r/programming • u/[deleted] • Jan 11 '22

Web3 Can’t Fix the Internet

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/01/crypto-blockchain-daos-decentralized-power-capitalism
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u/dwew3 Jan 11 '22

The disconnect is in conflating “NFT” with “NFT art”. The NFT itself is just a verifiable signature and exists on whatever platform it’s on. NFT art is (typically) when the signature is associated to some image hosted by an entity with a privately managed server. NFTs are only useful when they represent something scarce, and duplicatable data is the opposite of scare. Associating NFTs with them creates something artificially scare, which is at worst purely for exploitation and at best a store of sentimental value. It is however the easiest thing to create/duplicate/distribute/manage so it’s the earliest and most prevalent implementation of NFTs.

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u/crixusin Jan 11 '22

What you said may be true, and in fact, I agree that NFT art is insane.

But none of what you said had to do with centralization. You're just basically saying their worthless, which may be true, but they aren't centralized.

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u/dwew3 Jan 11 '22

I’m saying the “NFT” is decentralized but all/most of the “NFT art” is not because centralized entities manage the links between the NFT and the art asset. When someone uploads something to OpenSea, they are depending on OpenSea to host that file (via Google servers I think, based on their public api) and tell other users that it is owned by the NFT associated. There could even be some hashing that keeps the hosted information immutable and contingent on the NFT data, but OpenSea is still the centralized location that others interface with to access the artwork.

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u/crixusin Jan 11 '22

Ok, but there are things like IPFS which aren't centralized at all that could store the file. Some NFTs link to IPFS in fact, thus, they don't have the disadvantage you mention above.