moneymonday
指數/外匯
明報APP

專家觀點>徐家健

NFT可將資產產權清晰確立

(Presented by WAW Creation)

問:什麼是NFT?

答:A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is used toidentify something or someone in a uniqueway. This type of Token is perfect to be used on platforms that offer collectible items, access keys, lottery tickets, numbered seats for concerts and sports matches, etc. This special type of Token has amazing possibilities so it deserves a proper Standard, the ERC-721 came to solve that!

問:什麼是ERC-721?

答:The ERC-721 introduces a standard for NFT, in other words, this type of Token is unique and can have different value than another Token from the same Smart Contract, maybe due to its age, rarity or even something else like its visual. Wait, visual? Yes! All NFTs have a uint256 variable called tokenId, so for any ERC-721 Contract, the pair contract address, uint256 tokenId must be globally unique. That said, a dApp can have a "converter" that uses the tokenId as input and outputs an image of something cool, like zombies, weapons, skills or amazing kitties!

以上答案,其實是以太坊提供的官方答案。智能合約ERC-721之下的非同質化代幣,特點就是獨一無二的確認。多得這獨一無二的確認,NFT的應用除了收藏品,還有存取鍵、彩票、演唱會及運動比賽門券等等。而在經濟學眼中,這獨一無二的確認,其實就是清晰產權的確立。

NFT成為英國《柯林斯英語詞典》(Collins Dictionary)2021「年度十大代表關鍵字」之首,有人質疑是個泡沫。但在經濟學者眼中,這從來是個產權問題。權利界定是市場交易的先決條件,「The delineation of rights is an essential prelude to market transactions」是產權經濟學之父高斯說過的。權利界定對市場發展的影響,是舉足輕重的。我最喜歡的例子,是傳統印第安部族捕獵水牛的一個做法:

On a buffalo hunt, the successful hunter was "entitled to keep the skin and some choice portion of the meat for his family" (Steward 1938, 253)... The hunters marked their arrows distinctively, so after the hunt, the arrows in the dead buffalo indicated which hunters had been successful (Ewers 1969,160). Disputes over whose arrow killed the buffalo were settled by the hunt leader.

成功捕獵水牛講求合作,但要防止卸責偷懶,傳統印第安部族中每個獵人會在箭上刻上獨有記號,以便獵物中箭後識別成功的捕獵者,確立產權後論功行賞,是減低交易費用促進分工合作的合約安排。從權利界定的角度去了解NFT的潛力,智能合約ERC-721在數字世界的應用當然不限於加密藝術和區塊鏈遊戲。

徐家健

美國克林信大學經濟系副教授

香港大學香港經濟及商業策略研究所名譽高級研究員

中文大學香港亞太研究所經濟研究中心成員

https://www.facebook.com/economics3.0