A story about NFTs and other forms of ownership…
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding NFTs. Some people think they’re a threat to our planet, while others see them as a huge opportunity to get rich. Whether NFTs are good or bad isn’t what this story is about. It’s about the fact that, as humans, we like to show others that we own something. And there are reasons for that…
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. The opposite term, “fungible,” means that something is interchangeable and identical to something else. Think of money, for example, but also Bitcoin. An NFT is a unique digital item, and NFTs are now being linked to digital items on a massive scale. The fact that a lot of money changes hands in the NFT market is evidenced by a CryptoPunks NFT that sold earlier this year for $23.7 million. That’s an expensive image—though many people would likely find “Rembrandt’s The Night Watch” more appealing. Because ownership is tracked via a blockchain, you can prove that you are the owner! But haven’t we been recording ownership like that for years anyway?
Establishing Property Rights
It is these duplicates or “copies” that encourage the establishment of property rights. After all, they make it possible to counterfeit something. Unfortunately, counterfeiting is as old as humanity itself; it’s just that nowadays it mainly happens digitally. In creative professions, for example, it happens often enough that someone steals your ideas or texts online. That’s why it’s good that blockchain technology now exists to protect crown jewels, property, and ideas.
Your property is
The digital world poses other risks as well. For example, a cybercriminal who has an image (.jpeg) of your signature could easily insert it into a fake contract. You would then have to be able to prove in court that you never signed that document.
We’re happy to help verify the authenticity of documents. One way we do this is by adding additional digital information or tags when signatures are applied. This could be, for example, a code that must first be entered to modify a document, the time of signing, or even a verifying authority that confirms the document’s authenticity.
Good luck being a homeowner!