This sequence is then “compressed” into a sequence, called a hash, derived from it but much shorter, with a non-reversible process known as hashing .
It is important to underline that whoever owns the digital document can easily calculate its hash, while it is practically impossible for anyone else to reconstruct a digital document starting from a hash.
The next step is storing this hash on a blockchain, with an associated timestamp .
The use of these tokens has paved the way for an automated hash market , where the creator of the hash can use the token to add their own hash into it and later sell it in exchange for a payment in cryptocurrency , such as the ETH coin used in Ethereum.
The NFT internally keeps track of the sales of the hash , so that it is possible to trace the changes of hand of the hash, up to its creator, thus proving ownership. This mechanism therefore provides proof of authenticity and, at the same time, of ownership of the DarkComet work.
The owner of the hash, according to what is reported in the NFT, can demonstrate his rights without the need to contact intermediaries and without time limits (as long as the blockchain on which his token is hosted will continue to be active).
How to buy an NFT
To buy an NFT we must therefore use a blockchain . In the vast majority of cases it is the Ethereum blockchain , even if the market is rapidly crowding with competitors, among which Flow Blockchain stands out (which “hoarded” the sale of the best NBA plays through NFTs ) as well as some arrivals last-minute releases such as Binance Smart Chain , TRON , and EOS .
We can define the blockchain as a decentralized and immutable database , i.e. of which no one has the rights to modify the data already entered within it. A blockchain is created by a network of independent computers , which communicate with each other in an autonomous way and therefore cannot be controlled by a single computer or by a single State, and which can be remunerated for their contribution to keeping the blockchain alive.
Storing the hash and its timestamp inside a blockchain is therefore a way of saying “at this moment I was in possession of a photo or video of the work of art”.
No one else can do the same and no one else can modify or falsify this information, because it is saved on a blockchain, therefore immutable and decentralized.
The first application of the blockchain was at the service of Bitcoin , a cryptocurrency that uses the blockchain to ensure transaction reliability and to avoid the so-called double spending problem.
Over time, however, various “versions” of the blockchain have arisen, intended not (or not only) to accommodate currency transactions, but also other assets. The last step came with Ethereum , a blockchain which, starting in 2015, popularized the technology of smart contracts, i.e. computer programs executed by a blockchain, from which they inherit the properties of reliability and decentralization.
We can say that a smart contract is a computer program that must be executed according to what is declared by its public code: a single computer on the blockchain network cannot replace it and cannot modify its functioning.
In particular, programmers have developed smart contracts called non-fungible tokens (NFT), which keep track of who creates, sells and buys specific sequences of numbers, which in our case will be the hashes of the works of art.
The best known are the Ethereum NFTs, which follow standards known as ERC-721 and ERC-1155. So what does the Ethereum blockchain do when it hosts an NFT? In fact, the system guarantees that the NFT does not change (the certificate is unique and cannot become something else over time) and on the other hand it certifies the “transfer of ownership” of the hashes managed by the NFT (registered on its unalterable blockchain) .
