NFTs intrigue me. I think that we're currently only tip-toeing in the surf fiddling around with fun NFT games and images. Yet, I feel we'll soon dive, or be pushed, headlong off the high dive into the NFT Ocean where nearly everything we do has been tokenized into NFTs.
Rustling around in bed last night, half awake half asleep, the thought somehow occurred to me...
It well might be possible that Hive posts actually are NFTs.
Hear me out...
NFTs defined
To consider Hive posts as NFTs, one must first define what an NFT is.
- Investopedia calls them "cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other."
- A quick Google "define metadata" search says metadata is "a set of data that describes and gives information about other data."
To my chipmunk brain, this means that NFTs (1) are 100% unique, and that (2) their data/metadata is veriably recorded onto a blockchain that anyone can read and confirm.
Umm, (1), (2). To me, Hive posts qualify as NFTs.
NFTs re-imagined
Normally, I believe NFTs are conceptualized as cool-thingees that show up on some type of a creation-marketplace, like OpenSea with ETH, or AtomicHub on WAX, or NFTShowroom on Hive. I've used them all and love them all (except for the ETH fees).
But, an NFT exists apart from a creation tool or a marketplace exchange. The definition above doesn't qualify an NFT with creation or markets. NFTs are created, of course, and they can be transferred, but the ability to transfer is not an NFT qualifier. Broadening ones conceptualization of what an NFT actually is...thinking beyond something that isn't necessarily visualized one of the usual front ends...allows for new possibilities. Ah, Hive posts can by definition be NFTs.
Still, markets give NFTs additional practical functionality in that they allow two people to meet and transfer that NFT.
So, how can a Hive post, if it indeed is an NFT, allow people to meet and allow for transfer? Currently, this isn't capable very easily. Yet, I think in theory that it can be done.
Ownership
Before transfer, there must be ownership. If you write a Hive post and publish it, you are the owner. For instance, with this particular post, I can say, "I (@crrdlx) own this post: @crrdlx/hive-posts-as-nfts." The post is on chain, is unique, and my authorship/ownership can be easily verified on a Hive chain block explorer like HiveBlocks.
Transfer
Suppose I wished to give this post away or to sell it to someone else. That could be done. It could be done informally, but that can lead to disputes. Better, there must be documentation.
If I were to give or sell a used car, a title is signed over and maybe a bill of sale is documented. Then, any future disputes refer to those documents. Consensus is formed via verification of those documents. Like the rai stones of the Yap islands by the locals, "ownership" is simply consensus that, "Yep, he was the owner, but now she is the owner of that car." The Hive chain enables this documentation and indisputability.
A case study
Let's go through a case study of ownership of this Hive post using an account I control (@bitkenstan).
Note: I'll have to post first and then update/edit in order to include all of the links. But, thanks to the glory of blockchain, even those edits will be recorded on chain.
A chart might make things look cleaner:
| owner number | username | tx | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @crrdlx | initial author | |
| 2 | @bitkenstan | https://hiveblocks.com/tx/1962fed82777c305b4ebde5970d32a112ebe6ed4 | post/NFT purchased for 0.1 HIVE |
| 3 | @crrdlx | https://hiveblocks.com/tx/175bf479db1852ef2517da88ebd49539a0f4b134 | purchased back the post/NFT |
| 4 | ? |
A special circumstance exists with Hive because you get rewards for posting on Hive (you get zero for creating a token on OpenSea or WAX unless it sells). As the initial post author, you would earn any upvote-rewards the post generates in the form of HBD or HIVE. This wouldn't change regardless of any "NFT/post ownership" change. For instance, if @bitkenstan "owned" this post verifiably on chain, rewards would still come to me, @crrdlx.
This fact might be a bit confusing and may seem counter to NFTs as we think of them. It is counter to my old way of thinking. However, maybe a way to conceptualize this follows...
Suppose I made a record, an actual old-school, circular, hold-in-your-hand vinyl record to be played on a turntable. Suppose I made only one. Suppose I retained the royalty rights to the song and lyrics on that record. Then, I sold that physical record to @bitkenstan. For whatever reason, my song caught fire, was played over and over again, and royalties for air time started coming in to me. In this example, I would continue to receive the royalties, and yet the item itself (the physical record) was undoubtedly owned by someone else.
This would be exactly the same here in this case. The "royalties" or upvotes for this post would yield rewards to @crrdlx (for one week only), but the post itself would still belong to @bitkenstan.
Maybe, one day...
...there will be a front end or service that could neatly aggregate and organize transactions and transfers of Hive post ownership then display that info similar to the chart above. Maybe such a front end could even serve as a middle-man to orchestrate the exchanges (as well as simplifying NFT creation, this is what OpenSea, AtomicHub, and NFTShowroom do).
Make no mistake, Hive's #1 asset is its people and the talent therein. Who will be the first to build this?
Summary
I think that Hive posts exist as unique, on chain data. In this way, they are NFTs.
Want to "own this post/NFT", contact me.
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