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[-] IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 130 points 4 months ago

The whole NFT/crypto currency thing is so incredibly frustrating. Like, being able to verify that a given file is unique could be very useful. Instead, we simply used the technology for scamming people.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 64 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I don't think NFTs can do that either. Collections are copied to another contract address all the time. There isn't a way to verify if there isn't another copy of an NFT on the blockchain.

[-] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 41 points 4 months ago

I didn't know this and it's absolutely hilarious. Literally totally undermines the use of Blockchain to begin with.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

There isn't a way to verify if there isn't another copy of an NFT on the blockchain.

Incorrect. An NFT is tied to a particular token number at a particular address.

The URI the NFT points to may not be unique but NFT is unique.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago

The NFT is only unique within the contract address. The whole contract can be trivially copied to another contract address and the whole collection can be cloned. It's why opensea has checkmarks for "verified" collections. There are a unofficial BoredApe collections which are copies of the original one.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Yes, the URI can point to the same monkey jpg. But a different contract address means it is a different NFT.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 5 points 4 months ago

Completely agree, but the guy I responding to thinks the monkey jpeg is unique across the whole blockchain, when that isn't true. The monkey jpeg can be copied. There's no uniqueness enforced in a blockchain.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

The key point is that the jpeg is not the NFT

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

Right, it’s a link to the JPEG. Either way, the point still stands, there’s no mechanism in the blockchain to prevent duplicate content or enforce uniqueness of what the NFT points to. The NFT token is unique within its contract, sure, but that doesn’t stop someone from deploying a near-identical contract with the same media and metadata. That’s the issue, the blockchain doesn’t know or care if the same JPEG is being reused in other collections.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

The NFT token is unique within its contract and since the contract had a unique address the NFT pointer is unique. Include chainID in the description and the NFT is globally unique.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

That’s true, the (chainID, contractAddress, tokenID) can be globally unique. But that doesn’t solve the original concern, it doesn’t prevent content duplication.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

The method for unique content is to reference the chainID, Address and token number in the content itself (I.e. in a metadata field). This approach works well for legal documentation, but could equally be applied to monkey pictures (although it usually isn't).

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

Sure, you can establish a stronger tie between the token and the file by embedding the chain ID, contract address, and token number in the content or metadata, but there’s no way to enforce that tie at the blockchain level. Anyone can still mint a copy with different metadata on a different contract.

As for legal documents, while storing them on-chain might help with transparency or timestamping, the blockchain itself has no legal jurisdiction. It doesn’t have legal authority, and documents stored this way are not inherently compliant with local laws, so they’re unenforceable unless recognized by a traditional legal system.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Anyone can still mint a copy with different metadata on a different contract.

That would not be an exact copy, because the data is different. Then traditional copyright laws take over.

the blockchain itself has no legal jurisdiction. It doesn’t have legal authority, and documents stored this way are not inherently compliant with local laws, so they’re unenforceable unless recognized by a traditional legal system.

Agreed. The NFT and legal documentation has to be constructed in such a way as to pass local laws. Having a bill of sale on-chain rather than on-paper isn't that big a difference.

Just transferring an NFT doesn't guarantee that legal ownership has changed.

But it is possible to create a legal structure that does create a legal bill of sale just by transferring an NFT.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

As far as I can tell it isn't possible to create a legal structure on a blockchain. Technical limitations inherent in blockchain prevent this from making it possible.

  • Lets say I mint an NFT of Mickey Mouse. I don't own that image since it is protected by copyright. First created doesn't mean ownership or authenticity. To be legally compliant, there would have to be some central authority to take down the offending IP on another contract, but blockchain doesn't offer an ability to do this.
  • Or lets say my house deed was on the blockchain and a hacker stole my secret pass phrase and took my deed. He doesn't have legal authority over my house.

Sure we can mitigate these issues with a central authority which can roll-back transactions on the blockchain, but if we are using a central authority then there isn't any usefulness of blockchain over a traditional database.

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Lets say I mint an NFT of Mickey Mouse. I don't own that image since it is protected by copyright.

Not any more. So let's choose Minnie Mouse instead.

First created doesn't mean ownership or authenticity.

Agreed

To be legally compliant, there would have to be some central authority to take down the offending IP on another contract, but blockchain doesn't offer an ability to do this.

Incorrect. An NFT of Minnie Mouse would not be legal, but that doesn't make other NFTs of other art illegal.

Or lets say my house deed was on the blockchain and a hacker stole my secret pass phrase and took my deed. He doesn't have legal authority over my house.

Agreed. Stealing the crypto key is as exactly as illegal as stealing a physical key and claiming ownership.

Sure we can mitigate these issues with a central authority which can roll-back transactions on the blockchain

No need to roll back. The legal contract can be made to point to a different nft.

but if we are using a central authority then there isn't any usefulness of blockchain over a traditional database.

In this case the blockchain removes friction. Real world enforcement of laws is centralised because society demands it.

[-] Sibshops@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

Right, I agree that not all NFTs are illegal just because one might infringe IP. But the broader issue is enforcement, blockchains, by design, don’t offer mechanisms to remove or suppress infringing or malicious content.

And with legal documents like deeds, I get that stealing a key is like stealing a physical one. But the difference is that if someone steals my house key, I can rekey the lock. If they steal my private key, the blockchain can't "reassign" the NFT unless a centralized authority steps in, defeating the idea of decentralized, immutable ownership.

Sure, you could update the legal system’s contract to point to a different NFT, but again, that requires a central entity with authority to override what's on-chain. So at that point, we’re counting on some central authority to fix blockchain’s problem of not having reversibility.

So this goes back to the main question, if we need centralized enforcement and off-chain enforcement, anyway, what actual value does a blockchain add compared to an access-controlled database?

[-] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

if we need centralized enforcement and off-chain enforcement, anyway, what actual value does a blockchain add compared to an access-controlled database?

Enforcement of laws and documentation of ownership are two separate functions. Blockchain does the former only if everything is digital (like money).

Let's take licence to drive as a pure real world enforcement example. There are multiple countries so there are multiple centralised databases. Blockchain allows all those databases to be merged without needing central access control

[-] Speculater@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago

It's crazy that people could see NFTs were a scam but can't see the same concept in virtual coins.

[-] Decq@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago

I'm not defending other cryptocoins or anything, they might be a ponzy scheme or some other form. But in the end they at least only pretended to be that, a valuta. Which they are, even though they aren't really used much like that. NFT's on the otherhand promised things that were always just pure technical bullshit. And you had to be a complete idiot not to see it. So call it a double scam.

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 4 months ago

It's crazy that people see crypto as a scam but can't see the same concept in fiat currencies.

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 3 points 4 months ago

Governments don't accept cryptocurrencies for taxes. They're not real currencies.

[-] uienia@lemmy.world 4 points 4 months ago

Because the pyramid scheme is still going strong with them, exactly because new victims are continually falling for them. NFTs lost their hype so quickly that the flow of new victims basically completely stopped, and so the bottom went out of them much faster.

[-] desktop_user 2 points 4 months ago

because there are some buisness that accept some crypto, mostly grey or black market ones, but respectable companies none the less.

[-] yarr@feddit.nl 7 points 4 months ago

I think a big part of the problem with NFT is that they are so abstract people don't understand what they can and cannot do. Effectively, with NFT, you have people that hold a copy of a Spiderman comic in hand and believe they own all forms of spiderman.

Essentially, when you boil it down, you can turn this into "it's provable that individual X has possession of NFT identifier x,y,z". It's kind of like how you can have the deed to a piece of property in your desk, but that doesn't prevent 15 people from squatting on it.

It's so abstract you can use it to fleece people. Even after 2 years of hype, people STILL do not understand them properly.

[-] uienia@lemmy.world 3 points 4 months ago

Essentially, when you boil it down, you can turn this into “it’s provable that individual X has possession of NFT identifier x,y,z”. It’s kind of like how you can have the deed to a piece of property in your desk, but that doesn’t prevent 15 people from squatting on it.

It isn't even that. It's is identifying which drawer in your desk the deed is placed, but there is no guarantee that the drawer contains the deed.

[-] yarr@feddit.nl 2 points 4 months ago

Now imagine trying to explain all this to the unwashed masses... it's no wonder the explanation they got was "buy this, it's going to the mooooon!!!!"

[-] ICastFist@programming.dev 6 points 4 months ago

But it's totally legit brah, it's just like trading cards but on a computer bro, you can make jay pegs totally unique bro, nobody else in the world can have the same image as you brah, it proves you're the only owner of it bro, trust me bro it's super secure and technological bruh

[-] merc@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago

You don't need an NFT to see that a file is unique. All that requires is a hash function. Many download sites provide signed cryptographic hashes so that you know that the file you've downloaded is the one that they released. None of that requires blockchains or crypto.

this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
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