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The Blockchain revolution

By Emma Robinson, Editor-In-Chief

Interest in blockchain, the technology that underlies the cryptocurrency industry, has grown significantly in the last few years, and what was once considered a concept directed towards the finance industry is now being used extensively around the world.

Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that enables the recording of transactions and tracking of assets in a business network. The development of blockchain has become an important tool to provide users with a high-tech method of validating data that cannot be edited or changed. Those who validate the transaction – “proof of work” – are rewarded with a token, for example a bitcoin.  

A class for business, finance, accounting and marketing students, taught by professor Manoj Dalvi, in fall 2022 explored the use of blockchain as a ledger by creating an NFT. Students in Dalvi’s class became immersed in researching and applying concepts of this technology to learn how the future of technology and business will change.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that have an authentic certificate. They use the blockchain network for verification of ownership. Examples of NFTs include art, music and games.

“An NFT, put simply, is a digital asset that can’t be copied,” senior finance major Luke Gifford said. “For example, if you upload an image and make it into an NFT, you can sell that image to one person and that one person can say they are the only owner. And if someone were to take a screenshot of that image, they have a screenshot, but not the ownership of the artwork.” 

NFTs were first created around 2013 when people began trading digital assets other than Bitcoin on the Bitcoin blockchain. In 2022, the NFT market generated approximately $24.7 billion worth of organic trading volume. 

“With the introduction of NFTs and cryptocurrency, blockchain creates a virtual database and collective proof of ownership that provides. It will eliminate a lot of the issues and logistics of, let’s say having a paper deed to a house or something of that regard,” senior finance major Jesse Wells said. “Let’s say your driver’s license gets lost. It’s a lot of steps to get that back. However, if you put it on Blockchain, you can show that you own it and that it’s yours without having to go through those extra verification methods … I think that’s why this will be a big part of our future.” 

Dalvi had his class collaborate with professor Patrick Aievoli’s digital industries class to create the design and storyboard of the NFT. Professor Rich De Rosso created the video and animation with his design program for the NFT, which is formatted like a GIF.

“Ironically, I had just done my LIU podcast on NFTs and Crypto about six months before Dalvi came to me with this request,” Aievoli said. “NFTs are basically a digital provenance for artwork. Where in the analog world provenance is a sheet of paper that details the ownership of a piece of art, now NFTs and Blockchain are that path to digital validity.”

Aievoli’s class focuses on experiential learning, for example, creating digital content for non-profits like Habitat for Humanity and the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, and so taking on creating a design that will become an NFT further diversified the portfolios of the students in the class.

Dalvi noted that blockchain is being used increasingly worldwide. 

“For example, title to agricultural land in India is being put on blockchain; and smart contracts are being used to direct government assistance to farmers when there is a drought,” Dalvi said. “If you buy salad, or you buy a bunch of bananas, you will know exactly what farm it has come from because of blockchain.”

Part of why NFTs have become so relevant is the movement for more control over online experiences and increased security through blockchain technology. As the technology develops and society popularizes using blockchain, it may become common practice to list documents, artifacts and more online. As blockchain technology becomes more accessible, it can have an even bigger influence in different areas of the economy for many years.

“Financial assets are changing and people are trying to stay on top of and in front of the wave to get traction of these concepts,” senior finance major Jack Adams commented. “NFTs were something that was very new, but we started to see people that were essentially nobodies making serious money. There’s an individual known as Beeple who has sold a compilation of his artwork for $69 million because someone wanted it and paid that much for it. So once that bombshell hit the news, people started saying “well, I want to do that.” And people started to understand it … I think people making money on it is driving the social aspects of it … It’s something that students in our business program should really get a grasp on. We should understand it and be ahead of the curve.”

Dalvi’s class spent the semester working on creating their NFT and researching how to list it online to sell. The students that worked on creating the NFT praised the experience because of the practicality and importance of what they learned.

“The process was quite simple in practice, it took a lot of logistics to get through,” Adams said. “There were three major steps. After getting approval of any photos that we would take on campus and approval of photos we could use from the marketing department, we handed off what our plans and ideas to the graphic design department and Pat Aievoli had his students make up a design for us. As this was happening, our class researched what it would be like to list this NFT on a marketplace for sale. We started with gathering data and information on which marketplaces were best and what they differ in and which kind of currency we wanted to accept for payment. When the NFT was produced, we listed it on a marketplace called “Rarible.” It’s similar to making an eBay ad. There’s a picture, there’s a description, there’s a title, and it’s for sale.”

For Dalvi, the interdisciplinary approach to this project is the most important aspect because his students were able to diversify and strengthen their knowledge of blockchain and other technologies that are becoming increasingly relevant. By being exposed to NFTs, Dalvi’s class learned about so many cross sections, including Web 3.0, blockchain and cryptocurrencies.

“There can be courses [outside of finance], like history and fashion merchandising, that can be constructed to explain how the latest technology can be used in that particular field,” Dalvi said. “For example, if an author wants to write a book, instead of going to a publisher to get it published, the author can just put it up as an NFT and say only 100 people can read it. The entire system is changing as we move to Web 3.0, a peer to peer system, and students should be aware of the opportunities it will create for them as blockchain and smart contracts are widely adopted and accepted.”

Blockchain is a major disruptor, disrupting not only the financial services industry, but other industries all over the world. Blockchain is enhancing the value chain. As this technology transforms society on a global scale, it is essential for individuals to learn how to integrate this new system into their fields of work and life, as the future progresses towards digitalization for every discipline.

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