On heritage and NFT: Challenging the meaning of legacy itself

In his monthly crypto technology column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto space, decentralized finance (DeFi), and blockchain, as well as their roles in shaping the 21st century economy.

When trying to examine the economics of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as it has been shaping up over the past few months, two main trends can be discerned. On the one hand, a whole new market that allows various artists to join a new economy of creators: the creators of Bored Ape Yacht Club, various types of creators of pixel art and creative sparkles like the creator of paintings of long neck women, the sale of which brought the 12-year-old artist about 1,394 Ether (ETH), equivalent at the time of writing this article to 6 million dollars.

But the truth is that an NFT is much more than that. Take, for example, one of the first significant sales of NFT, when Jack Dorsey sold the first tweet that appeared on Twitter in exchange for an amount that then it was worth about $ 2.9 million. This NFT gained value, but in fact, its very assimilation as an NFT preserved a kind of inheritance.

The day Twitter drops the web, or the obsolete text platform disappears, like many sites that were part of the annals of the web and simply disappeared, the only thing that will remain will be those for which someone has created economic value, beyond the symbolic value. A unique value, which stands out on its own, and which makes the preservation of tradition and heritage a sustainable operation.

Garry Kasparov does NFT

Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion, the man who has held that title for more years than anyone, has decided to turn his legacy digital and turn long chapters of his past into an NFT.

"My NFT venture with 1Kind reflects my lifelong desire to meet new challenges and work with exciting new technologies," says Kasparov. "From artificial intelligence to cryptocurrencies to blockchain, I have always believed that innovation is the only way to go. We have worked closely together from the beginning to create not just one-of-a-kind items, but an entirely new way to use NFT. to tell a story, one with a true story behind it. "

One of the interesting things about Kasparov is his interest in human-machine interfaces. Kasparov is perhaps the most famous chess player of all time, the youngest to win the world championship, and the longest-lived world chess champion of all time.

But, in fact, his matches against supercomputers earned him his worldwide fame. Kasparov has repeatedly won state-of-the-art chess computers, but his 1997 loss to IBM's Deep Blue computer marked a turning point and symbolized the fact that artificial intelligence manages to match and even catch up with human intelligence. On a symbolic level, it was precisely this loss that linked Kasparov's fate with the development of the digital age.

Related: Without quantum security, our future blockchain is uncertain

Now, with the NFT project that Kasparov is launching alongside the 1Kind platform, it is once again revolutionizing the basics: heritage, legacy and history. Kasparov seeks to create a digital presence for various chapters of his past, thus creating a legacy that does not depend on exhibits, showcases or history books. Objects, images, and paintings depicting his past, he drops through NFT, not to support some creator's economy, but like that Dorsey tweet, to preserve a legacy before it disappears, and to attract more interested people. in preserving that legacy. As Kasparov explains:

"This is the first time that an entire life will become NFT, my life. I wanted to share not only my chess games and successes, but everything that shaped me and my legacy on and off the chessboard."

A new chapter of patrimonial perseverance

To this day, documenting heritage requires unique books, museums, or tours. But all this requires massive and lasting support; after all, a museum cannot be its own owner and needs the support of taxpayers' money or one-time funds. But when Kasparov makes his legacy public at the NFT, he is decentralizing heritage preservation. He asks collectors to participate not only in his legacy, but also in its preservation. At the simplest level: if Kasparov himself disappears from human consciousness, even these heritage objects will lose their value. So that the interest of the person participating in the sale is the same as that of Kasparov himself. Preserve heritage and expose it to as many people as possible.

"The deeply personal nature of this project is evident in every NFT. My family and childhood, my rise as a chess champion and conquering the world title, and my explorations in politics, education, writing and public speaking. Documents and artifacts never before seen by the public include my personal notebooks and family photos. The cast includes the coaches who shaped my chess, my fresh start to a new career and a family after chess, and yet my biggest champion since beginning, my mother. "

"Garry, how do you want to be remembered?" I admit I thought of those things even when I was a young world champion, but back then I only considered my legacy on the chessboard. Decades later, this third drop of NFT is my answer. https://t.co/dpqqNvnVJD pic.twitter.com/OGtaKMkOex

- Garry Kasparov (@ Kasparov63) December 16, 2021

In practice, this is an interesting experiment. After all, this sale includes not only digital art, or representations of past moments, such as the NBA Moments, but also digital representations of real objects such as notebooks, cards, physical photographs of Kasparov's past, and others. That is, the buyer will have digital ownership of the objects, of which another person can have physical ownership.

Related: Gen Z and NFT: redefining ownership of digital natives

But in fact, it is possible that in the world we are headed to, it is not clear who will have the more equitable property: the one with a paper copy of a game card in the safe, or the one with the digital card. . representation, which can be shown to the world without fear of being damaged or missing. Kasparov himself also admits that this is not a small challenge, but perhaps this is again his way of breaking down barriers and concepts, in the transition to the Web 3.0 era.

"I admit I'm a bit nervous, like sitting in my first world championship match, playing against a supercomputer, or when I left the familiar world of chess behind to fight for democracy in Russia and beyond. But what are we without new challenges? "Without taking risks? The status quo was never good enough for me, and in that spirit I am delighted to share this ambitious and unmatched collection. I hope people enjoy it and I can't wait to see what comes next, "says Kasparov.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every trade and investment move involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.