Are NFTs just marketing gimmicks with no added value?

[legiteum]

When it comes to blockchain-based NFTs, I'm trying to answer one question: why?

What is the actual added value of an NFT versus a plain old contract between two known entities as is done in traditional digital content marketplaces?

You might say that the difference is that the transaction can be done anonymously, but since NFTs are essentially legal contracts, and contracts require known identities to hold up in court, then it would seem as though an NFT itself doesn't add any value, since you need to add identity to the contract anyhow, at which point there's no added value to using an NFT.

What am I missing here? Why use an NFT when the NFT, by itself, is technically worthless, and a valid transaction without the blockchain aspect of the transaction is the same as the value with it?

In other words, couldn't you just enter into the same contract the NFT specifies with the real names of the parties, and accomplish the same thing, but without the added complexity of the blockchain stuff?

Can somebody who knows the NFT business tell me what I am missing?

[1714782089]

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[headingnorth]

NFTs, meme coins, smart contracts, altcoins, etc. are nothing but scams.

These are the buzzwords that scammers use to lure people in and trick them out of their money. Bitcoin is the only one that is not a scam.
Many people enter the crypto market only to find this out the hard way after they lose their money.

If the government was doing their job ethereum and all the rest of the shitcoins would be shut down to prevent these scams from happening.
Of course that is why bitcoin exists because governments are totally clueless, incompetent and corrupt.

[BIT-BENDER]

NFTs, meme coins, smart contracts, altcoins, etc. are nothing but scams.

These are the buzzwords that scammers use to lure people in and trick them out of their money. Bitcoin is the only one that is not a scam.
Many people enter the crypto market only to find this out the hard way after they lose their money.

If the government was doing their job ethereum and all the rest of the shitcoins would be shut down to prevent these scams from happening.
Of course that is why bitcoin exists because governments are totally clueless, incompetent and corrupt.

I don't think you are completely correct. Infact Bitcoin can also be used to lure vulnerable people into scamming them. Having the idea that every other thing is scam aside Bitcoin does not prove you are a Bitcoin enthusiast but rather it shows your ignorance about crypto-currency in general.

NFT, memecoin, altcoin aren't one entity, although I don't own any altcoin yet but I won't consider them all scams because there are coins and project in those sector that has proven themselves and stood the test of time.

I understand you don't want to have anything to do with them but calling all of them a scam is a wrong mentality.

[Dunamisx]

Why not move this thread to the altcoins discussion board for more proper replies on this subject matter, there's much to say when it comes to altcoins and this section only belongs to bitcoin discussion topics, altcoins and NFTs in particular have market buying and selling value which we can also partake from when it comes to discussions on how they have added value to the market s in cryptocurrencies, the same way we must never forget that this same altcoins have their risk in which if we are not observant can affect us.

[legiteum]

Why not move this thread to the altcoins discussion board for more proper replies on this subject matter, there's much to say when it comes to altcoins and this section only belongs to bitcoin discussion topics, altcoins and NFTs in particular have market buying and selling value which we can also partake from when it comes to discussions on how they have added value to the market s in cryptocurrencies, the same way we must never forget that this same altcoins have their risk in which if we are not observant can affect us.

I struggled with the proper placement of this topic. This is clearly a Bitcoin-related (blockchain-related) topic, and I think belongs on Bitcointalk.org, generally speaking.

But there's no dedicated area of NFTs on this website, or something that would seem to cover that topic in a general way.

And NFTs are definitely not like altcoins in terms of their usefulness and issues. I think that would be the wrong place for the topic.

Hence I placed this topic in the "general discussion" area, e.g. this one.

[legiteum]

I understand you don't want to have anything to do with them but calling all of them a scam is a wrong mentality.

I agree with you here, and personally I don't like to write off anything that has captured the interest of so many people in the world as a "scam".

Clearly NFTs are doing something people find useful, and my theory is that the buying and selling of contracts on the internet is a useful thing, even if:

1. Many or even most NFTs are scams.

2. Specifically using blockchain or not to do it doesn't make any difference to the product.

3. Blockchain-based NFTs will go extinct soon, replaced by plain old written contracts with known counterparties, now that NFTs have introduced everybody to the idea of buying and selling contracts*.

I personally like to drill down and learn more about a phenomenon rather than just dismissing it as a "scam". I'm not saying there's anything wrong if you do, but I'm just a geek when it comes to this stuff .


(* Of course I have the same view of Bitcoin and digital currency. )

[bettercrypto]

NFTs, meme coins, smart contracts, altcoins, etc. are nothing but scams.

I don't agree with what you said, but I can still believe that those tools are used to scam investors who don't know anything about them. If those are all scams, the other coins
that belong to those categories will no longer be listed on centralized exchanges.

Don't generalize; I also can't deny that there are scammers, but the scam is not the literal meme, NFT, altcoins, or smart contracts. You are dead wrong here on this matter.

[headingnorth]

NFTs, meme coins, smart contracts, altcoins, etc. are nothing but scams.

These are the buzzwords that scammers use to lure people in and trick them out of their money. Bitcoin is the only one that is not a scam.
Many people enter the crypto market only to find this out the hard way after they lose their money.

If the government was doing their job ethereum and all the rest of the shitcoins would be shut down to prevent these scams from happening.
Of course that is why bitcoin exists because governments are totally clueless, incompetent and corrupt.

I don't think you are completely correct. Infact Bitcoin can also be used to lure vulnerable people into scamming them. Having the idea that every other thing is scam aside Bitcoin does not prove you are a Bitcoin enthusiast but rather it shows your ignorance about crypto-currency in general.

NFT, memecoin, altcoin aren't one entity, although I don't own any altcoin yet but I won't consider them all scams because there are coins and project in those sector that has proven themselves and stood the test of time.

I understand you don't want to have anything to do with them but calling all of them a scam is a wrong mentality.

Sorry but only idiots invest in altcoins which are good for nothing but promoting crap like NFTs and memecoins and getting hacked or rugpulled. Sorry but not sorry.
How many countless billions of dollars have been lost on ethereum over the years due to hacks and scams?

No one has ever explained to me exactly what ethereum and altcoins are good for other than stupid NFTs and meme coins, getting hacked and rugpulled.
With bitcoin the purpose of it is very clear and simple to understand. Bitcoin is nothing more than a store of value, like gold but only better. Period.

Bitcoin is an asset without an issuer which makes it a commodity. You cannot say that for anything else in the market.

When you introduce the human element (the issuer) it only leads to corruption and greed. Why would you trust people you don't even know and give them your money?
Why would you trust people you don't know not to scam you? With bitcoin you don't have to trust because it is an asset without an issuer, it is trustless.

[AmoreJaz]

NFTs, meme coins, smart contracts, altcoins, etc. are nothing but scams.

I don't agree with what you said, but I can still believe that those tools are used to scam investors who don't know anything about them. If those are all scams, the other coins
that belong to those categories will no longer be listed on centralized exchanges.

Don't generalize; I also can't deny that there are scammers, but the scam is not the literal meme, NFT, altcoins, or smart contracts. You are dead wrong here on this matter.

This is the very reason why if you are an investor, you should do your own due diligence in uncovering the project itself. NFT is useful if there is solid backing behind it. Like for example, those real artists that really want to distribute their works via NFT. But in any business over the net, there will always a scammer on the loose.

I still believe there are few valuable projects that you can venture with, or NFT that you can own. However, if you can't keep up with the development phase of the platform you are using, better not to involve yourself in this type of investment. Just go for tangible artworks, meaning physical art. But we all know, they are quite expensive if you are looking for known artists.

You can easily spot fly-by-night projects by checking the following aspects-
> team/individuals behind the project - anonymous/fake profiles
> no solid background
> generic content of the site
> plagiarised content of the site
> all talks, no tangible plans/achievements
> too-good-to-be-true promises

[franky1]

the meme/json junk thrust onto the bitcoin network are not even close to being genuine NFT. so lets not even call them that, but they are most definitely scam crap

as for nft in general. even the ones on the other networks are not true utility NFT. there will come in the future (a few generational changes of tokenisation) where by future tokens will offer more secure tokenisations.. but the current line up of NFT just dont meet all the expectations and value security/scarcity they promised to have

so in general, the current things terming themselves nft are mostly scams, or atleast over priced, over promised units, that dont truly provide the features/benefits/security/uniqueness they suppose to

[kryptqnick]

Since it's about NFTs, I think you, op, should move the thread to altcoin discussion. NFTs have value of what they represent and of how people perceive it, plus the copyright, I suppose. I don't think they're completely useless, but I think they're risky and overrated. They can be a nice way to support creators and to spread digital art, so to me, it's not about financial innovation and is more about fundraising. And while NFTs are often compared to ICOs, I think the difference is that with NFTs you know exactly what you're getting, whereas with ICOs people were often unsure, confused, trying to understand what the project was actually promising, etc.

[LogitechMouse]

When it comes to blockchain-based NFTs, I'm trying to answer one question: why?
~

We both have the same question. Why?

It's just a junk of pixels that are put together to form a picture. I still remember somebody from I think Indonesia where he minted his own pictures as an NFT, and to my surprise, those pictures of him sold for ETH. I don't know the exact amount of ETH he got at that time, but at least he got a minimum of 10. Just imagine, anybody can just create their own JPEGs and JPGs and then sell it to anybody who thinks that it has a value.

Speaking of value, I guess I look at these JPEGs and JPGs as just pictures with no values at all, but as long as there is somebody that thinks that it has a value then he will definitely buy it. For me, these pictures are just worthless... or at least not worth an Ethereum or whatever, but no monetary value. Most of them are just scams trying to lure people to invest into their junk JPEGs.

[legiteum]

Since it's about NFTs, I think you, op, should move the thread to altcoin discussion. NFTs have value of what they represent and of how people perceive it, plus the copyright, I suppose. I don't think they're completely useless, but I think they're risky and overrated. They can be a nice way to support creators and to spread digital art, so to me, it's not about financial innovation and is more about fundraising. And while NFTs are often compared to ICOs, I think the difference is that with NFTs you know exactly what you're getting, whereas with ICOs people were often unsure, confused, trying to understand what the project was actually promising, etc.

NFTs aren't altcoins though, they are completely different. Altcoins can potentially have value, whereas NFTs, in my opinion, don't serve any actual purpose (I started this thread hoping that somebody would disagree but so far no takers ).

I suspect that most people actually do not know what they are getting with an NFT, because of your description here which is actually... misleading--even though I suspect that's what many people think of when they think of an NFT.

But yes, copyrights. You know who would need to go to court to bring damages in a copyright lawsuit? Actual human beings. A private key can't take another private key to court. A known person can't take a private key to court. A private key can't take a known person to court. It takes two known parties with real identities to go to court, and without the help of a functioning court system, the concept of "copyrights" is completely meaningless.

And if you have a contract between two known entities, then why especially do you need blockchain anywhere in this mix?

So my question here, put another way, is this:

Do NFTs have any valid reason to exist?

[tyz]

Do NFTs have any valid reason to exist?

My short opinion: Yes and no, depending on the use case!

Can somebody who knows the NFT business tell me what I am missing?

It is correct that NFTs are essentially legal contracts and that contracts require known identities to hold up in court. However, the value of NFTs lies in their ability to provide a decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof record of ownership and provenance.

While NFTs may not offer any inherent value on their own, they provide a decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof record of ownership and provenance that can increase the value and liquidity of digital assets. They also enable new business models and use cases that are not possible with traditional digital content marketplaces.

[legiteum]

It is correct that NFTs are essentially legal contracts and that contracts require known identities to hold up in court. However, the value of NFTs lies in their ability to provide a decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof record of ownership and provenance.

While NFTs may not offer any inherent value on their own, they provide a decentralized, transparent, and tamper-proof record of ownership and provenance that can increase the value and liquidity of digital assets.

Why would you care about something being decentralized if you are using your real name and identity? That defeats the whole purpose of blockchain, which is to resist government oversight into transactions.

And while "tamper proof" is physical impossibility, systems that are "tamper resistant" depend on the implementation, and blockchain doesn't help that problem one way or another, except perhaps to make the system somewhat more complex, adding to the risk of hacking.

They also enable new business models and use cases that are not possible with traditional digital content marketplaces.

What use cases? What business models?

[Cryptomultiplier]

I have often wondered if NFTs actually serves the purpose behind its idea or it's just a hyped initiative that is yet to fulfil its purpose.
Still, I see huge amounts for pieces of art or content on the NFT platforms being sold or priced.

Although, I know much has not been done as regards making it more demanded or in use by the broader society of artist and content creators, because why put my art or content on display for audiences who don't buy into the decentralized idea or know much about Blockchain and how to access it, after paying huge gas fees?

NFT's very existence depends somehow on the success or failure of cryptocurrencies and the decentralized Blockchain network and I see it as one of those initiatives or projects just like ETFs project, which serves as somehow an advert of progress or in this context a marketing strategy not a gimmick, with as much added value as the individual who owns it has placed on it.

[The Cryptovator]

I was never a fan of NFT anyway. Till now, I hate NFT, and I think it's just a useless thing in the blockchain industry. It hasn't  added any value to the blockchain industry; it's just a waste of money. A few big mads made NFT popular. Even though I wasn't a fan of memes, it seems they are pumping hard, but still, I am not trading them. I have seen a lot of NFT projects just turn out to be scams. Sometimes something becomes a trend, and scammers take advantage of it to make money. There is no real value to NFT. 

[coolcoinz]

All of these things have as much value as people believe they have.

Something comes to my mind. Do you remember when youtube girls were selling stuff to their fanboys? It was their bath water, pieces of clothing, one even sold her farts in a jar and people were paying for that shit. It was worth something to them. Does it mean these things were valuable? To most of us they were shit but they were paying money for dirty underwear of some chick that doesn't even care about them.

Value is subjective and I think a picture of a monkey is worth 0, but some people think it's $100k...

[headingnorth]

Ordinals or inscriptions which is like the bitcoin version of NFTs can be of financial value for the miners.

Inscriptions can provide miners with an extra source of income to help with high operating costs during a bear market.
This may at times cause network congestion and higher fees for every user but I don't mind paying higher fees on occasion to help out the miners.

Other than that the NFTs on other chains are nothing more than legalized gambling.

[Assface16678]

NFT is like meme or shit coins the difference is that you are buying like a token that has a value it could be a picture or an virtual pet abd sometimes in the early years NFT become popular in a sense that it is used for defi games or crypto games where you will brough an NFT in that game then you will farm the coins that games has, honestly I quite earn a huge amount in doing crypto games, I know you know those popular crypto games but I will not mention it here, so for me the profitable NFT's are those in used for crypto games, but if you are talking about NFT like pictures or auto generated cartoon image then that's what I think is useless, lets take for example jake paul that brough a very huge amount of NFT but eventually its value is gone so a big lose, so I don't think collecting and keeping an NFT is not a good investment.