NFT ownership is complicated.

I read a report on how you don’t own the actual NFT even after purchasing it.

It is a harrowing reality.

Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital’s head of research, studied NFT projects to see if they actually transferred the IP and the NFT to the buyers.

Turns out, nope.

Almost all of the NFT projects do not give owners the underlying NFT content and none of the ownership is actually transferred whatsoever.

So when you buy an NFT, you actually buy a license from the issuer.

You don’t actually get the NFT content, whatever it may be, a video, jpeg or url.

“Of the estimated top 25 NFT projects Galaxy Digital considered, the company found that there was only one project, World of Women (WoW), that “even attempts to give true ownership for the underlying artwork,” to token holders. But, according to the report, it is still unclear if the original issuer of a WoW NFT would need to transfer the IP address to a secondary buyer if they were to sell on another marketplace, such as OpenSea.”

So technically, you bought a license to use the NFT.

Now how you can use the NFT is then decided by the issuer or the NFT project owners.

And as the issuer of the license, they can change the permissions and rights to that license anytime, anyhow they want.

Sometimes, even without informing the holders of the license.

So to truly “own” an NFT, you need to not only have the license but some way to obtain the underlying NFT assets itself.

But what exactly constitutes of an NFT ownership?

That in itself can be a challenge to define.

The url pointing to the part of the blockchain of which the NFT resides?

What if it is stored on multiple blockchains?

The actual, original jpeg?

What if the creator made duplicates on different servers as backups?

Stop stop.

My head is spinning.

Okay now.

That is scary.

I thought we lived in a world where if you pay for something, you actually do own that thing and not just the right to own to it.

So when I buy a Bored Ape or a punk, I don’t have the artwork in my custody?

Yikes.

And you are telling me that Yuga Labs (owners of Bored Ape) can change, revoke, reset and terminate the right to own the Bored Ape at any time?

Fantastic.

So what did I pay all that ETH for?

When they told us NFTs are unique, on the blockchain, safe, secure and we get to own it.

What the heck are we actually “owning”?

So for those out there who have plans to build a long-term brand, businesses and expand the concept of your NFTs, does it still make sense?

What about cc0 NFTs?

Say I buy a cc0 NFT, build a business around it and spend money to develop the brand.

Then the original owners of the cc0 project decides to revoke the IP and it is no longer “no copyright reserved”.

What happens now?

Gosh, the next few years in crypto is going to be a roller coaster with no seatbelts on.

Go break some eggs.

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Is NFT ownership complicated?

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