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The problem with NFTs is that they often don't have good provenance, and so are ripe for fraud. Suppose we have a well-known photo of the Brooklyn Bridge. It w

by chiph 5y ago

The problem with NFTs is that they often don't have good provenance, and so are ripe for fraud. Suppose we have a well-known photo of the Brooklyn Bridge. It was scanned twice and separate NFTs were created and sold. The data & hash is different because the scanner had different dust patterns on the glass each time. But visually - it's the same photo. And they were sold with the promise that they were unique in the world. Which is technically true (the math proves it), but a reasonable person would not think so. A legit source like the NYC Museum of Modern Art would be trusted to sell NFTs that are unique and collectible. However "Bob's online NFT Shop" has a really nice website & sales brochure and so far has relied on his Terms of Use to quash any rumors of selling dupes.

rcacho 5y ago
I don't think it matters whether the source is legit or not. People have to ask themselves why they are buying an NFT. If they are buying it because they have a genuine interest in owning the NFT then they might want to make sure what they are purchasing is "authentic". Which I imagine in this case means there isn't, and won't be, an NFT that has more claim to being "authentic". The more popular case for buying an NFT, I imagine, is for its value. Whether that be to sell it for more or simply to own something of value. In this case authenticity doesn't really matter. Two years from now it is entirely possible that MOMA's NFTs are entirely worthless. Everything with a brand is going to be trying to sell an NFT. Consider trading cards based on 90's cartoons. Both Pokemon and Dragon Ball were popular cartoons. Only Pokemon cards cards though still have any value, to my knowledge. More than trying to recognize whether the source is legit people have to understand the NFT culture. "Bob's online NFT Shop"'s Starry Night NFT might be worth millions in the future while MOMA's version is worthless. The value isn't really about authenticity. Both could be entirely forgotten tomorrow as it turns out that people don't care about art NFT and it turns out that COVID variant NFTs are the thing that has staying power.
- chiph 5y ago
  > Two years from now it is entirely possible that MOMA's NFTs are entirely worthless I was trying to think of a good way to include this thought. The scenario I had in mind was that Bob turned out to be really good at keeping his servers running, while MOMA had a data center crash and bad backups, and so lost the way to prove their NFTs were issued by them. So Bob's became worth more because they were the only ones that were traceable to their origin. > Both could be entirely forgotten tomorrow as it turns out that people don't care about art NFT and it turns out that COVID variant NFTs are the thing that has staying power. NFTs turning into this decade's Beanie Babies is a real possibility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies#Collectibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies#Collectibility
hebetude 5y ago
The problem with art is good provenance. NFTs specifically solves this issue. Provenance was a common word used by art collectors describing the issues with Art auctions during NFT.NYC. Noah Davis really opened my eyes to this topic, here's his speech at NFT.NYC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeVZeXsRKhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeVZeXsRKhs It would take a while to explain provenance in crypto space. It's largely based on credibility and ownership of addresses. Once credibility and address is established, it is a simple operation to prove the Bridge picture came from a specific artist. Things like ENS (Ethereum Name Service) are examples of deep support for provenance in Crypto.

by chiph 5y ago

rcacho 5y ago

I don't think it matters whether the source is legit or not. People have to ask themselves why they are buying an NFT. If they are buying it because they have a genuine interest in owning the NFT then they might want to make sure what they are purchasing is "authentic". Which I imagine in this case means there isn't, and won't be, an NFT that has more claim to being "authentic". The more popular case for buying an NFT, I imagine, is for its value. Whether that be to sell it for more or simply to own something of value. In this case authenticity doesn't really matter. Two years from now it is entirely possible that MOMA's NFTs are entirely worthless. Everything with a brand is going to be trying to sell an NFT. Consider trading cards based on 90's cartoons. Both Pokemon and Dragon Ball were popular cartoons. Only Pokemon cards cards though still have any value, to my knowledge. More than trying to recognize whether the source is legit people have to understand the NFT culture. "Bob's online NFT Shop"'s Starry Night NFT might be worth millions in the future while MOMA's version is worthless. The value isn't really about authenticity. Both could be entirely forgotten tomorrow as it turns out that people don't care about art NFT and it turns out that COVID variant NFTs are the thing that has staying power.

chiph 5y ago
> Two years from now it is entirely possible that MOMA's NFTs are entirely worthless I was trying to think of a good way to include this thought. The scenario I had in mind was that Bob turned out to be really good at keeping his servers running, while MOMA had a data center crash and bad backups, and so lost the way to prove their NFTs were issued by them. So Bob's became worth more because they were the only ones that were traceable to their origin. > Both could be entirely forgotten tomorrow as it turns out that people don't care about art NFT and it turns out that COVID variant NFTs are the thing that has staying power. NFTs turning into this decade's Beanie Babies is a real possibility. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies#Collectibility https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_Babies#Collectibility

hebetude 5y ago

The problem with art is good provenance. NFTs specifically solves this issue. Provenance was a common word used by art collectors describing the issues with Art auctions during NFT.NYC. Noah Davis really opened my eyes to this topic, here's his speech at NFT.NYC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeVZeXsRKhs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeVZeXsRKhs It would take a while to explain provenance in crypto space. It's largely based on credibility and ownership of addresses. Once credibility and address is established, it is a simple operation to prove the Bridge picture came from a specific artist. Things like ENS (Ethereum Name Service) are examples of deep support for provenance in Crypto.