Tron founder Justin Sun appears to have made one of the first ever purchases on Binance’s new NFT marketplace, called BinanceNFT.
Sun paid $2.8mln for an NFT of Andy Warhol’s “Three Self Portraits”. The NFT auctions are being done in conjunction with APENFT, and represent some of the most iconic works by Warhol.
Sun may be working to acquire works for his JUST NFT Fund, which aims to bridge the world of art with blockchain. The fund will also support currently active artists as well. Sun is actively buying NFTs across a range of prices and creators.
NFTs have become an extremely popular way to own digital versions of famous intellectual property, and in many cases, the prices paid for these works are in the millions of USD.
While NFTs may seem like an isolated asset class, there may be a new digital world emerging where they can be used much like physical art is in the real world.
Will Justin Sun Hang Andy Warhol in a Digital Museum?
NFTs are emerging at a time when a number of digital platforms make a more comprehensive digital life possible.
Platforms like Upland or Decentraland make digital life possible in a way that was never available before, as most platforms, like Second Life, were controlled by a development company.
With fully digital ownership over these assets, like virtual property and NFTs, a new online economy is taking shape. Of course, the parallels with a movie like “Ready Player One” are unavoidable. However, some very interesting differences also exist.
In the way we are seeing the digital universe form, individual rights to own assets come first. In a sense, the basis of a platform like Decentraland is ownership – not a game. While the platform can be made to act as a game, the core of the idea is sovereign rights to digital property.
The Question of Value
Another interesting development in this new digital universe is the use of tokens. Anyone can make tokens, and they can be traded freely both in these platforms, and over the open internet.
Curiously, there are real businesses in this digital universe. The “reality” of the businesses is established by the fact that the tokens used can be converted into fiat currency, although this may take place on another platform.
Decentraland has at least two casinos, and the Tominoya Casino actually hires real people to work. So we have a digital economy forming where people can own valuable assets, trade freely, and work for an income that can support them in “real” life.
If it Can Create Value – it Will Grow
As more nations look to up their income via taxes, it is almost unavoidable that people looks for new areas that are more efficient, and less regulated.
The kinds of businesses that appear to be working in the digital universe are very new – and as regulators cope with digital currency – a new economy is crystallizing.
Simply put, the free markets have found a place to hide from a stagnant global economy, and new assets are being introduced on a near-daily basis.
Justin Sun’s move to create an NFT Fund may be as inspired as his decision to create Tron, a platform that was clearly way ahead of its time.
The more decentralized blockchain develops, the more it looks like we are at the beginning of a beginning. Bitcoin is probably more like a mission statement than an asset – and a proof-of-concept of what is possible with the internet.
Now, the questions start to shift. Regulations, measurement of value, and who controls the internet. These are new ideas – at least in the sense they are manifesting in the digital universe.
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