The H=N Event Emphasizes The Power Of Independent Decentralized Ownership And WEB3

Hic Et Nunc

The famous NFT platform Hic Et Nunc (H=N)  has created a huge and vibrant community of NFT  artists and collectors on the Tezos blockchain. On November 11th, the creator of the platform suddenly turned off the lights and shut down the website.

“H=N is dead” is what some people posted on Twitter. Nothing was further from the truth though. Although the frontend of the website was in centralized management, H=N is built on a decentralized blockchain and the backend bundle of smart contracts are open source.

And most importantly, all the NFTs created on H=N are stored on the blockchain and in non-custodial control of the owners of the NFT’s. So within 12 hours, four new H=N websites were up and people could mint and trade on H=N again.

“The King is dead, long live the King(s).”

Decentralization and ownership

A decentralized blockchain is an application that no single entity can control. This means that the rules are set and can’t be bent unless the majority agrees and consensus is reached about a change in the protocol rules.

This is why Bitcoin is revolutionary. Bitcoin was the first decentralized blockchain. It is an application “let loose” on the internet which no single entity could change or control, but which could be used by anyone equally.

It is an application that allows anyone with a computer to store value in such a way that only they own and control the (private) key. This way people are not dependent on third parties if they want to transact with someone.

The rules are set in advance in the protocol of the blockchain. I can send Bitcoins and I know for sure that if the transaction is completed, it is according to the terms that were known to me in advance.

This allows me to make a “trustless” transaction where I do not need to trust a bank or government to allow or facilitate my transaction.

From there a lot of variations have spawned. The most interesting are blockchains that support smart contracts. These are programs that can be launched on blockchains.

So, subprograms (also called dAPPs – Decentralized Applications) that allow decentralized programmability. A ton of use cases are developed from there.

Again, these programs allow users to make trustless transactions. But in the case of smart contracts, you can make transactions according to customized rules instead of single-party initiated transactions. (Instead of me sending a token to someone, we can actually agree in advance that he sends me something in return.)

NFT’s

NFT’s are tokens that represent ownership. It is a non-custodial way to determine and prove independent ownership.

NFTs being non-custodial and enabling independent ownership is a unique quality that allows you to be in full control of your art/ assets/ in-game item/ collectible or any other digital item that can be held.

Websites that allow you to mint and trade NFTs are simply user interface tools for you to interact.

Critics of NFT’s often say “I just right-click-saved and got myself a free NFT.” And yes, they now have the picture on their computer, but it is as worthless as the picture you take of a Van Gogh painting. Although you have a picture, you do not own the art. NFT’s prove ownership. 

The original H=N website shutting down is the perfect showcase of the strength of NFT’s. Even though the website shut down, every single NFT was still in the possession of every single owner that minted and/ or collected these NFTs through hicetnunc.xyz.

After the website shut down, the smart contract code was forked, a new user interface was created through several new websites and people could continue their H=N experience.

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