Digital assets like NFTs give us a glimpse into a future where every aspect of human life that can be digitally recorded is collateralized and securitized
Twitter has begun allowing its users to showcase NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, as profile pictures on their accounts. Tweets: @hblodget , @ruchowdh , @mayazi , @savvylindz , @rheaplex , @moonalice , @wolfiechristl , @noctambulate , @frankpasquale , @elonjames , @julie_bush , @ibogost , @alex_danco , @ibogost , and @jstn Tweets: Henry Blodget / @hblodget : Fascinating article by @ibogost on NFTs. A clarifying question for Ian and others: An NFT does not actually represent “ownership” of anything other than itself, correct? The owner of an NFT of, say, a book or a “Bored Ape” cannot assert copyright over perfect copies? https://twitter.com/... Rumman Chowdhury / @ruchowdh : This thoughtful article by @ibogost explains NFTs to non tech people in a way that explains the institutionalized greed in context of our already exploitative institutions that we all take part in or are forced to. 1/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Maya Zehavi / @mayazi : Best framing for Web3 - financializing data after software ate the world. The open question isn't a binary - good/bad, but rather if the second order effects on power/incumbents create better tools & market structures than centralizing data for ads https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Lindsey Galloway / @savvylindz : People mad at Buzzfeed for the NFT story are threatening to short Buzzfeed stock... Even “protest” is now based on investment games 🤪 https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Rhea Myers / @rheaplex : NFT art is art, art NFTs are art. NFTs *secure* an *identifier* that you can attach data to, but that data can still be copied. To claim that they thereby *securitize* that data (what data?) is therefore mystification, or credulity, draped in the garb of critique. https://twitter.com/... Roger McNamee / @moonalice : .@ibogost gets to the heart of NFTs: they are securitizing everything. If we turn everything on earth into a financial security, the implications will be profound, particularly when the economy undergoes major changes. https://twitter.com/... @wolfiechristl : Worth a read. And I agree, everything that is sold as ‘web3’ is staggering towards the financialization of everything. However, it can and will only do so if blockchained contracts are enforced by law, which totally defeats its original promise of enforcement by technology. https://twitter.com/... Doug Armato / @noctambulate : Ian Bogost (@ibogost) on the proliferation of NFT's: “The absurdity is only going to grow. The natural endpoint of blockchains and NFTs—the golden promise of Web3—is that every aspect of human life, as recorded by computers, will be collateralized” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Frank Pasquale / @frankpasquale : “NFTs are merely receipts, & buying one is akin to buying the packing slip for a Rolex without ever getting the wristwatch...Paying thousands of dollars for a receipt is stupid, and yet receipts have always exerted substantial value in cultural affairs.” https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... E. James White / @elonjames : Anytime the crypto Bros start going on about the utopia that's to be created via crypto/NFTs, remember that it's horseshit. They just want to recreate current systems but with them as the wealthy and powerful. And they'll use outliers to convince us of its greatness. Lies. https://twitter.com/... Julie Bush / @julie_bush : like i was saying earlier: the celebs are pump and dumping illiquid penny stocks that happen to have a pic from a Fiverr artist attached so it can be disguised as art. these pump and dump schemes have been around for decades and take on new forms to get around laws https://twitter.com/... Ian Bogost / @ibogost : Smart contracts and NFTs and the like seem weird because they appear to refer to things, such as artworks or Olive Garden locations, rather than BEING them. Except, that's just how securities collateralization works. It's totally normal. Sorry! https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Alex Danco / @alex_danco : *Me pointing at various things* everything around you is a securitization. See those Christmas cards? That's a credit default swap on your relationship with your old neighbours. See that bag of flour? That's a CDO of a bunch of extinct tasteless grains. Doesn't exist in nature https://twitter.com/... Ian Bogost / @ibogost : This is a relief, in a way! Finally, tech can stop lying about building culture and admit that they are, just like bankers, first interested in accruing speculative value. With web3, at least the real goal—wealth building—is printed on the tin. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... @jstn : the most obnoxious aspect of both nft proponents and nft critics is high & mighty statements about what you “must” accept about it. here's a thing: you can decide what art is. don't wait for the media or some twitter influencer to tell you, they probably have an agenda anyway https://twitter.com/...