NFTs for Professional Certificates?￼￼

The worlds of cryptocurrencies, crypto-art, and Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) can sometimes be bewildering. NFTs, for example, can be used to represent real-world assets or as certifications of authenticity. How does this affect intellectual property rights, even though it demonstrates legal ownership? NFTs are a legal grey area regarding copyrights for various reasons worth studying.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded in popularity in the last year. An NFT is bought, sold, or endorsed by everyone. This includes elite Olympic athletes like Usain Bolt, movie stars like Reese Witherspoon, and even K-Pop. For example, BTS, the Korean boy band, has announced a collaboration with Upbit, a cryptocurrency exchange, to issue their own NFTs. Digital assets, however, appear to be as perplexing as they are famous. For example, do the privileges granted to NFT owners include copyright protection? What intellectual property rights may an NFT owner or creator assert legally, if any?

Here we ask if NFTs are useful to verify the genuine use of professional certificates in the academic and profession sector?

NFTs are most commonly employed to represent digital art nowadays. One of the most prominent arguments against NFTs for representing digital artworks is that the pieces are easily reproduced, making the unique NFT moot. For example, a screenshot of digital artwork can be taken and stored, and an MP3 file of a song can be simply downloaded and saved on a computer. NFT proponents, on the other hand, dispute this argument, stating that it misses the point of NFTs — proving ownership and originality.

Other applications are tokenising event tickets as NFTs and using NFTs to provide evidence concerning the originality of any product (e.g. in supply chain management).

NFTs can also be used to check the legitimacy of tangible assets. This is one of the emerging trends in the cryptocurrency space. Breitling, for example, now issues a ‘digital passport’ that uses NFT technology to prove the authenticity of its expensive watches instead of physical certifications. You can also convert legal property documents into an NFT. It usually assists in identifying the actual owner, limiting opportunities for corruption and false documents.

Furthermore, anything distinctive can be converted into an NFT to ascertain fair use. Such documents include a college degree, driver’s license, passport, and personal ID. There are several academic institutions worldwide that award NFT-based certificates all over the world, with a few of them situated in South Korea. One good example is Sungkyunkwan University, which will offer NFT-based award certificates to select students to recognise their outstanding performance in school. The other one is Hoseo University. Another excellent example outside South Korea is the University of Macau in mainland China. The reasons for their decision include;

Protection against loss and duplication of the awarded certificates
Established two-way accountability and ownership

The use of NFT-based certificates helps prevent forgery and accessible learning and certification regardless of the student’s location. The benefits associated with using NFTs this way have been attributed to the decision to accept their use.

Joan Soler-Vidal from the FIDMAG Research Foundation at the University of Barcelona proposes a solution using NFTs as computational artefacts to store and verify professional credentials. The project focuses on designing a framework with backend and client components. The project uses the MintNFT function to create the NFTs, metadata, and the WL blockchain function. It will use ARK Blockchain. https://www.wolframcloud.com/objects/nbarch/2021/07/2021-07-6gxysqt/2021-07-6gxysqt.nb

Similarly, artists like Kieren Seymour deliver a digital version of his paintings to the client, encoded into an NFT.

What is an NFT (Non-Fungible Token)?

A non-fungible token is a digital asset established on a blockchain with simple to complex coding depending on various parameters. The underlying blockchain on which the NFT is based and the NFT’s application or function are among these elements. Examples are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Binance Smart Chain, Cardano, and other notable blockchains.

NFTs also link the digital/blockchain world and the real world,’ thanks to the assets’ real-world value and use. NFTs, for example, are commonly employed in loyalty programmes such as air miles, online gaming experiences, and digital prizes. NFTs can also represent real-world assets such as real estate, precious metals, automobiles, and even stocks and bonds. These underlying assets can be traded readily in this instance, bypassing some of the bottlenecks that traditional markets and financial systems provide.

How do NFTS Work?

NFTs are based on blockchains such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Binance Smart Chain (BSC), and Tezos, to name a few.

Defining Important NFT Terms

Non-Fungible

Assets that are homogenous, interchangeable, divisible, and very liquid are called fungible. Fiat currency, or money, is an example of a fungible asset. A dollar bill can be easily traded for another dollar bill, coins of equal value, or even equivalent currencies. Fungible assets have a ready market and high demand, making them very liquid or easy to dispose of.

Non-fungibility, on the other hand, refers to one-of-a-kind, illiquid, and indivisible assets. Much of the value of an NFT in this scenario comes from the fact that it is unique, with the bonus of an incorruptible “digital certificate” of authenticity maintained on the underlying blockchain. One of the factors that make NFTs so expensive is their non-fungibility. NFT fractionalisation, on the other hand, is a novel concept offered by blockchains like Unicly but has yet to acquire traction. Fractionalisation, if achieved, will make NFTs more inexpensive.

Minting or producing NFTs on blockchains is another reason why NFTs are expensive. Because Ethereum, one very popular network for NFTs, is frequently congested, hefty minting fees result.

Token

Tokens are a sort of cryptocurrency that is generated or already exists on a blockchain. On the one hand, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ether (the Ethereum blockchain’s token or cryptocurrency) are built into their blockchains and are often released through mining. On the other hand, Tokens can be created or mined by anybody with access to the blockchain. Blockchain users employ code, smart contracts, or decentralised applications (dApps) to make tokens. For example, on the Ethereum blockchain, smart contracts are utilised to convert ERC-20 or ERC-721 tokens into NFTs. A traceable function in the ERC721 coin is Ethereum’s NFT standard. NFTs, like any other token or coin, can be listed and traded on exchanges.

Blockchain

A blockchain is a digital public ledger made up of interconnected data blocks that are added over time. Each block of data provides publicly accessible records of blockchain transactions. In a process known as mining, these transactions are confirmed before being put on the block. To validate blockchain transactions, crypto miners use “nodes” located worldwide. As a result, blockchains are decentralised, with no single point of failure, regulation, or attack, due to the global dispersion of nodes. It’s also why turning off a blockchain is “impossible” and why NFT copyright regulation is problematic.

Wallet

Your coins and tokens will be stored in an NFT or crypto wallet. Crypto wallets employ secret keys or encrypted passwords to keep your NFTs safe. Wallets are inaccessible without these keys, and the assets stored in them cannot be recovered in most situations.

NFTs, like blockchain and cryptocurrencies, do not conform to traditional laws and regulations, such as copyright. This is partly because blockchain technology was designed to disrupt existing processes. Another issue is that blockchain technology and NFTs have yet to gain widespread acceptance.

As more individuals buy and use NFTs, regulators will be pushed to take a more active role in protecting creator or ownership rights through copyrights and other intellectual property protection.

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