S6E4—How NFTs Could Change the (Real) World

Device & Virtue

Sometimes a new technology comes along that you’ve barely heard of but could change everything. Like how we OWN things. Adam & Chris are putting the fun in Non-Fungible Tokens—the relatively new digital tech also known as “NFTs”

OWN THE NFT FOR THIS DEVICE & VIRTUE EPISODE

Are we kidding? No! You can buy the NFT for this very episode! CHECK IT OUT HERE

CHRIS & ADAM ARGUE ABOUT NFTS

They use the same underlying technology as Bitcoin, but NFTs aren’t money—they are being used more like a digital deed—an ownership certificate that allows people to buy digital goods.

Some of the questions Adam & Chris argue about this episode:

• There are already people paying millions of $ for some digital cat images online. It seems crazy. Are NFT’s a fad?
• Digital things can be copied with just a right-click! Why does anyone care about owning an “original?” What is an original anyway?
• If NFTs stick around, what are the effects on the world?
• What is a Christian ethic of ownership?

LINKS & RESOURCES

• OpenSea —Chris called this the current “Amazon of NFTs”
• American rock band the Kings of Leon sold an album as an NFT
• Artist Beeple sold digital art collection for a record $70 million
• “No, NFTs Aren’t Copyrights” by Harrison Jordan via TechCrunch
• “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”—1935 essay by Walter Benjamin that Adam brings up talking about how technology has affected our view of “originals”
• Manifold—NFT digital agency doing complex “digital contracts” with NFTs

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