Science & Technology

Kayvon Tehranian: How NFTs are building the internet of the future | TED

In this revelatory talk, technologist Kayvon Tehranian explores why NFTs — digital assets that represent a certificate of ownership on the internet — are a technological breakthrough. Learn how NFTs are putting power and economic control back into the hands of digital creators — and pushing forward the internet’s next evolution. Visit to get our…

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In this revelatory talk, technologist Kayvon Tehranian explores why NFTs — digital assets that represent a certificate of ownership on the internet — are a technological breakthrough. Learn how NFTs are putting power and economic control back into the hands of digital creators — and pushing forward the internet’s next evolution.

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

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116 Comments

  1. daddyflashmaster

    December 14, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    Still gonna get ads

  2. Rob J

    December 14, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    This would be one of the worst ratio’d TED talks ever if YouTube hadn’t been all YouTube.

  3. Sarge Rho

    December 14, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    “NFTs are not a scam.” Yes, they are.
    “NFTs are not a fad.” Oh yes, yes they are.

  4. Rob J

    December 14, 2021 at 10:38 pm

    TED, you have lost another subscriber for giving a platform to this shill, this peddler of digital snake-oil

  5. Steve Steele

    December 14, 2021 at 10:40 pm

    I bought a digital bed for my online webkinz what almost 15 years ago.

  6. Benjamin I Meszaros

    December 14, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    No

  7. Steve Steele

    December 14, 2021 at 10:46 pm

    How NFTy!

  8. FeedbackJack

    December 14, 2021 at 10:52 pm

    Dislike

  9. tgone23

    December 14, 2021 at 10:58 pm

    *Right click, save as…, “F@ck your ‘NFT'”. Morons are trying to take over tech. Cyber Snake Oil. Crypto and NFTs are Mary Kay for Rogan Bros. Well, no. Mary Kay does sell you something.*

  10. tgone23

    December 14, 2021 at 11:05 pm

    *Don’t worry about dislike being disabled. Report this as misinformation.*

  11. Dr. Ricco Lindner

    December 14, 2021 at 11:10 pm

    Thid protection wont be done with a view lines of code! The block chain resources behind it will consume insane amounts of data and energy for even stupid cat memes. But I am open to great apllications of NFT, but I hope limited ressources will be wisely considered!

  12. Gaasuba Meskhenet

    December 14, 2021 at 11:20 pm

    i’m so ready for money to stop exising

  13. Liam Brown

    December 14, 2021 at 11:22 pm

    How to waste you’re limited time and money on another massive illusion. You will own nothing and be happy.

  14. Sownheard

    December 14, 2021 at 11:30 pm

    👎NFT👎

  15. Liam Brown

    December 14, 2021 at 11:31 pm

    Used to find Ted talks informative and worth the watch but now every video is infested with propaganda and selfish motivations. YouTube will probably censor this comment as it has become the same beast. Shame.

  16. Hot Soup

    December 14, 2021 at 11:51 pm

    BUY BUY BUY QUICK OUR PYRAMID SCHEME IS RUNNING OUT!!!

  17. MeoithTheSecond

    December 14, 2021 at 11:58 pm

    *To turn on dislikes for chrome* google Return YouTube Dislike extension

  18. James Huffaker

    December 15, 2021 at 12:11 am

    I still don’t get it. The only people who will buy NFTs are people who think they’ll be able to sell those NFTs later for more. And once everyone realizes that no one actually wants to buy what is freely available, the whole fad will evaporate in a puff of beanie babies.

  19. Mr Awesome

    December 15, 2021 at 12:37 am

    WEIRD VITALIK NFT! 🔥 UNDERVALUED!

  20. Pandaboi

    December 15, 2021 at 12:42 am

    Ted Talks once again prove that they don’t have standards. It’s fine that they don’t, but still.

    EDIT: He’s a businessman who deals in NFT’s. I take back what I said, Ted Talks should get some bloody standards. This happened before with a car-centric vision for the future presented by the CEO of an electric car company.

  21. Christian Soldier

    December 15, 2021 at 12:45 am

    NO PRIVACY

  22. Wolfundersurface

    December 15, 2021 at 12:45 am

    If you have to say you’re not a scam, you’re probably a scam.

  23. Cee

    December 15, 2021 at 12:50 am

    Lmao I can’t believe this is an actual Ted talk video. NFTs are the quickest crypto scam to exist. It was a good run but it’s time for me to unsubscribe

  24. Samuel Strachan

    December 15, 2021 at 1:08 am

    TED is a joke now. This is the point of no return.

  25. -Yop-

    December 15, 2021 at 1:13 am

    He can tell the future. I should believe him.

  26. Ethan

    December 15, 2021 at 2:04 am

    As of 9pm EST on the date of this video’s publishing, there are 805 likes and 614 dislikes, just for those who don’t have the chrome extension installed.

  27. Paul Brooks

    December 15, 2021 at 2:05 am

    TEDTalks are a meme now, we have Al Gore saving the environment, NFT scams destroying the planet (because NFTs are effectively coal-powered things you don’t actually own), and people advocating for first cousin marriages. Does anyone actually curate TED or do we just let anyone talk about bullcrap?

    We need more people like Gore and the sleep doctor who use real evidence-backed sources which are supported by a mountain of evidence, not just popular topics by people who are little more than shills.

  28. Monica

    December 15, 2021 at 2:46 am

    👎👎👎

  29. Tiberius Vetus

    December 15, 2021 at 2:52 am

    NFT are a poor replacement for DRM. With DRM, both audio and video can still be captured after decoding. NFT won’t change that. Yet another attempt to prop up crypto falls flat.

  30. Jesse Yules Film

    December 15, 2021 at 2:55 am

    Imagine, taking the ubiquitous and largely free ecosystem of the internet, and monetizing every aspect of it, by literally burning video cards and solid state drives.

    • Daniel Howland

      December 15, 2021 at 10:46 am

      You realise every aspect was already monetised, by large ubiquitous platforms like youtube, tiktok, instagram, pinterest, etc. the difference is you don’t see the mechanisms of their monetary policy.

    • Jesse Yules Film

      December 15, 2021 at 4:10 pm

      Yes, but the NFT / Crypto movement further solidifies the corporate ownership problem your describing. To me crypto seeks to remove democratic control over the money, and threatens to turn whales like Peter Theil into untouchable royalty.

  31. Lorie

    December 15, 2021 at 3:32 am

    How convient that they upload this when the dislikes are gone. This is a terrible video! NFTs are a scam and are detrimental to the environment. TED is about building a stronger world and advancements, but this video contradicts the things TED stands for. At least upload this on TEDx so we know this is a joke lol

  32. Eli Nope

    December 15, 2021 at 3:37 am

    This is just censorship and information gatekeeping dressed up as something else. I call it now, people will try to copyright basic education.

  33. sonicase

    December 15, 2021 at 7:06 am

    it’s not neon cat, it’s nYAN cat

  34. Kamdang

    December 15, 2021 at 7:24 am

    BIG NO. It’s hurting a lot of artists AND the environment. The people who are making money from it are NOT the artists. It’s money laundering and a pyramid scheme.

  35. Nuria Hdez.

    December 15, 2021 at 11:04 am

    😐

  36. KRATOS

    December 15, 2021 at 11:12 am

    I guess I’ll have to do it myself
    👎 Dislike

  37. True Crime Queen TV

    December 15, 2021 at 11:31 am

    Love your uploads! Be safe out there everyone ❤️💛🙏🏾🙏🏾

  38. Gabriel Grünberg

    December 15, 2021 at 12:36 pm

    Remove this, this is the stupidest thing ever posted by TED. And there have been some stupid things in the past, but this is purely malicious. This guy is a fraud trying to sell vapour-currency. There already is digital rights management, drm, some work, some don’t. NFTs is just vapour and there is nothing actually connecting the NFT to the thing it supposedly represents. I can make an NFT of the moon and claim I own it, and so can everyone else.

  39. kicchan

    December 15, 2021 at 12:37 pm

    This is only good for a select few and harms everyone else in every way.

  40. Juyeon Kim

    December 15, 2021 at 1:09 pm

    What a horrible TED talk. Really starting to lose faith in TED for its ability to inform the viewer on a topic in its entirety. This just seemed like a motivational speech that inspired needless, environmental-wrecking hustle.

  41. Ilya Pardzhiani

    December 15, 2021 at 1:11 pm

    when the speaker starts from the words “it’s not a scam” lol

  42. Reema Gul Sha Ali khan

    December 15, 2021 at 1:33 pm

    Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s so Amazing 🥺🤧😍🤧😍🤧
    I love physics

  43. seraz vi

    December 15, 2021 at 3:25 pm

    So we’re not going to talk about how ecologically harmful these things and the trade around them are?

    Good look right now, TED. Glad you know your priorities.

  44. まりあグロ

    December 15, 2021 at 3:33 pm

    only one

  45. RowDogSA

    December 15, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    The Internet of the future will only be possible with low gas fees.

  46. Mia Jære

    December 15, 2021 at 4:52 pm

    Really happy I learned this

  47. hdmat101

    December 15, 2021 at 5:15 pm

    Use me as a dislike button

  48. Jim Keen

    December 15, 2021 at 7:00 pm

    wtf is “neon-cat”? I think you mean “nyan-cat”. Please pronounce “nyan” as one syllable. Sounds like “yan” with an ‘n’ add to the beginning, as it’s written. The original nyan-cat video has a song in which every single syllable is “nyan”. Say it like that. Come on, y’all.

  49. Nicky's Channel

    December 15, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    Watermarks can and DO work, you just need to do it properly and not buy into this nonsense…
    Crypto block chains are untraceable and lead to money laundering, abolish this!

  50. Joel Heath

    December 15, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    Adding scarcity is a bug, not a feature. NFTs as currently constituted are, in fact, a scam. It could be useful for something but no compelling use case has been proposed, much less implemented.
    Any claims about how much an NFT sold for needs to specify who sold them and who bought them because there is a ton of self-dealing going on to inflate prices and manufacture demand that doesn’t actually exist.

  51. Deane Gainey

    December 16, 2021 at 1:58 am

    My reply: no they’re not

  52. TheBestLettuce

    December 16, 2021 at 4:35 am

    Wow, that’s amazing! You paid 5k for a picture of a monkey I’m so proud!

    Now sell it. To someone who isn’t yourself on an alt. Good luck

    • MsSarahJosephine

      December 16, 2021 at 8:11 am

      Sorry, already right clicked and saved it.

  53. SAHM

    December 16, 2021 at 7:16 am

    I hate how he just focused on arts as NFTs. That’s like talking about a hammer, while you wanted to give a robotics lecture.

  54. gmail account123

    December 16, 2021 at 10:20 am

    disliked

  55. Little Space Case

    December 16, 2021 at 11:05 am

    this is not an idea worth spreading

  56. Drewconic Sorceress

    December 16, 2021 at 1:59 pm

    TED really did go through all this talk about climate change and then imediately back-pedaled to hop on the NFT bandwagon

  57. Josh Rich

    December 16, 2021 at 3:11 pm

    Some explained this to me as owning a piece of the Mona Lisa but everyone still gets to view it at the louvre. Doesn’t really seem like ownership if you don’t have control over it

  58. tahereh atshbar

    December 16, 2021 at 7:29 pm

    Viva
    Iranian people in all of the world ,perfect 👌

  59. Ilya Saunkin

    December 16, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    Literally every scammer on the internet starts by says “X is not a scam”

  60. Ilya Saunkin

    December 16, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    Literally every scammer on the internet starts by saying “X is not a scam”

  61. Mr. C

    December 17, 2021 at 3:16 am

    I’m reminded of a scene in the movie, “Jurassic Park” where Malcolm tells John that he’s so enamored by whether he CAN do something, that he never thought to ask himself if he SHOULD.
    In the same conversation he also adds the classic statement….”what you call discovery, I call the rape of the natural world 🌍.

  62. Nate

    December 17, 2021 at 4:40 am

    “The internet promised a world of post scarity where the ideas of property and ownership seemed gone….and we didn’t like that so we needed to find a way to force our monkey brain ideas of scarity and wealth back into that system instead of embracing a better future.”

  63. kevinth66

    December 17, 2021 at 4:40 pm

    So can just anyone buy their way onto a TED stage now? Who’s next, Mike Lindell?

  64. Avinash Tiwari

    December 17, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    Easily worst TED talk I have eve seen.
    Too obvious.

  65. DARK line

    December 18, 2021 at 1:05 am

    bro subtutles dont working

  66. MOKUSAI

    December 18, 2021 at 1:05 am

    bro subtutles dont working

  67. Joshua McLaughlin

    December 18, 2021 at 2:42 am

    Hey look its butters from south park!

  68. Andria

    December 18, 2021 at 3:24 am

    This really did not at all explain “how”.

  69. Will

    December 18, 2021 at 11:34 am

    I’m still confused about it. Nyan Cat for example, cant I just publish my own NFT with a screenshot of Nyan Cat and claim to be the owner?
    Then they talk about Royalties, so when I share Nyan Cat the original author is making money? Doesnt make sense, isnt the NFT like owning a share when you only make money when selling and realising the gain?

  70. Sumit Chauhan

    December 18, 2021 at 12:41 pm

    Bruno fernandes

  71. Luis Carlos Buendia Gaviria

    December 18, 2021 at 6:07 pm

    Love the example of Neon Cat as he is probably not paying a dime to use it on his presentation and it is definitely not the… you know… “original” neon cat.

  72. Om A

    December 18, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    I watched soithpark post pandemic future and I heard about NFT. I am laughing hard listening and seeing this video 🤣🤣🤣🤣

  73. Plema

    December 19, 2021 at 2:44 am

    Such a shame that TED allowed this person to talk about NFTs.

  74. Clement Shimizu

    December 19, 2021 at 6:17 am

    This guy doesn’t even explain what they actually are.

  75. Divesh Suvarna

    December 19, 2021 at 6:54 am

    Here’s your dislike button

  76. The Big Dawg

    December 19, 2021 at 8:16 am

    OK scammer.

  77. Samih EL SAKHAWI

    December 19, 2021 at 4:10 pm

    Too bad he doesn’t talk about NFTs made by people who stole artist works.

  78. Joydip Ghosh

    December 19, 2021 at 7:14 pm

    May be after 20 years people understand the real value of NFT like the btc. I am 27 and started nft for full time after leaving my software job.

  79. Scarlett H

    December 19, 2021 at 7:23 pm

    boooo

  80. HandroxG Portfolio

    December 19, 2021 at 7:52 pm

    nft s nothing

  81. EPA Sketch

    December 20, 2021 at 8:25 am

    wow, TED. Terrible, terrible content here. Absolutely wretched to give NFTs a platform for them to appear “respectable” when they’re legitimately a scam that not only has had constant examples of artists having their content stolen and profited from AND ruined people’s financial lives BUT also destroy our planet even faster.

  82. a fetus

    December 20, 2021 at 8:01 pm

    bro moment

  83. Najifa Tabassum

    December 21, 2021 at 12:55 am

    NFT’s are so terrible for mother Earth. Please, stop promoting this awfulness.

  84. B Welkinator

    December 21, 2021 at 5:57 am

    The very fact that you had to start with “NFTs are not a scam” CLEARLY says that they are.

  85. Amirreza TM

    December 21, 2021 at 9:08 am

    I see lots of people giving a speech in different conferences and they all point to their nationality or past or make quotes of their language and stuff…except Iranians 🙂 , pay them a billion dollars and they’ll never say where they’re from…

  86. The Thomas

    December 21, 2021 at 9:52 am

    This is valuable information, thanks Kayvon. I can see that people in the comments completely missed the point. All complaints fail to undercut the future potential.

    • Artemis

      January 4, 2022 at 3:28 am

      Agreed!

    • Mustafa N.

      January 10, 2022 at 9:22 pm

      Indeed. A bunch of dinosaurs in the comments section

  87. Alan Rivers

    December 21, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Wonder what the dislike ratio is on this video lol

  88. KeepcoolGames

    December 21, 2021 at 9:55 am

    Wonder what the dislike ratio is on this video lol

  89. Cheng Chang

    December 21, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    Unsub,thanks TED

  90. Jesus Rivera

    December 21, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    Calm down Butters!

  91. Alexa Bren

    December 23, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    I didn’t feel like this addressed how NFT’s somehow precent the (illegal) duplication and distribution of digital assets. I can see how they can digitize and simplify the royalty / sale processes for these goods for creators, but only if people play by the rules and go to the owners for their content. We’ve seen with the digital marketplace for music that people will still pirate songs and rip mp3’s off youtube for free. Again, I see the value of NFTs baking digital ownership contracts into the assets themselves, but I don’t think it protects the property any more than copywrite laws do today.

    • T.K.

      December 30, 2021 at 12:20 am

      yeah , i was wondering the same… like does it stop people from being able to screenshot an image ? how can it fully protect a file ?

  92. Dan Cattell Art

    December 23, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Wasting resources and energy in order to damage our ecology and fellow humans and then expecting to be valued for doing so is never going to be sustainable and will always be worthy of ridicule.

  93. 0 0

    December 24, 2021 at 7:15 am

    Took more than Half the video to start on what NFT is? Don’t waste my time. Everyone WATCHING THIS knows what the internet is!

  94. K N

    December 25, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    Woah, I didn’t know there was so much hate towards NFTs

    • Tidepool Clipper

      December 29, 2021 at 11:06 pm

      Art thieves love turning regular art into NFTs and NFTs do not belong in video games (loot boxes and micro-transactions are already bad enough as it is).

    • T.K.

      December 30, 2021 at 12:39 am

      lol. , right ?! i was *not* expecting the comment section to be this way

  95. Jon Rendell

    December 26, 2021 at 5:47 am

    I love the cartoon where the psychiatrist asks the patient on the couch, “These “NFTs” — are they in the room with us right now?”

  96. shashank kumar

    December 28, 2021 at 5:09 pm

    Dislike

  97. Dead Don't Play

    December 29, 2021 at 1:28 am

    Anyone else remember when Ted Talks used to be thought provoking and/or educational?
    Kind of weird seeing them turn into an ad agency for some of the worse products imaginable.

  98. Ricky

    December 29, 2021 at 5:45 pm

    I bet this guy listens to the Grateful Dead

  99. Tidepool Clipper

    December 29, 2021 at 11:05 pm

    NFTs are one of the worst things we human have ever invented. Already, art thiefs are turning fan art into NFTs and even video games are being further ruined by NFTs.

  100. T.K.

    December 30, 2021 at 12:04 am

    whoah , that Black woman is striking at 7:29

  101. Myah Morales

    January 1, 2022 at 3:22 am

    You guys really need to do some research this is the future … educate yourself

  102. rpminc 12

    January 2, 2022 at 10:50 pm

    I understand some of the concepts so far except “Neon Cat” Why would this have value at all I don’t get it Does the picture represent something else of real value ?? because the picture itself would be the last thing that i would want for anything !!

  103. Bla

    January 4, 2022 at 4:08 am

    How much for the dislike-bar NFT on this Video?
    Please let me know. My very real virtual wallet shall reimburse you with many doge-coins.
    Thank you.

  104. Neko Medic

    January 6, 2022 at 9:18 pm

    oh man good thing we can’t see the dislikes.

  105. Travis Mimms

    January 6, 2022 at 11:21 pm

    Nfts are a fad, and a scam, and a future I don’t want to be apart of.

  106. Ankush Tagore

    January 7, 2022 at 5:39 pm

    Youtube’s API is not working thats why dislikes are…….

  107. GreyMatter121

    January 9, 2022 at 3:10 am

    Watched the whole thing. He doesn’t really explain what the advantage is of owning the the NFT after purchasing it. Only that the original creator receives royalties each time it is resold.

    How is the new owner gaining any kind of benefit from buying it? How are they profiting?

  108. Mustafa N.

    January 10, 2022 at 9:26 pm

    When the internet came out there was a whole lot of scepticism. With NFTs it’s the same. This is the digitazation of art. Get on board or get left behind. Simple. The ignorance in the comments section is remarkable. Explains why Biden is president and people think a vaccine will prevent Covid better than natural immunity. If you don’t know, you don’t.

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