In all fairness, how different are non-fungible tokens from owning a Web domain?
Two differences: (1) I can’t really “own” a Web domain, only rent it; and (2) Non-fungible token owners are art patrons, most of whom display it publicly, like a private owner at a museum.
In both cases, NFTs are better than a Web domain.
Now, how different are NFTs from owning digital music? After all, both pay artists. (1) Again, we don’t pay a subscription for music access (let’s be honest, how many of us actually store most of the music we buy?); and (2.) We don’t own exclusive rights to the music. Other people can pay for it, too.
Next, how different are NFTs from buying rights to a photo from ShutterStock, iStock, etc.? Well, photo rights aren’t exclusive, and often they’re restrictive.
How different are NFTs from cryptocurrencies? (And if we’re skeptical about cryptocurrencies, how valuable is that piece of green paper in your pocket? It’s just a coupon with a serial number, traded for an hour of labor, in trust that the country we’re taxed by doesn’t collapse and default on it. And WTF is my bank balance except a type of cryptocurrency?)
FWIW, governments have a horse in this race, and in a barter economy of favor for favor or your garden’s green beans for my tomatoes. It’s difficult to tax the first, and impossible to tax the latter.
I’m 65 years old, sometimes grappling with Information Age concepts that younger people take as a fact of life. But this train’s starting to make sense. While we scoff, it’s leaving the station.