Ines AissaniYes, that’s what we read in the general press which persists in talking about NFTs. Media coverage is not a problem in itself, it is even a very good thing in absolute terms. This sheds light on this dazzling phenomenon that are NFTs and allows cryptocurrencies to be discovered by a wider audience.
The problem is not to shine the spotlight on NFTs, as you will have understood. The problem is not explaining what it really is. The problem is describing NFTs without trying to explain. (There is a very big difference between explaining and describing but that is not the point of this short article).
The point, precisely, here is to persist in reducing NFTs to JPEG files. This reduction does not offend you? Well, personally, it outrages me to the highest degree.
Reducing NFTs to JEPGs is the same as reducing works of pictorial art to canvases filled with paint stains.
We confuse the medium with the object. We confuse the signifier with the signified. In short, we are making a misleading shortcut that hides all the internal and tangible value of NFTs.
To assert with such aplomb that these are only digital images is enough to disconcert anyone who knows anything about blockchain technology….
I am even appalled (the word is not exaggerated) to see the recurrence of this sly reduction. I can also perfectly understand that understanding this phenomenon is not obvious. I can, however, understand less the intellectual laziness of certain journalists who do not want to "dig" deeper into the subject. Staying on the surface is one thing, but it becomes dangerous when it spreads into disinformation.
Before continuing, I must nevertheless clarify that this is not a pamphlet against journalists. Far from me this gratuitous attack, I seek more to minimize in the future this type of intellectual misadventure...
I imagine that the journalists in question are trying to find their answers by going on social networks? They then discover the most popular influencers and pump out the hazardous (often mediocre) information they find there? How the hell do they do their investigative work?
Even if it would be difficult to understand how it works, that is not an excuse to rush the research. Sorry to remind you here.
If you are looking for information on NFTs, it would be recommended to inquire with the major players working on this technology. Look for the right sources. Some people have rare and advanced knowledge on the subject. They only want to pass on their knowledge. Question them. Question them. Retrieve the information you are missing.
Read the specialist press. Select your sources. There are many people in the crypo sphere who themselves have not understood the issues of NFTs….It is beyond them in many ways. Theory and conceptualization are not their strong points. Once again, and I make it clear, this is not a criticism. It is not in their aspirations on the one hand and on the other hand, they do not all have the analytical skills to be able to do it. It's not Thomas Piketty who wants. And people with sufficient perspective to theorize certain ideas in cryptocurrencies are rare...And, often (alas) not very visible...
Basically, I'm not teaching you anything, you know that.
And, to finish this article, I imagine you are wondering "Ok, but then, but we still don't know what NFTs are if they are not just JPEGs?".
I hear you.
And I must set the record straight, as much as I can.
To summarize and above all to whet your curiosity, I will start with a reduction too (which is intended to be fairer, however): NFTs are simply a new form of business where each NFT holder is part of what can be considered as shareholders.
Yes, if you had to summarize and reduce NFTs, tell yourself that that's it, even if there are particularities. There are indeed several types of NFTs.
The latter can nevertheless always represent an asset (just like another whether it is gold or a share of a company) which has a justified existence in a given framework. This can be a legal, societal or entrepreneurial framework (very often, this is the chosen form).
This can represent a character in a video game, a share of real estate, a diploma certificate, a digital work, concrete “shares” in a company, etc.
That's it to summarize, here. It is up to you to explore this fascinating subject in many respects and which could well change the face of our economy, or at least, the economic model of some of our companies.
This may even be an opportunity to rethink our economic ideologies and push the boundaries of what is possible ever further. Ahaha, beautiful bombastic sentences that we all love, don’t we?
However, it is a very serious matter. This is just as unheard of as it was in the early days of Facebook when Mark Zuckerberg argued that he wanted to make the world a better place. Just that.
It is the very possibility of reforming the paradigm of economic models as a whole. A new model is born, made possible by the inherent decentralization of blockchain technology. NFT holders participate in a project defined in advance and in which the NFTs have meaning and utility. This can be an avatar or a character from a game or even part of a company to benefit from exclusives and advantages.
Is it still blurry? You want a concrete example, I guess?
I can give you the example of a restaurant that would sell NFTs through which holders could benefit from a reduction on the menu. They could also have access to a banquet organized occasionally. The NFT serves here to be part of a closed club just as it exists in the real economy.
This is just one example among many equally interesting and innovative ones.
The NFT is only the embryo of a new form of business with an innovative model that can be beneficial for everyone. The NFT works in parallel with DAOs, autonomous decentralized organizations in which all members have the same role…
In short, NFTs are only the assets of what we could call neo-startups or crypto-startups (I have just coined the term for the occasion without really knowing if it has already been used or not).
In short, call them the startups of tomorrow, because that's what it is.
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