NFT & Blockchain seems to be hype to many; many are flipping and making crazy money, and some are buying monkey pics for millions of $! Why are notable brands(Nike, Gucci, JP Morgan, Snoop Dog, Nothing etc.) getting into this? Even Indian brands/celebs like Flipkart, Musicians are taking NFT and Metaverse route aggressively. What is going on? This session will cover the basics of NFT, web3, the types of NFT, some industry observations Abhinav had in the past ten months, the future of industry integrations, and how the enterprise can integrate better with them.
2. # W I T D R E A M I N 2 2
What’s Why’s & How’s of
NFTs
Abhinav Gupta
Salesforce MVP, Architect & Founder of Concret.io
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3. You can find me at @abhinavguptas on twitter
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5. ● A blockchain is a public database that is updated and shared across many
computers in a network.
● It’s a distributed ledger.
● "Block" refers to data and state being stored in consecutive groups known as
"blocks"
● "Chain" refers to the fact that each block cryptographically references its
parent. In other words, blocks get chained together. The data in a block
cannot change without changing all subsequent blocks, which would require
the consensus of the entire network.
● “Consensus”: Every computer in the network must agree upon each new
block and the chain as a whole. These computers are known as "nodes".
Nodes ensure everyone interacting with the blockchain has the same data.
To accomplish this distributed agreement, blockchains need a consensus
mechanism, there are many like POW (Proof of Work, Proof of Stake, etc)
Blockchain Quick Overview
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Credits/Source/Further-Reading:
● https://intellipaat.com/blog/tutorial/blockchain-tutorial/blockchain-vs-database/
● https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/intro-to-ethereum/#what-is-a-blockchain
6. Blockchain vs Database/Client-Server
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Credits/Source/Further-Reading:
● https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-blockchain-and-a-database/
● https://www.javatpoint.com/blockchain-vs-database
Database Blockchain
Data in centralized storage Data is decentralized, and spread across many nodes/computers worldwide.
Mutable, mostly by 1 or more admin/root users, having access to the database Immutable, specially in public blockchains. Transactions are insert only. Transactions written on
blocks are driven by consensus mechanism, that is mostly documented and transparent and rare
to hack around. Ex POW (Proof of Work, Proof of Stake).
It’s sort of permissionless, write permission depends on the consensus mechanism.
Fast transaction speed Slower transaction speeds.
Limited or No transparency Full transparent in public blockchains
Hacks possible, and not rare. Very tough to hack, A grade blockchains like Bitcoin is never hacked. Ethereum got issues once,
and was forked and fixed. No issues so far.
Replication done to scale, and very controlled Replication is nature
7. Web 1 vs 2 vs 3
● Web 1.0: Read-Only (1990-2004)
○ Mostly, static website, emails, providing information only.
● Web 2.0: Read-Write (2004-now)
○ Transactions, Social Media, e-Commerce, Advertising, Payment Gateways
○ A few giants owning majority of internet, social media, commerce, payments.
○ Data is new oil/gold.
● Web 3.0: Read-Write-Own
○ coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood shortly after Ethereum launched in 2014.
○ Why? Too much TRUST put into hands of select few giants.
○ What if these giants decide to cut ties with a country, ex. Russia/Iran
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Source: https://ethereum.org/en/web3/
8. Web 3 is
● “decentralized”
○ instead a major chunk of internet controlled/owned by centralized entities, ownership gets distributed
amongst its builders and users.
● “permissionless”
○ everyone has equal access to participate in Web3, and no one gets excluded.
● “native payments”:
○ it uses cryptocurrency for spending and sending money online instead of relying on the outdated
infrastructure of banks and payment processors.
● “trustless”
○ it operates using incentives and economic mechanisms instead of relying on trusted third-parties.
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Source: https://ethereum.org/en/web3/
9. ● Twitter’s co-founder, Ex-CEO Jack Dorsey said:
Web 3 vs Web 5
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Homework - Read more about it, its out of scope for presentation, but very interesting.
10. ● Decentralization is good. It’s not good, when a Singular S/W giant or multiple giants
from a single country control:
■ Majority of internet
■ System Software (OS)
■ Application Software / PaaS/SaaS solutions
● Cryptos:
○ Anonymity is not good, can easily be abused for Terror funding etc.
● Freedom of speech/internet/social-media:
○ It’s double-edged sword, establishments/govts want regulate/control for good/bad reasons. If it’s left
unregulated, it can very risky, as no one cares authenticity of content on internet.
○ A bad/false content is capable of causing riots, and disrest between communities.
● Conclusion?
○ Not a perfect world, and hoping that everything will be 100% open is impractical.
Web X vs Govt vs Safety
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11. Fungible ^
What is NFT (Non Fungible Tokens)
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Interchangeable, like currency, coins
Two same denomination coins/currency hold same value
The Mona Lisa is one of
the most valuable
paintings in the world. It
holds the Guinness
World Record for the
highest-known painting
insurance valuation in
history at US$100 million
in 1962[12]
(equivalent to
$870 million in 2021).
Source - Wikipedia
Non-Fungible ^
Collectibles, that are not-interchangeable, and are not like any other.
For ex paintings, furniture, car and sofa
12. What increases valuation of non-fungible.
● Part of history
● Scarcity / Rarity
● Brand Value
● Combinations
○ Rarity + Brand behind it, for ex limited edition Rolex Watches, they are more rare than usual watches.
○ Vintage cars, watches, books
○ Historic Coins, no more in circulation, from past few decades, to ones that were used by kings centuries ago.
○ Fungible Coins are special, once they are no more in circulation, and only a limited few could be found. They started
becoming non-fungible.
○ Same analogy applies to books, watches, cars, any scarcity with historic value makes it rare and precious.
What is NFT (Non Fungible Tokens)
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13. For Apex/Java Devs
● A singleton instance of Class, that is always live/persisted on Blockchain.
● Class + State + Operations/Methods - Defines contract
○ All state changes are transactions
○ Anyone can see what the logic is
○ Ethereum, provides interfaces like
■ ERC-20 - Crypto Coins
■ ERC-721 - Single 1/1 NFTs (Artworks, PFPs)
■ ERC-1155 - Editioned NFTs (for ex. multiple/limited copies of single art)
○ The above interfaces are guiding force for various simple to complex implementations, but not limited to
the same.
○ Popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, SuperRare, Foundation, etc interact with blockchain via these
interfaces.
What is NFT vs Smart Contracts
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14. ● Automatic execution
○ no human intervention needed, auto execute when certain conditions are met.
● Predictable outcomes
○ no human error involved
● Public record
○ useful for audits and tracking, because of public blockchain.
● Privacy protection
○ Smart contracts can also protect your privacy. Since Ethereum is a pseudonymous network (your
transactions are tied publicly to a unique cryptographic address, not your identity), you can protect your
privacy from observers.
● Visible terms
○ Just like IRL contracts, you can check what's in a smart contract before you sign it (or otherwise interact
with it).
Why Smart Contracts ?
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Source - https://ethereum.org/en/smart-contracts/
15. ● Art
● Startup Launch/Funding via PFP (Profile Picture Project)
● Music / Movies
○ PFPs for Production/Launch, and long term roadmap.
○ Royalties via NFT
○ Ex Snoop Dog, and many international artists are on NFTs. Daler Mehandi, Sunanda Sharma, and many
upcoming artists.
● Games - Play 2 Earn, and various other types. Ex AxieInfinity, GodUnchained, CryptoKitties, Stepn etc
● Retail/Brands - Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Nike, Adidas, Nothing and many others
● Celebs - Major Indian cricketers, Many movie stars are selling collectibles.
● Photographers
● Tickets - a POAP (Proof of Attendance), and historical value as well for major concerts.
● DAO - NFTs used as tokens to derive voting rights, and form a more democratic organizations.
NFT Use cases
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