NFTs have been all the rage, and although the main concept of nonfungible tokens is about owning digital assets, the big question is, are the files really stored on the blockchain? An article suggests that the truth might be quite different.
Are NFTs Stored on the Blockchain?
According to the story by HowToGeek, "it might come as a surprise to learn that the artworks represented by NFTs aren't stored on the blockchain themselves." The publication added that NFTs basically contain a link pointing towards the file "hosted on a conventional web server."
As per Eric Kuhn, an NFT developer, today's NFT uses an image as "metadata" for the NFT, and as per the developer, "a mechanism is provided to associate NFTs with URIs (uniform resource identifier).
Can NFT Data be Changed?
As per w3.org, "URIs don't change: people can change them." With that, HowToGeek describes the URI as a web link noting that implementers of the NFT standard did not originally want the image metadata to be the main key point of NFT ownership.
Metadata basically describes other data and is considered a "mutable link," meaning it can still be changed. As per the publication, no actual ownership or control of the asset is transferred, but instead, buyers will get a web link.
How Much Does It Cost to Store NFTs on the Ethereum Blockchain?
The publication also notes that no hash of metadata image is stored on the NFT and that the image link "was always intended to be changeable." Moxie Marlinspike, a computer security researcher, played around with the concept of creating an NFT that "could change in content when viewed by different people."
A 2021 calculation estimated that storing 500kb on the Ethereum blockchain would cost $20,000, meaning storing small images on the Ethereum blockchain is more impractical.
A discussion regarding the possibility of storing images on the Ethereum blockchain can be found in a thread on StackOverFlow. As seen on the thread, although developers agreed it is possible, it is very costly and impractical.
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What are the Risks of NFTs in the Future?
As per the history of link rot, seen in an article by The Verge, when "web links break, malicious things can potentially take their place." To add, HowToGeek pointed out the risk that if a major host of NFT images suddenly went under and someone else bought the domain name, it would be very easy to point thousands of NFT links somewhere else.
HowToGeek states that the "NFT contains an URL pointing to a server out of the NFT owner's control." With that, a potential outcome would be if the NFT link breaks without replacements, owners will be getting a 404 when trying to load their asset. As per HowToGeek, this means that "NFT art is not future-proof at all."
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Written by Urian B.
