Guardrail : Trading Data NFTs on 3rd Party NFT Marketplaces

Update: Up until 23 December 2023, the access and trading of Data NFTs on 3rd Party Marketplaces was not possible for the reasons mentioned below in this article, but with this guardrail removed, Data NFTs are completely accessible on any NFT marketplace or platform. We still recommend that you trade or access Data NFTs on the Itheum Data NFT Marketplace as it provides better protection features for Data Consumers and Data Creators. These features are described below.

As mentioned in the previous CanaryNet Guardrails section, Itheum's Data DEX is currently in a CanaryNet phase, and there are some Guardrails in place to protect users as they use Itheum's unique technology components (which, in most cases, are the first of its kind).

Data NFT is one such technology launched under some protective Guardrails. Data NFTs are built on top of the regular blockchain NFT standards that we are familiar with and are used to power the trade of "Art JPEGs NFTs". But unlike the basic NFTs we see in the blockchain world today, Data NFTs represent the next generation of NFT technology. They are supercharged NFTs packed with real-world utility as they come packaged with Data Assets and Data Streams. Most NFT Marketplaces we see in the ecosystem are mature in their own right and provide great user experiences for trading regular Art JPEG NFTs. Still, they require some integration work to support the next-generation Data NFTs.

Itheum's own Data NFT Marketplace has been built specifically from the ground up for trading multiple Data NFT collections and has key user safeguards built into it.

The following user protections have been built into the Data NFT marketplace:

1. Supports "Real-Time Data Uptime Checks" before Trade Happens to Protect Consumers from Buying "Useless" Data NFTs

   As Data NFTs represent a type of "web3 license" to access real-world data, the "value" or "cost" of a Data NFT is explicitly linked to the availability of the underlying Data Asset or Data Stream. If the original Data Creator has removed or retired the underlying data, then the Data NFT is now just "an image" and, therefore, a regular NFT. It has lost its core capability to be a "Data NFT," and thus, its value significantly degrades. Itheum's Data NFT Marketplace does "Real-Time Data Uptime Checks" before any sale or purchase activity to ensure new Data NFT buyers can only buy Data NFTs with "live" Data Assets or Data Streams.

2. Fair Distribution of Data Creator Royalties Most regular NFT marketplaces do distribute creator royalties. Still, ultimately, it's up to each NFT marketplace to honor the distribution of creator royalties as part of any trade within their platforms. Some NFT marketplaces enforce different processes to claim creator royalties, with the creators often needing to be made aware of such processes to claim their royalties. Specific other NFT marketplaces do not honor creator royalties at all. As Data NFTs represent the original work of a Data Creator who produced high-value data that would have required a lot of initial effort in creating (and maintaining - as Data NFTs often contain a dynamic Data Stream), at Itheum, we feel that these Data Creators should ALWAYS get their creator royalties. Itheum's Data NFT Marketplace will automatically (and seamlessly) payout Creator Royalties, and this feature has been built into the marketplace protocol.