Opinion by: Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder, Animoca Brands
A discussion on digital property rights, copyright, intellectual property, the open metaverse, AI and value without physical form.
When I attend conferences and similar public events, someone almost always approaches me to ask how cryptographic tokens (fungible or non-fungible) can have value even though tokens are virtual and do not exist in the physical world. It’s a surprisingly common question, especially one-on-one.
Virtual objects like NFTs and cryptocurrencies are both digital and intangible; their existence is not based in the real (physical) world, and (unlike digital currencies) they generally do not have backing by real-world institutions.
The ability to have value (specifically, monetary worth) is crucially important regarding the open metaverse, the decentralized internet of Web3 characterized by true digital ownership (see What IS the open metaverse?).
I recently delved into the value of the virtual during an interview with CNBC, which may prove quite helpful to some readers. I’d like to discuss this topic in greater detail and with some historical context.
When discussing whether something that doesn’t exist in the real world can have real monetary worth, it is important to remember that intangible things have carried value for centuries; the key is ownership and the benefits associated with that ownership.
How the ownership of ideas created the modern world
One of the most important building blocks of modern industry and innovation-based economies was laid down more than three centuries ago in Great Britain with the long form title of “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of Such Copies, During the Times Therein Mentioned.”
Also known as the Statute of Anne and the Copyright Act of 1709 (or 1710), this legislation provided the basis for modern copyright and intellectual property laws by establishing that the author of a particular work, not its publisher, was…
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