Saying “fuck nft’s!” is like saying “fuck UUID’s!”.
They’re literally an everyday part of software engineering on decentralized protocols. They got a bad rap with tech-illiterate people because of moonboi hype but they’ll ALWAYS be a part of decentralized software just like any other type of data created for specific uses.
^ The only person in this thread who actually knows what NFTs are
So this is what I’ve never heard, is when have nfts actually been used? Like it’s too inefficient/expensive to store large amounts of data, so what is it good for?
All an NFT is, is a way to prove ownership of a digital good. Think of an NFT not being the item itself, but a receipt that you can use to prove you own said item. You’re probably only familiar with this concept being applied to images, but that’s just one application.
NFTs function very similarly to cryptocurrency with one notable exception, they are not fungible. If we both have a bitcoin and decide to trade them, we both end up with what we started because bitcoins (much like any currency) are fungible. NFTs represent unique items, so they can’t all be treated as equals. That’s all an NFT is at its core, a digital proof of ownership of an item that is unique.
This is my go to example for an alternative use case for NFTs:
You know how Ticketmaster sucks right? Imagine if instead of buying tickets through TicketMaster you bought them directly from artists/venues as an NFT. At the gate you can show that you have the NFT in your wallet which proves that you own the ticket. Instead of Ticketmaster taking a massive cut, you pay a (comparatively) much smaller fee to the decentralized network that processed your transaction, and the entirety of the price of the ticket goes to the venue/artist.
I find that people frequently hate on NFTs because they don’t understand how truly generalized of a concept it is. There are so many ways this technology could be applied, but it’s so new! It takes time for people to conceptualize, develop, and implement this stuff. And with decentralization at the heart, it usually has to happen without a major corporation backing development. So be patient, have an open mind, and know that even I think bored ape NFTs are dumb as fuck
Source: ex /r/CryptoCurrency mod 😛 Happy to chat more about it if you’re curious!
Why can’t I buy that ticket directly from the artist/venue? Why do I need the receipt?
As another user said, the NFT is the ticket. A ticket is basically a receipt when you think about it, which is why it makes sense as a use case. It shows that you have purchased a unique item (the seat) and grants you access to it.
The artist/venue could make a ticket independently and without NFTs. They would then have to make them in a way that couldn’t be forged, and would have to create a distribution system. None of that is simple for an independent artist/venue to implement. By using an NFT all of that is handled by the decentralized network.
Again, that was simply an example to help demonstrate how NFTs have more use cases than just a picture of a monkey
How about a digital ticket? A QR code to be presented on my phone that I got via email? That seems very feasible. I still don’t see what advantage an NFT would have here. Seriously asking because I’ve been confused for the last few years and nobody is explaining in a way that makes sense to me.
I’m generally not aware of many cases of ownership of anything being in question, so many in fact that we need an entirely new way of dealing with them. Also look at how many monkey pictures have been straight up stolen with, apparently, no way to prove that they were stolen, because stuff can’t be deleted on the blockchain.
