28/06/2021 NFT is not cryptocurrency, Ant Group says amid crackdown

Chinese giant says fungibility differentiates digital asset from altcoins
Ant Group has released a statement explaining the differences between cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) after a successful sale of digital artwork on its Alipay platform sparked questions about whether the company was violating China's cryptocurrency rules.

"NFTs are not interchangeable, nor divisible, making them fundamentally different from cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin," according to a statement posted Thursday by AntChain, an Ant Group unit focused on blockchain technology.

An NFT is a unique digital asset, whose ownership and authenticity are tracked on a blockchain. For example, Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey created an NFT of his first-ever tweet and sold it for $2.9 million earlier this year. While anyone can grab a screenshot of that tweet online, the idea is that making it into an NFT transforms it into a unique item, like a book signed by its author, but with ownership and transaction history verified and recorded on a blockchain.

NFTs became an issue for Ant Group when two NFT payment barcode "skins," each limited to 8,000 copies, were put up for sale on Alipay. Both sold out within minutes on Wednesday, an Ant Group spokesperson told Caixin. The skins were designed by the Dunhuang Art Institute, with technology provided by AntChain.

Because NFTs are usually created, bought and traded on public blockchains, the sale prompted some on social media to question whether Ant Group had contradicted China's increasingly strict cryptocurrency regulations.

"Didn't [Alipay] just issue a statement that it was cracking down on crypto trading? Doesn't this move contradict that?" one social media user asked.

In its statement, Ant Group pointed out that fungibility is the key difference between NFTs and cryptocurrencies. While bitcoin is interchangeable, NFTs are not. Even copies of the same NFT are unique digital items on the blockchain.

Because the technology can turn just about anything that can be digitized into a collector's item, NFTs allow artists to monetize, market and protect their digital creations, though its uses can go well beyond artwork. "NFTs can be associated with different types of digital assets, such as concert tickets, licenses and music," AntChain said.

And because ownership can be tracked and verified, NFTs provide creators with a way to protect their intellectual property, an AntChain spokesperson told Caixin.

Alipay's adoption of NFTs could signify a new channel for Chinese users to buy digital artwork with yuan -- and possibly in the future, the digital yuan, industry insiders said.

"Given those blockchain initiatives and proof of concepts have been supported at the government level and that NFTs are not cryptocurrencies, we are not surprised that companies with a large digital presence and customer base are experimenting with NFT-like technology," said Matthew Graham, CEO of Sino Global Capital, a Beijing-based venture capital company that invests in blockchain technology.

Alipay, with more than 1 billion annual users globally, is an attractive platform for bringing blockchain-based products to the masses, he said, adding that the move could prompt other competitors and stakeholders to enter the space as well.

Still, Ant Group's response indicates that it wants to show it is strictly complying with China's protocol for supporting blockchain technology while avoiding virtual currencies.

Citing risks of criminal activities such as illegal cross-border asset transfers and money laundering, China has been ramping up efforts against cryptocurrencies in recent years.

Authorities have ordered the close of Bitcoin mining operations in major hubs, including the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai, as well as the Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.
Arts

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/NFT-is-not-cryptocurrency-Ant-Group-says-amid-crackdown

Interesting NFTs
The Moth Catcher
In this psychologically bed-headed portrait, a creature sets in a trance; his eyes devolved and vestigal, his third eye open but hardened and in a form resembling a Sharingan. The imagery therefore expresses an awareness existing in corporeal introspection. The creature’s mind sprouts, on the left side, an emerging face, grinning. To the right side of the head, red tentacles and fingers intertwine–a collaboration of invertebrate and vertebrate consciousness cooperatively handling paint brushes of the sort used to build an oil painting. The neck and throat bristle with random thorns, as from a rose or the upper portions of a beak sprouting from its flesh. The neck itself disassociates into layers of membranous material, terminating upon an abstracted base of convoluted forms composing its body. The nose is virtually non existent, more a sinus reiterative of the shape of the third eye. Set against the exposed teeth peering out of thick, meaty cheeks, a skeleton-like impression results. That impression sets behind a visceral set of lips and tongue, which is the creature’s prime seat of awareness. Sensual, organic, the tongue organ hangs, meaty, and with consciousness of a sea cucumber. It illuminates at the tip, drawing the attraction of a nearby moth–with mystery of purpose.
The River of Emeralds
Golden conditions at one of my favorite locations in the Rockies. The light, the colors, the textures; what more can you ask for? I just loved the way this river flowed into the sunset and the mountains in the background. It's rare you find a scene as perfect as this one. But when you do, you have to take advantage of it.
BRUH #3000
BRUH #3000
Beautiful Worlds
Welcome to the ‘Beautiful worlds’ where nature and technology have merged into a single entity. These are Ai generated and hand finished visions of solarpunk future in which I would really like our future generations to live and prosper: the future we might have if we took the very “alternative route” which now lies before us: replacing states and corporations which free federations of communities and cooperatives, using decentralist and ecological technologies to create a world beyond economic scarcity and social hierarchy, defined by autonomy, mutual aid, diversity, and inclusiveness. The long-term goals of solarpunk are freedom and well-being for all by adopting and developing such ecological technologies as: solar, wind, wave and geothermal energy rather than oil or gas to generate electricity; a world of decentralized eco-cities, permaculture and vertical farming, free and open-source software, open-source hardware, small-scale fabrication laboratories, micro-manufacturing, 3D-printing, and countless examples of commons-based peer-production online: meeting the maximum amount of needs, in the shortest time, using the minimum possible amount of energy. It’s a world of decentralized and confederated eco-communities, using technology for human-centric and eco-centric ends rather than for accumulating power and profit – mending the metabolic rift between first nature (the natural world) and second nature (human culture) – and where social hierarchies of race, gender, sexuality, and disability are considered horror stories from the past “oil age”. Solarpunk desires societies of polycultural ethnic diversity and gender liberation, where each person is able to actualize themselves in societal environment of free experimentation and communal caring; This philosophy proposes that in order for the social and natural worlds to reconcile, humans must first transform their relations to each other – recreating society along egalitarian, cooperative, and democratic lines – and then transform their relations towards nature – adopting an attitude to cooperation, rather than domination, towards the planet and its nonhuman forms of life. Text by Connor Owens. This artwork took me a year to create and for you it will take a year to discover. Master autonomously updates once a day at 12am with one of 366 original artworks. Enjoy!
#85150
By OthersideDeployer