud. Specifically wash trading/money laundering. Is that really a success?
blamestross 5y ago
Bitcoin and Etherium's use cases are still just limited to providing means of bypassing regulation and being a ponzi scheme. NFTs are just the latest iteration on that.

by 2cb 5y ago

_manifold 5y ago

If your metric for success is simply how much money is being pumped through it, then in a sense NFTs are successful (although NFT prices and volume have been plummeting recently [0]). However, I believe that the majority of people driving the popularity of NFTs fall into two overlapping camps: people who are simply trying to make money, and people who misunderstand or are otherwise oblivious to how the technology works and its limitations. To me it just seems more like a gold rush situation and does nothing to inspire confidence in the underlying technology. Certainly there are people out there trying to leverage NFTs for more legitimate purposes - such as digital rights management and virtual items for video games - and those applications may be dubious enough by themselves. In the way they are generally being used, though, I wouldn't call NFTs a "success" any more than the South Sea Bubble was. [0] https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2021/04/30/prices-nfts-dropping/ https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2021/04/30/prices-nfts-dropping/

Hjfrf 5y ago

The only selling point of NFTs is that they are poorly understood, making them useful for fraud. Specifically wash trading/money laundering. Is that really a success?

blamestross 5y ago

Bitcoin and Etherium's use cases are still just limited to providing means of bypassing regulation and being a ponzi scheme. NFTs are just the latest iteration on that.