How do I know if a NFT is real or fake?

Introducing Authentic DAO

Which of these is authentic?

There’s a problem with NFTs. The dissenters have a point.

And to date, we’ve been laughing them off with right click > save as sarcasm and you don’t get it.

But the rug pulls, copycats and fakes say otherwise. The anti-NFT crowd may not get the bigger picture, but they do have a point at this point in time.

NFTs come with a promise as yet unfulfilled: Provenance. Provable authenticity.

Technically, NFTs deliver provenance already. But practically, they do not.

Today, verifying the authenticity of a NFT involves one or more of:

• Checking a centralised gate-keeper to see if the NFT is “verified”
• Digging through blockchain transactions to see if the NFT was created by the maker’s publicised blockchain address (if they even have one)
• Checking if the collection is a copy or original
• And loads more

A mainstream audience doesn’t have the experience or desire to do all this. Nor should they have to.

So we have a choice:

1. We can rely on centralised gatekeepers like Tencent, Opensea or Coinbase to stamp “worthy” NFTs with their badge of approval. And whilst artists wait for these review teams to get round to authenticating their work, they helplessly watch their fans, unable to identify the real collection, fall for copycat scams.
2. Alternatively we can do what web3 was designed for, and do it ourselves.

Authentic DAO empowers creators and communities to build confidence in digital collectibles, through strong, decentralised, easy-to-use verification.

More to come on this very soon…