Hacker News Reader

Comment by rchaud | Hacker News Reader

The only implementation of NFTs I've come across that doesn't look like a fly-by-night operation is NBA's Top Shot, where you can buy video NFTs of special moments in NBA history.

At the very least, you can buy a piece of IP directly from the IP holder, and receive a package that's nicely presented.

It's still totally overpriced, but I can see at least some value. It still needs to go a step further technologically. Like a special app that allows you to view the NFT with AR features artificially implemented. Or displaying it in a holographic form, especially for moments captured with 360-degree cameras.

View on HN

> At the very least, you can buy a piece of IP directly from the IP holder

You're not really buying the IP in any meaningful way, though, you just get a non-exclusive, non-transferable (!) right to display it. They can still air it or license it to others without paying you royalties.

I understand that, I am likening it to purchasing a DVD of a game, which is something that used to happen. Maybe not in the NBA, but in soccer, some clubs do put out DVDs of famous victories.

And even then, I'd say those mass-manufactured DVDs with 90 mins of content are intrinsically more valuable than a GIF-length video clip.

Ah, I think we agree then. I guess someone could make the argument that even though the license to reproduce is limited (e.g. it must be non-commercial), you technically have more IP rights with a TopShots NFT than with a DVD. But yeah, I'd take the DVD myself (if I still owned a player).

My main complaint with Top Shot is that the moments exist only on the proprietary site. They also can't be traded anywhere but that site. This removes any value the nft aspect brings to the table as it's now single-point-of-failure.

There was talk about expanding off the one site, but I haven't seen any progress there.

TopShot is nice and I made some money on it — but it only takes fiat currency and can’t be sent to my cold storage or transferred off the marketplace. Nothing about it is in the spirit of an NFT or anything decentralized.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com