NFT Security Matrix:Towards Modeling NFT Ecosystem Threat

Digital assets have boomed over the past few years with the emergence of Non-fungible Tokens(NFTs).To be specific,the total trading volume of digital assets reached an astounding$55.5 billion in 2022.Nevertheless,numerous security concerns have been raised by the rapid expansion of the NFT ecosystem.NFT holders are exposed to a plethora of scams and traps,putting their digital assets at risk of being lost.However,academic research on NFT security is scarce,and the security issues have aroused rare attention.In this study,the NFT ecological process is comprehensively explored.This process falls into five different stages encompassing the entire lifecycle of NFTs.Subsequently,the security issues regarding the respective stage are elaborated and analyzed in depth.A matrix model is proposed as a novel contribution to the categorization of NFT security issues.Diverse data are collected from social networks,the Ethereum blockchain,and NFT markets to substantiate our claims regarding the severity of security concerns in the NFT ecosystem.From this comprehensive dataset,nine key NFT security issues are identified from the matrix model and then subjected to qualitative and quantitative analysis.This study aims to shed light on the severity of NFT ecosystem security issues.The findings stress the need for increased attention and proactive measures to safeguard the NFT ecosystem.

Non‑fungible tokens:a bubble or the end of an era of intellectual property rights

The viability of exponentially growing non-fungible token(NFT)market is evaluated by identifying potential value-generating mechanisms that can be rationalized.After identifying the value-generating mechanisms underlying the positive values of NFTs,this study establishes a pricing model for NFTs that follows a continuous-time financial framework.As NFTs are claimed to securitize“ownership rights short of use”,and as such they may potentially serve as a substitute for the need to rely replace the reliance on the legal protection provided by intellectual property rights(IPRs).Considering this issue,this study evaluates the likelihood that NFTs will replace existing mechanisms that protect producers’rightful claim to use their assets or the need to apply the legal code that governs IPRs.The financial condition for this potential shift is derived for a category of assets whose use or consumption does not reduce supply as the notion of scarcity does not apply.

Digital assets rights management through smart legal contracts and smart contracts

Intellectual property rights(IPR)management needs to evolve in a digital world where not only companies but also many independent content creators contribute to our culture with their art,music,and videos.In this respect,blockchain has recently emerged as a promising infrastructure,providing a trustworthy and immutable environment through the use of smart contracts,which may enable more agile management of digital rights and streamline royalty payments.However,no widespread consensus has been reached on the ability of this technology to adequately manage and transfer IPR.This paper presents an innovative approach to digital rights management developed within the scope of an international research endeavour co-financed by the European Commission named MediaVerse.The approach proposes the combined usage of smart legal contracts and blockchain smart contracts to take care of the legally binding contractual aspects of IPR and,at the same time,the need for notarization,rights transfer,and royalty payments.The work being conducted represents a contribution to advancing the current literature on IPR management that may lead to an improved and fairer monetization process for content creators as a means of individual empowerment.

Copyright protection on NFT digital works in the Metaverse

Non-fungible token(NFT)emerges with the marvelous explosion of the metaverse.NFT digital works are profoundly impacting the existing copyright system,which needs to be amended and responded to in time.There is a possibility that it will completely change the distribution pattern of rights and interests in the field of copyright law.Currently,the legal nature of the casting and trading of NFT digital works remains controversial.The liability of NFT digital works creators,as well as service platforms,is required to be further identified.This article starts with an analysis of the right attributes of NFT digital works based on intellectual property law.Subsequently,the related legal issues and countermeasures are discussed,including the exhaustion of the right-holders,the duty of platform management,and the assumption of tort liability arising from the transaction.It is suggested that the NFT digital works should be treated with considerable caution and the legal system of NFT digital works should be constructed in the near future.

HITS hits art

The blockchain art market is partitioned around the roles of artists and collectors and highly concentrated among a few prominent figures.We hence propose to adapt Kleinberg's authority/hub HITS(Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search)method to rate artists and collectors in the art context.This seems a reasonable choice since the original method deftly defines its scores in terms of a mutual recursive relationship between authorities/artists—the miners of information/art,and hubs/collectors—the assemblers of such information/art.We evaluated the proposed method on the collector-artist network of SuperRare gallery,the major crypto art marketplace.We found that the proposed artist and collector metrics are weakly correlated with other networks science metrics like degree and strength.This hints at the possibility of coupling different measures in order to profile active users of the gallery and suggests investment strategies with different risk/reward ratios for collectors as well as marketing strategies with different targets for artists.