You might have seen the phrase NFT banded around in recent years; but do you know what they are, why they are important, and how you can get involved, securely?
What is an NFT?
Let’s start with what ‘NFT’ stands for. Non-Fungible Token – let’s break this down. Non-fungible simply means that said item is singularly unique and cannot be replaced. Token in this sense means an item of currency, with a potential trade value, determined by either the creator, seller, or buyer.
NFTs are unique digital crypto tokens used in turn to create profit for artists and creators or bought by collectors and fans. Why is this different to a standard artwork or computer file?
NFT’s allow artists to claim an ownership of their own work, in whatever format that is. Traditionally, it has been difficult, near impossible, for artists’ digital files and creations to have an official monetary value, and it has always been a challenge to prove ownership of the digital assets. With NFTs, artists can put a monetary value on their creations, whether that be a picture of a pink cat titled ‘My face when I’m worth $170K’, not ironically worth $170,000+, or a .png file of a grey rock worth $46,300…
So, NFTs are paving the way for a fairer ecosystem for artists. But how does it work?
The digital file is created into a unique asset which is uploaded in-turn to an online marketplace, where the owner creates a digital presence using an online wallet storing both its valuation and access rights via its unique NFT.
This process of minting, and uploading it to the platform, creates its own unique identity and from here creates secure, public, and non-reversible, revenue streams for its creator, owner, and potentially for the viewer.
Security is vital in times like these. Cryptocurrency as an industry is worth over $1.5billion, and with the rise of malware and ransomware hacks and breaches, organisations that are integrating their investments must be wary, and put cybersecurity at the top of their priority list.
So, how can we be sure that NFTs are secure?
Blockchain is the answer.
Originally utilised for the Bitcoin explosion, Blockchain is an established process and one that can be applied for other application use. Traditionally, transactional information is stored within a data repository, that is both centralised and protected. Contrastingly, Blockchain reverses this concept and operates on a peer-to-peer level of encryption across a shared network database, allowing many data instances, which are typically distributed in a ledger account.
The phenomenon here is, the more widespread and distributed the data, the better the performance and the security and also, the less chance data can be individually targeted. What data can someone steal if the data was public knowledge? Public domain information is public.
There are many benefits of Blockchain, but the main advantages of a Blockchain-based process are:
The chronology of the data – as new data comes in, it is entered into a fresh block, which is then chained onto the previous block, making the data chained together in chronological order.
Collective control and visibility – Blockchain is used in a decentralized way so that no single person or group has control—rather, all users collectively retain control.
Irreversible trails – Decentralized blockchains are immutable, which means that the data entered is irreversible. Transactions are permanently recorded and viewable to anyone. A perpetual ‘did you keep the receipt?’ ideology.
In the words of Ginni Rometty, CEO of IBM, “anything that can be deemed a supply chain, can be vastly improved by blockchain in its efficiency.”
Blockchain can also be used in the public domain due to the extensive functionality built within its core model, in a private instance to a closed group, where a series of lenders are sharing a fund, whereby permissions and policies dictate who and what they can access, or for a group of associated organisations that are working cohesively, to create a consortium of users that in a pseudo private instance, can protect one another virtually, hereby increasing their security level.
No matter how you spin in, Blockchain can keep NFTs secure for the near future, at minimum, and the only way to secure NFTs sales, purchases, or platforms further, is with added AI.
How Quantum AI fits in to this
By overlaying the Quantum AI pursuit of Machine and Deep Learning processes, we are striving toward authenticating the asset, its journey, and validating any claims made against the asset. By utilising Blockchain and Encryption techniques, we provide the unique ability to play an overriding part in the validation and asset management of the NFT process.
Not only this, but Quantum AI can provide a secure instance to manage your online currencies in a digital wallet, secured by an AI engine. Constantly self-healing cybersecurity powered by artificial intelligence is the future, and we’re bringing it to the mainstream.
If you wish to know more, are looking to create revenues from a digital artwork, or are wanting to host a secure NFT platform, we’d be happy to help! Get in touch today…
