THIS is Why I Differentiate Between NFTs and Blockchain

[Anderton]

For a real eye-opener about the NFT craze (admittedly past its peak), check out this article.

 

People think Blockchain is Bitcoin and NFTs, but really, it's neither. It's a technology of which Bitcoin is a subset, and NFTs pretend they use.

 

There's so much potential for

[/b] in the sense of sorting out contracts and fees once and for all, but there's so much noise around it...it will be a while before it becomes integrated into what we do.

[KenElevenShadows]

I usually don't leave posts like this, but I literally have no clue about NFTs, Bitcoin, Blockchain, or any of it. I can see your lips moving, but I can't understand a word. I feel like I need some sort of article: "NFT for Dummies".

 

Also, do I need to embrace laundering, tax evasion, and greater fool investment fraud?

[Anderton]

I usually don't leave posts like this, but I literally have no clue about NFTs, Bitcoin, Blockchain, or any of it. I can see your lips moving, but I can't understand a word. I feel like I need some sort of article: "NFT for Dummies".

 

A lot of people told me they didn't understand blockchain until they saw the video segment referenced above,

[/b]

 

In a nutshell, the concept isn't new. It's like having a deed to a piece of land or other mechanism that shows ownership. However, the difference is that this is can be linked inextricably to digital files. For example, one possibility is a smart contract for a song. You create a song and the master recording is linked to a blockchain that includes the personnel, how royalties will be split up, songwriting credits, etc. The blockchain is hosted on a decentralized network, not someone's computer at home, that is extremely difficult to hack.

 

A blockchain indicating ownership could reference the digital sales receipt for a guitar. So, suppose you buy a used guitar from reverb.com. It has an associated digital record that shows where it was made, when it was made, what it originally sold for, how many people owned it before you, and the price when it changed hands. If the guitar was stolen, it would be easy to prove ownership.

 

NFTs are something completely different. If the video link above makes sense, then I'll write something about NFT basics.

[KuruPrionz]

I will come back to this thread, follow the link, ponder the post and learn. Thanks Ken for your questions and thank you Craig for your response and your forum.

My most viewed posts are in Dr Mike's forum and I am proud to be able to be there. If nothing else, people may try things. I keep hoping they will and then share what they learned, I can benefit from more information.

A good number of new online friends, have, I appreciated that very much. I hope that posting here sets someone on that path. ALL the forums could use a bit of a kick in the arse to perk things up.

 

I am not dispensing the Gospel, the thoughts I print are largely unproven (by scientific methods, they pass the subjective test (not meaningingless but certainly not "that and no other way").

The things I learn every day are more than I could post and attempts at accurate simple descriptions fail me.

 

I'm building a custom !0" (x 9") snare drum and recently while testing for tone - played it for a bit using only fingers. WAY more tones available compared to sticks, and loud enough that concerns about gain are not deep. I won't attempt to describe it.

 

A small example, this stuff goes on constantly in many realms of endeavor. Too many beautiful trees to trim them all to perfection!

 

I can't worry about it, inspiration comes...

[KenElevenShadows]

Craig, your description of blockchain makes sense, sort of like a deed. Whether it sticks in my head is another story.

 

This is quite a bit different from me cooking someone a Cincinnati Skyline Chili meal in exchange for them helping me move.

[KuruPrionz]

For a real eye-opener about the NFT craze (admittedly past its peak), check out this article.

 

People think Blockchain is Bitcoin and NFTs, but really, it's neither. It's a technology of which Bitcoin is a subset, and NFTs pretend they use.

 

There's so much potential for

[/b] in the sense of sorting out contracts and fees once and for all, but there's so much noise around it...it will be a while before it becomes integrated into what we do.

 

Now I've read the article and watched your presentation. Not stated, but playing the stock market came to mind. Why? At this point, many fluctuations in stock prices are caused by automated buying and selling.

Imaginary example - Nvidia stock goes down due to supply chain problems. Automated buying/selling programs start selling, taking the stock lower still (this is a buying opportunity for the little guy). That price dive begins affecting the sector and prices of chipmakers in general go down.

 

Now, some players at the "casino" will intentionally start flipping large holdings of one stock to take down a sector and then make a massive buy of a targeted company's stock. This massive buy will trigger an upsurge in that stock's price and somebody just made a nice chunk of "virtual cash" manipulating the market. Small players who are not paying attention can get hosed, those who try to stay on top of events can rake it in by clinging to the coattails of the perpetrator - even if they are unknown at that moment. Partly information and partly "gambler's instinct", maybe you are correct and maybe you just screwed the pooch.

 

Gambling? Yep, sort of gambling. One big difference is that casinos will escort a "card counter" to the door. Far more strategic and viable than going to the casino, although it's easy to see the real casinos are raking it in. Not so easy to see that in the virtual world and "card counters" are not removed. To be clear, many will jump in and fail spectacularly and others will succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

 

Blockchain provides another avenue to place bets, one of the inevitable "side effects" of the system. "Harvesting" the wealth and getting it out into the real world is different at this point than having a mature Roth IRA that does not charge taxes on withdrawal but that will change. There is are fortunes to be made - and lost. Same as it ever was, just a different system with new opportunities for success and failure.

 

If somebody is new to this, dip your toes in and learn. Education has a cost and as much can be learned from a small investment as a larger one. Spread out, be diverse. Do not leave winnings on the table, take them off - split them up and continue.

That's how I became relatively successful at working the stock market, it's slower but safer. Jumping right in can take you out of the game quickly.

 

A certain couple who put their entire $175k in savings into Powerball tickets when it was at some absurd number in the billions comes to mind. They didn't win anything, should have bought $10 worth of tickets and called it good.

One one hand, the odds of winning are very low, on the other - you have a 50% chance since you will either win or you won't. The truth lies in the middle but those who keep their powder dry will live to fight another day.

[cameronwhite]

Understanding the distinction between NFTs and blockchain is crucial in navigating the crypto space. It reminds me of when I first dived into all of this. I was fascinated by NFTs and their potential to revolutionize digital ownership. But as I delved deeper, I realized they're just one application of blockchain technology.

[Philbo King]

I've wondered:  does nonfungible mean fungus won't grow on it?

 

Seriously, smart people are out there figuring out ways to separate me and my money every hour of every day.  I surely don't intend to help them by buying imaginary digital tokens.

[Anderton]

The "Dutch Tulip" part of the NFT craze is thankfully over. But that doesn't mean the technology is fundamentally flawed. Remember when the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s? It looks like the internet, and companies like Amazon, survived

[Nowarezman]

In the world of financial transactions, blockchain has the potential to wipe out fraud and other financial crimes and misdeeds.  Fraudsters such as Madoff simply could not hide what they were doing.

 

Think of a particular market as if all the players were represented as individually identifiable, unique icons on a huge screen that anyone in the world with an internet connection could watch.  And all the goods that come in to the market are also represented as individually identifiable and unique icons.  So this market opens and the buying and selling kick off.  Every transaction gets recorded as an individually identifiable and unique icon as business commences.  

 

So all the players are identified.  Each transaction is recorded in an irrevocable, unchanging, traceable format.  Each asset that changes hands is recorded as to where it came from, where it went to, and the prices involved and the actors involved.  Nothing happens that is not irrevocably recorded and transparent. 

 

So you can see that a sort of database of icons/information starts to grow and put out branches as the transactions pile up.  All that happens is recorded as an encrypted, unchanging icon and all the details known to all - and the chain of events can be traced back at all times to the very first transaction.  An accountant would say the system is self-balancing.  Any change to the records after-the-fact would cause the system to crash instantly.  

 

If I've done a decent job explaining this - it should be apparent that you can't cheat in this environment.  You can't steal anything.  You can't claim something is yours when it's not.  You can't alter the records of what actually happened.  You can't move assets out of sight of, say the State Property Tax auditors, or your wife or your business partner. You can't claim to have bought 10 of something but you only paid for 5 of something and cooked the books to back your fraudulent claim.  You can't magically show up with more assets (dirty money you've smuggled in) to trade with.  You can't do anything at all under the table, you can't skim, you can't double-deal, you can't cook the books -  there is nothing done in the dark.  There is no separate bookkeeping kept by each actor involved in the transactions - it's all instantly in the public realm, transparent and can't be altered. 

 

In theory, sure.  But it's an amazing theory and it's clear that such a system could certainly work, and such systems do work right now.  The problem lies in the interactions between the closed off blockchain and the "outside world".   Inside the blockchain itself everything is kept honest.  So say a government was able to corral (by decree and whatever amount of coercion needed) all transactions in a nation within one humongous blockchain (impossible, but let's play with the idea.)  No one could then cheat on taxes - no politician could be bribed - no black market could slip around darting into and out of one big system - no hush money could be paid in secret - no contraband or illegal goods could change hands without it all being instantly apparent.

 

So you can see this is something with exciting potential - but anything involving humans....we'll just have to see how blockchain plays out in the jungle of human society.  

 

nat

  

[cameronwhite]

19 hours ago, cameronwhite said:

Understanding the distinction between NFTs and blockchain is crucial in navigating the crypto space. It reminds me of when I first dived into all of this. I was fascinated by NFTs and their potential to revolutionize digital ownership. But as I delved deeper, I realized they're just one application of blockchain technology.

And speaking of blockchain tech, let's not forget about gas fees. Sure, they can seem like a nuisance at times, but they're essential for keeping the Ethereum network humming along.