Kayvon Tehranian: How NFTs are building the internet of the future | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

NFTs are not a scam.

NFT（非同質化代幣）不是騙局。

NFTs are not a fad.

NFT 不是一時的流行。

In fact, NFTs are the building blocks of the internet of the future.

事實上，

NFT 是未來網路的基石。

But in order for us to see this future clearly,

但若要看清楚這個未來，

we first need to go back into the past.

我們先得回到過去。

The year is 1992.

回到 1992 年。

The World Wide Web is only three years old.

WWW（全球資訊網）才三歲。

This is what it looks like.

它當時長這個樣子。

For the first time in human history,

這是人類歷史上第一次，

we share a global commons,

我們有了一塊全球性的共有地，

where, irrespective of where we are in the physical world,

不論你身在實體世界的哪個角落，

we can convene and share information freely.

我們可以自由地傳遞、分享資訊。

Most people at that time couldn't see what it meant

當時大部分的人

看不出來被電腦形成的網路 連結起來有什麼意涵。

to be connected by a network of computers.

In fact, many people thought the internet itself was a scam or a fad.

事實上，很多人認為網際網路本身

就是個騙局或一時流行。

But a few early internet pioneers saw the potential

但有幾位早期的網際網路先鋒

看到了這項快速發展的 技術有什麼潛力。

in this burgeoning technology.

One of those early internet pioneers, John Perry Barlow,

這幾位網際網路先鋒之一，

約翰·佩里·巴洛，

saw both the opportunities and pitfalls inherent in our new digital world.

看到了我們這個新數位世界

固有的機會與難處。

And, of early cyberspace, he posed a prescient riddle

且，他還針對早期的網路空間 提出了一個很有預言性的謎題，

all the way back in 1992,

那時才是 1992 年，

that I'll paraphrase for you:

讓我改述給各位聽：

"If our property can be infinitely reproduced

「如果我們的資產

可以被無限複製，

and instantaneously distributed across the planet without cost,

並馬上發行到世界各地， 還不花任何成本，

how are we going to protect it?

我們要如何保護我們的資產？

How are we going to get paid for the work we do with our minds?

我們要如何靠花腦力 做出的作品來賺錢？

And if we can't get paid,

如果我們賺不到錢，

what will assure the continued creation and distribution of such work?”

又要如何確保大家會 持續創作和發行這類作品？

A lot has changed on the internet since 1992.

從 1992 至今， 網際網路改變了很多。

The internet itself is an alive and evolving technology.

網際網路本身

就是一種有生命會演化的技術。

And as predicted by its earliest champions,

也如同早期的網際網路 擁護者所預言，

the internet has increasingly become our default context.

網際網路漸漸變成了 我們預設的環境。

現今，人的工作、財富、

Today, one's job, wealth,

relationships, sense of self,

關係、自我認同感、

are all often more mediated through our digital contexts

較常透過我們的數位環境傳遞，

than our physical ones.

而非實體環境。

但巴洛的謎題仍然 未解決，令人煩惱。

Yet, Barlow's riddle has remained vexingly unsolved.

Concepts like property and ownership --

資產和所有權等觀念——

在實體世界和我們共存了 數世紀的概念——

ideas that have been with us for centuries in the physical world --

have evaded us in our digital spaces.

在我們的數位空間中卻避開了我們。

We’ve tried to foist copyright,

我們試著想辦法強迫把版權、

數位千禧年著作權法、

DMCA,

數位版權管理、

DRM and watermarks onto the internet to protect our ideas

浮水印用到網際網路上來保護 我們的想法、限制它們的銷售。

and to restrain their distribution.

None of these approaches have worked.

這些方法全都沒成功。

Why?

為什麼？

Because, as Stewart Brand, another early internet pioneer, famously coined:

因為另一位早期的網際網路先鋒 史都華·布蘭創造出了這句名言：

information wants to be free.

資訊想要自由（免費）。

It wants to travel effortlessly, without hindrance, without encumbrance.

資訊想要輕鬆傳遞， 沒有阻礙，沒有障礙。

This is what allowed the internet to succeed in the first place.

這正是網際網路最初 能夠成功的原因。

Since 1992, we've uploaded trillions of photos and videos and even cat memes

1992 年起，我們已經 將數兆張照片、影片，

甚至貓咪迷因，免費 上傳到網際網路上。

to the internet for free.

And what business model has allowed this information to be free?

是什麼樣的商業模式 讓這些資訊可以免費？

Advertising.

廣告。

Advertising is the internet's default business model,

廣告是網際網路的預設商業模式，

not because that's what we want, but because it's what pays the bills.

不是因為我們想要，而是因為 這樣才能有錢付帳單。

Right now, the few large corporations that run the most effective ad networks

目前，少數幾家大型企業 經營的廣告網路最有效，

control most of the value on today's internet,

網際網路的大部分價值 是被它們所控制，

not the people creating its content.

而非創造內容的人。

On today's internet, we don't get paid for the work we do with our minds.

我們無法靠花腦力 做出的作品來賺錢。

And what's more, the content we upload to these services is trapped there.

此外，

我們上傳到這些服務的內容

就會被困在那裡。

這些服務不僅用我們的內容 來賺錢，還控制這些內容。

These services not only make money from our content, they control it.

Until NFTs.

直到 NFT 出現。

NFTs are a technological breakthrough.

NFT 是科技上的突破。

They offer us the opportunity to break away from that broken system.

它們讓我們有機會可以脫離

那有問題的系統。

So you're asking yourself: What is an NFT?

所以，你會問：NFT 是什麼？

It's a certificate of ownership registered on the blockchain

它就是所有權的證書，

登記在區塊鏈上，大家都看得到。

for everyone to see.

It's not too dissimilar to the deed you get

有點類似在實體世界中

when you buy a house in the physical world.

買房子所得到的房契。

但 NFT 代表的不是房子，而是

But instead of a house, an NFT denotes ownership of a file on the internet.

網際網路上檔案的所有權。

And unlike copyright or watermarks,

不像版權或浮水印

which are ancient technologies rooted in bygone eras,

這些深植於過去的古老技術，

NFTs are internet native.

NFT 是網際網路的原住民。

They are born of the internet for the internet.

它們是網際網路生出來的，

為了網際網路而生。

And NFTs don't simply port our existing model of ownership

NFT 並非直接移植實體世界中 既有的所有權模型，

from the physical world,

they improve it.

還有做些改善。

In the physical world, ownership actually fences people out.

在實體世界中，所有權 會把別人擋在外面。

It precludes others from enjoying what you own.

阻止別人享受你所擁有的東西。

I wouldn't expect to feel welcome in your home uninvited.

我若未受邀請就到你家， 是不會被歡迎的。

Digital space, however, is expansive.

然而，數位空間很廣大。

It's home to the infinite, the exponential,

無限的、指數增長的、 即時的一切，都以它為家。

the instantaneous.

NFTs offer a system of ownership that reflects this expansiveness.

NFT 所提供的所有權系統 就反映出了這種浩翰程度。

With NFTs, my owning something doesn't preclude others from enjoying it.

有了 NFT，我擁有某物的 所有權不會阻止別人去享受它。

In fact, it's the opposite.

還恰恰相反。

The more an NFT is seen, appreciated and understood,

NFT 越常被看見、欣賞、了解，

the more possibility it has to increase in value.

它就越有可能增加價值。

Let's take an example:

舉例來說：

Nyan Cat, a wildly popular, instantly recognizable cat meme.

彩虹貓，

廣為人知且馬上能認出來的貓迷因。

Since it was uploaded to the internet a decade ago,

十年前它被上傳到網際網路上之後，

it has accumulated hundreds of millions of views.

點閱率已經累積達數億。

And precisely because of that virality, when it was auctioned as an NFT,

正因為這種被瘋傳的程度， 當它被當作 NFT 來拍賣時，

it sold for 300 ETH, or the equivalent of over 600,000 dollars.

成交價為三百以太幣， 等同於至少六十萬美金。

And the person who now owns this NFT, they're not preventing anyone from liking,

現在擁有這個 NFT 的人，

不會預防大家去按讚、

resharing or remixing Nyan Cat --

轉傳分享，或改造重製彩虹貓。

Nyan Cat is free to travel the internet

彩虹貓可以自由免費在網路上流通，

as it always has.

一直都是如此。

現在的不同之處

What's different now is that,

在於彩虹貓的熱門程度持續成長，

as Nyan Cat's popularity continues to grow,

so can the value of the NFT.

其 NFT 的價值也會成長。

Because of NFTs, Chris Torres, Nyan Cat's creator,

因為 NFT，彩虹貓的 創作者克里斯托雷斯

has received direct compensation for his creation.

可以直接從他的創作獲得酬勞。

But what's more is he'll continue to receive compensation

此外，

每當 NFT 被再出售一次，

every single time the NFT is resold.

他就會再得到一次酬勞。

This is because of the royalty system baked into the smart contracts

這是因為管理 NFT 的

智慧合約中有置入權利金系統。

that govern NFTs.

NFTs are software; they can be programmed.

NFT 是軟體；

可以用程式控制。

And with something as complicated as royalties,

像權利金這麼複雜的東西，

which require enormous amounts of legal and manual labor to implement

在我們的類比世界會需要

大量的法律及人工勞力來導入，

in our analog world,

we can now express them in a few simple lines of code.

現在只要用幾行 簡單的程式碼就可以做到。

This represents a breakthrough innovation

這背後所代表的突破創新

for any industry predicated on royalty payments,

可以用在以權利金為基礎的產業，

such as publishing or music.

比如出版或音樂。

And just as blogs and MP3s re-architected, these industries in decades past,

就如同部落格和 MP3 在數十年前重塑了這些產業，

NFTs will catalyze their next evolution.

NFT 也會促成它們的下一次演進。

網際網路除去了地理上的界線。

The internet dissolved our geographic boundaries.

NFTs dissolve economic boundaries.

NFT 除了去經濟上的界線。

Yatreda, an Ethiopian artist collective, created these beautiful portraits

衣索比亞的藝術家聯盟 亞崔達協力創作了

這些衣索比亞過往英雄的美麗畫像。

of heroes and heroines from Ethiopia's past.

They sold them as NFTs,

他們以 NFT 的形式賣出這些畫。

and in one weekend, they made 13 ETH, or the equivalent of over 40,000 dollars.

光一個週末他們就賺了 十三乙太幣，等同於四萬美金。

And they were paid out instantly.

且他們馬上拿到錢。

No customs, no foreign exchange, no international wire transfers.

沒有海關，沒有國際匯兌，

沒有國際電匯。

An artist collective based out of Addis Ababa

位在阿的斯阿貝巴的一個藝術家聯盟

has the same economic tools at their disposal now

現在和洛杉磯、紐約，或倫敦的 藝術家有同樣的經濟工具

as an artist in LA, New York or London.

可以支配使用了。

And while the NFTs for Nyan Cat and Yatreda

雖然彩虹貓和亞崔達的 NFT

were created and sold on the same platform,

在同一個平台上被創造和販售，

they're not confined there -- remember: information wants to be free.

它們不會被侷限在那裡——別忘了：

資訊想要自由。

And unlike the current internet,

在目前的網際網路上，

where information is made available through proprietary apps and platforms,

資訊都是由私有的 應用程式和平台來提供，

NFTs are portable.

NFT 不同，是可攜式的。

Instead of living on a company's private servers,

它們不住在公司的私有伺服器上，

They live on decentralized infrastructure that is peer to peer,

而是分散式的點對點、開放、

open and transparent.

透明的基礎架構上，

But understanding this complex decentralized infrastructure

但，不見得要了解這種 複雜的分散式基礎架構，

is not a prerequisite to understand what NFTs unlock for the human experience.

也一樣可以了解

NFT 為人類體驗帶來了什麼。

Once digital value and ownership are no longer the sole domain

一旦數位價值和所有權不再是

少數幾間企業所獨有，

of a few corporations,

radical new possibilities emerge.

全新的可能性就會浮現。

In other words, 30 years later, NFTs finally solved John Perry Barlow's riddle.

換言之，

三十年後，

NFT 終於解開了 約翰·佩里·巴洛的謎題。

And this isn't science fiction; the technology already works.

這不是科幻小說； 這種技術已經能用了。

NFTs are already being used

NFT 已經在使用中，

by the next generation of internet pioneers.

由下一代的網際網路先鋒使用。

And in the coming decade, NFTs will reshape the internet as we know it,

在接下來的十年，

NFT 會重塑我們 所知道的網際網路，

with property rights baked into its code.

把產權植入在其程式碼當中。

So what does the internet of the future look like

那麼，以 NFT 為基石的 未來網際網路會是什麼樣子？

with NFTs as its building blocks?

An internet where economic control rests in the hands of creators, not platforms.

在網際網路上，經濟控制權 落在創作者的手中，

而非平台。

An internet where our ideas and creativity can be directly supported.

在網際網路上，我們的點子和創意

會得到直接的支持。

An internet where information can be free,

在網際網路上，資訊是自由的，

but where we get paid for the work we do with our minds.

但我們花腦力 做出的作品可以賺到錢。

Thank you.

謝謝。

（掌聲）

(Applause)