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Is NFT really a decentralized art

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There are two problems with NFT based on the Ethereum network: digital art works themselves are not decentralized, and the transaction fees on the Ethereum network are exorbitant.

Title: Are NFTS Truly Decentralized Art?

By Marketing Officer, PastelNetwork

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There are considerable misconceptions about NFT. Some people assume that NFT was dug into the Ethereum chain via platforms like Rarible -- as if there is nothing wrong with this art being irreplaceable and existing on the blockchain in a decentralized way forever and ever. But that's not the case. NFT, or "non-homogeneous token", actually refers to the irreplaceable nature of the token itself, rather than the work of art or scarce asset that uses the technology. Therefore, a token and the "asset" it represents are really two different concepts.

You don't believe?

Okay, let's start at the beginning. Although NFT is often associated with digital art or GIF images these days, NFT is actually more accurately defined as a specific, irreplaceable asset. Let's say that $10 you spent on coffee this morning is fungible. But your fingerprint on the $10 bill is irreplaceable. But are your fingerprints an asset? It's hard to say, depending on how many people's fingerprints are being sold on the black market right now (don't worry, just kidding). It's important to remember, though, that irreplaceability doesn't make the item with the label scarcer, nor does it guarantee that the label itself is "rare," or even decentralized.

A recent "rug pull" by a clever sculptor on the OpenSea platform illustrates the problem of NFT. After the sale, the artist replaced the JPEG originals that collectors thought they had bought with images found randomly on the Internet. This behavior highlights the inherent problem with the current NFT infrastructure, which is largely built on top of the Ethereum network. By buying NFT, the buyer only receives tokens that are used to verify the authenticity of the JPEG images listed on OpenSea. At the time of purchase, the image may still be a genuine work of art, but because the underlying digital assets are not decentralized, the image may be stored on a central server such as AWS or GCS, so the buyer has no control over what the NFT represents.

In other words, what is currently irreplaceable is only the token used to represent the act of buying and selling, not necessarily the physical (or digital) artwork.

This is a common problem in NFT circles because buyers often misunderstand the underlying architecture of the art being purchased, and problems can arise when the purchased item has no corresponding physical value, such as a GIF image.

As most NFT trading platforms are built on Ethereum, another key problem emerges -- the Ethereum network is often occupied by other projects like DEFI. These projects have eaten up most of the bandwidth and increased NFT's casting and trading prices exponentially. Add to this the issues outlined above and it is easy to understand that the art world at NFT is not as perfect as it is portrayed to be.

And a platform like Pastel can make a positive difference. Unlike Rarible or OpenSea, Pastel is built on a Layer 1 blockchain that competes with platforms based on the Ethereum network. This gives Pastel an inherent advantage, as its underlying architecture is designed specifically for digital art and other rare digital assets, rather than the all-embracing nature of Ethereum. Because there aren't too many projects crowding out bandwidth and gas costs are low, casting and trading NFT on Pastel won't put as much strain on your digital wallet.

As for the important issue of "smoking blankets", Pastel's approach is to ensure that all artworks and other NFTs need to be uploaded, verified, and registered on the Pastel chain, and not just tokens minted together. Through a series of smart notes on the Pastel ledger, artists can store their work on various supernodes in a distributed manner to ensure irreplaceability. This complex storage layer uses the Raptorq Fountain code algorithm to ensure that each asset is broken down and stored in a series of redundant, replaceable data blocks. The collection of these blocks is then distributed across the network according to the Kademlia DHT algorithm. What on earth does that do? In short, even if 90 percent of the nodes were to fail suddenly, the remaining information would be rebuilt quickly enough that the artwork would not disappear.

So the next time you buy an NFT, make sure you understand how and where your rare digital assets are stored, so you don't have to worry about the blanket being yanked from under your feet.