Blockchain, Fungibility, and Physical Assets: The Legal View

Abstract

2021 has witnessed a surge of interest in non-fungible tokens or “NFTs”. However, there is considerable misunderstanding surrounding what an NFTs is, what it may or may not represent, how rights attach, how it may be enforced or used for enforcement of rights, and how it is connected to the asset it purportedly represents. This is self-evident in discussions between the technology community, implementers, and the legal profession. This is compounded by a lack of clarity in how current legal frameworks work with or are applied to such tokens.