this post was submitted on 10 Nov 2023
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I was pretty shocked when I found out that NFT pictures aren't even stored in the block chain. NFTs are just records on the block chain with links to images stored on ordinary servers.
This is because you (in theory) need the whole blockchain to validate an NFT, so you want to keep it as small as possible.
But since you store the Cryptographic Hash of the image too, you can validate that the image on the server is actually the same one referenced by the blockchain. You could even move it to another server, but it will break the link obviously
Except you don't own that server and have no control over it, and if the server owner takes the image offline you're screwed
It does not really matter. You’ve still got the JPEG (or whatever else). Just calculate the hash and you can proof that it’s the one referenced.
There are now Bitcoin Ordinals, which are similar to NFTs but with a sufficient size limit to actually store the media itself.
I’m pretty sure you could always store a full image in an NFT on ethereum, it’d just cost stupid high transaction fees.
Interesting, but the scarcity this is trying to manufacture still doesn't apply to the image itself which can be easily and endlessly copied.