Generally though
This doesnt work because, as pfm said, the physical and digital assets are decoupled.
The only way this would work is if psa (or another custodian) vaulted the card and issued the nft. (Which would be redeemable for the physical asset)
A bunch of companies do that, but its generally useless because then youre stuck again with point 1 of, what if the custodian goes out of business.
I can transfer tens of thousands of USD for zero dollars, and the transaction settles the same day. I can send hundreds of thousands for 25 dollars and it settles the same day. Bitcoin has a transaction fee for EVERY transaction. Crypto is NOT " infinitely easier to transact with"
Let me first just say, I enjoy having this discussion with
We can debate the pros and cons of having a record of ownership history or providence. But the reason why normal database would never work is not because of database canât store logs. Itâs simply because every new buyer would have to manually register it to PSAâs registry; and thatâs just not going to happen. If you had a digital COA in the form of an NFT that is transfer with every sale, that would get log automatically. Everyone would have access to that data and even build applications to track market data or whale movements if they chose, which I am sure you know that already.
Letâs take this conversation outside of Pokemon cards for a second. I think there are establishment norms in this hobby already that may impeding people to seeing the potential benefits. Many collectibles like sports memorabilia, autographs, arts, coins and luxury goods already have Certification of Authenticity that go with the item. When you sell an item like say a âBarry Sanders Game Used Jerseyâ which can go for hundreds of thousands, people expect COA to go along with it. Without the Certification of Authenticity, the Jersey is essentially worthless. The Certification of Authenticity used today is also decoupled from the item, itâs really just a piece of paper. My argument is simply a digital COA on the blockchain is a significant improvement to paper that we have today. because not can it get lost but more important be replicated. And that happens a lot already with luxury goods.
It gets even worst with Art, because when the collectible with worth 10s of millions. Fraudsters are willing to spend hundreds of thousands to replicate it. So much so that if you take Art to be authenticated by an expert, they often donât even say if itâs real. What theyâll say instead, is that it looks correct. And if you have multiple experts coming to the same conclusion, then the public will generally accept it as real, however even then you hear cases of fakes slipping through from time to time and get auctioned off for millions at the most prestigious auction houses. The art forgery market in China is a 13 billion dollar market.
I know many may not share this concern, but the reason I had this inital thought was because Pokemon cards are starting to get some traction in China. PSA is going to open an office there in the future. And China is very good at forgeries and replicating things. There will almost certainly be better and more fakes in the future. Will someone ever be able to create replicates thatâs difficult to distinquish or fake slabs cases? I am not sure.
But if that were the case and people got concerned, then you might start to see low Cert# become more valued. If the slabs could be replicated well, then I am not sure what you can do other than create a new grading label or (COA) thatâs harder to replicate. Or you can issues digital COAs on the blockchain that canât be replicated and easily verifiable. And that can easily become a norm where people expect it the NFT COA to be transferred with the sale just like how we expect to get the paper COA today when we buy game used Jerseys.
I will concede that I think itâs still too early today and not yet necessary. I really am just thinking out loud into the future. Like @pfm said, expecting everyone to use metamask today is added friction and unrealistic especially for value of items most people dabble in here. In the future, address could be tied to your social media handle so no one has to deal with meta mask.
For the near term, the only realistic way of implementing it would be making it an optional feature imo. For example, if you owned a really expensive card like a 1/1 âThe One Ringâ card or a BSG 10 1st Edition Charizard, maybe you would want to have a digital COA to future proof the authenticity.
Ok, Iâll comment.
I work in crypto on various NFT products and platforms so iâm one of the one most informed on the landscape amongst the e4 cabal.
Regarding: provenance and authenticity, thereâs no way NFTs would solve that unless the cards themselves were digital and issued as NFTs. Otherwise youâll have to put your faith in a third party such as PSA or StockX. Any physical object linked to the NFT can be forged or cheated much like graded slabs.
There already is an NFT platform dedicated to cards that provides a trading/selling platform, auctions, and even ârepacksâ in the form of virtual packs that you can open to receive a random card. I like that they provide transparent pack odds, complete price history, and the ability to never have to own the physical card (you can exchange the NFT at any point to receive the physical card or keep it in your digital wallet). I wonât post a link here but itâs easy to find if you search around.
That said, Iâve learned that this forum is not the place to discuss NFTs as itâs got too many negative connotations amongst the masses who donât really engage with them.
If NFTs provided anything of legitimate value or solved actual problems that people have they would catch on naturally instead of being constantly and solely pushed by crypto bros
I dont have the same experience. Wise isnt free. Sends on SOL/ETH are essentially free
If that works for you though, great!
Reminds me of a Bill Gate quote. Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.
People expected too much too quickly. But itâll happen eventually. There are also NFTs that have held their value. Itâs just that for every one that is investable and stand the rest of time like Crypto Punks, there are 99 that go to zero. But I suppose thatâs not much different when it comes to TCGs.
But whatâs the value prop of punks? Outside of itâs the first, what innovation has it achieved? Currently the only NFTs that have value are brands, where youâre told how valuable it is to hold the IP of a thing that looks similar to 10k other things that also have their own IP.
I was in nfts for quite some time and after a while it become quite obvious that no one in the space is trying to innovate. Itâs a bunch of SAAS companies that are the âsuccessfulâ ones and the âinnovationâ is just things that only add value if youâre in NFTs. Marketplaces for sale of NFTs, nfts that track nft markets etc. I canât see anything that will attract mass adoption atm.
The other downside is that the vast majority that go to zero arenât just unfortunate projects but complete scams, intended to go to zero. And what props up 50-75% of the market are degenerate gamblers playing hot potato, that will openly say they are degenerate gamblers.
I really hope the space evolves into something that offers real value and can shake up existing systems, but itâs hard to see how this will happen currently.
Thanks for sharing your input and perspective @mannynotfound. I also been involved in the blockchain space in the past so I am sure thereâs a lot we agree on in terms of digital assets.
I am not saying Itâs a panacea, but it would be a significant improvement to verifying authenticity; even dealing with physical items.
Scenario 1
There are 2 Identical collectible with the same Cert #. One guy has the digital COA associated with the Cert #. Who would you trust to have the real one?
Scenario 2
Imagine if one day fake slabs becomes a thing. You are buying a PSA 10 1st edition Base Set Blastoise for cash in person. You look up PSA registry and it says a digital NFT COA was issued with that Cert.
Naturally I would ask if he has the digital Cert. If he does, I wouldnât question the authenticity. Give me the card and the digital COA, done.
However if he doesnât have it. Well, I wouldnât do that transaction unless it gets sent off to PSA to be authenticated.
Bottomline, if fake slabs become a prolific thing. Without something like a digital COA, high value transaction will always need to go through a middleman Authenticator for the buyer to feel comfortable. And thatâs if slab forgeries never become so good that itâs indistinguishable from the real thing.
Same reason as why people value 1st editions I suppose. Or First Appearances with comics.
For me personally when it comes to NFTs, I mostly dabble in Historic NFTs like Pixelmap, Curio Cards, Rare Pepes and stuff which derive their value simply as historic collector pieces. Occasionally, digital collectibles of brands that I enjoy like UFC Strike. Because your right, most post 2021 projects will go to zero if they havenât already. Your essentially speculating on the the project team for modern projects. Thereâs outliers here and there that may stand the test of time, like VeeFriends or Flyfish club ( More of a digital membership than a collectible). But in general, thereâs a ton of garbage.
I think thatâs the right approach as historical value is really all there is currently. I think thereâs a lot of hurdles to overcome before an nft project can be taken seriously as anything other than a collectible.
