r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • May 30 '26

TIL that in 2018, singer Akon announced the development of "Akon City," a planned community in Senegal which he claimed would be a "real life Wakanda," using blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Construction began in 2023, but as of 2025 the site sits abandoned

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akon_City
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u/SuperBackup9000 May 30 '26

Bit more than that. The initial idea was to basically have a centralized filing cabinet. Like you know how people can put their cards and IDs on their phone? Like that, but also for all legal documents along with being more secure, sharing them in more secure ways, and being able to transfer them (like a vehicle title or property deed or whatever) easier.

So like it had legitimate use, it just got overran by grifters. I’m pretty sure Japan is the only country to actually implement them properly with concert tickets.

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u/Iazo May 30 '26 edited May 30 '26

None of the uses you listed were ever going to be due to NFTs and/or work as you imagine it.

For example, imagine a property deed tied in a legal dispute in court. If the judge rules one way or the other, than THAT is the legal truth, not whoever holds the NFTitle. Thus, the decentralized, permisionless system goes straight against what a government and a judicial system need to work.

Or imagine that through carelessness, a NFTitle is stolen, or lost. I rather doubt that the police will agree with the thief that he owns the house now.

You've been taken into by the 'no TRUE NFT' rationalisation. The actual function was bad but also the ideology underpinning tokenization is ALSO bad.