# The on-chain demoscene is just getting started. Source: https://medium.com/@tekkac/on-chain-abilities-own-your-nfts-0feee018ff71 ## Summary The article argues that NFTs should store their metadata and assets fully on-chain, since off-chain servers can modify, shut down, or lose control of them. It says cost is not the main barrier, pointing instead to storage limits, VM compute limits, smart-contract expressivity, and a lack of tools and standards. It presents demoscene-style compression as a model for building on-chain art, and cites standards such as Metadata Updates, Dynamic Traits, and Redeemables, with OpenSea pushing Redeemables and Carbonable Labs working on a Starknet implementation. ## Article Press enter or click to view image in full size Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you’ve probably heard about NFTs or even bought one. But are you really the sole owner of your NFT? According to Ben-Sasson’s Integrity Web: “individuals with limited computational means can verify the integrity of the system”. How can the Integrity Web idea qualify in the context of programmable abilities? 📰 TL;DR: — On-chain NFTs are becoming the norm. — New improvement proposals enable trustless on-chain dynamism. — Integratooors need to keep up with standards. — A new playground for demomakers! 🤭 So you think you own your NFTs? When’s the last time you checked your wallet’s NFTs? Are you sure you still hold them in your wallet? How about those rare traits, are they forever like a diamond? Can pseudonymous devs do something and turn your prized cat picture into a JPEG of raw coal, just by modifying one bit of storage? Press enter or click to view image in full size These legitimate questions boil down to crucial aspects of ownership: - Privileged Access Control vs Trustlessness. - Immutability vs Dynamicity. (we’ll talk about that) - External Assets vs On-Chain data. (we’ll focus on this one in this article) 💎 Off-chain NFTs Aren’t Forever Servers could generate NFT assets dynamically, however they mostly serve static assets. Even though, off-chain storage is dirt cheap, and asset generation is easy. But more importantly, the off-chain option misses the Point of Integrity: It lacks decentralization and censorship-resistance. In terms everyone can understand: if servers owners can generate your metadata, they can also modify it, shut down the server, or get hacked. ⁉️So, Why Aren’t All NFTs On-Chain? Some say the main reason is the COST, but “Press X to Doubt”. What’s true is that on-chain data resources aren’t cheap on Ethereum L1 because of a certain triangle. However, the cost of code deposit decreased significantly enough with L2 gas prices, and even more so with blobs making data billions of times less expensive than regular calldata. The real issues lies elsewhere: — Storage cost prevents very large media assets storage. — VMs compute power limits real-time asset rendering. — Smart-contract language expressivity limits on-chain assets complexity. — Lack of tools and standards. While it may sound like a skill issue to many, few see the opportunity of an unexplored playground. 🧑‍💻 An On-Chain Demoscene! Demomakers are elite programmers that can pack minutes of real-time glitchy soundtracks, colorful visual effects and 3D procedural textures videos into a mere 65535 bytes of executable file, sometimes less. Such optimization and compression were crucial to fit the requirements of older Operating Systems with limited memory and execution resources. Those are exactly the conditions we face with universal on-chain compute. Press enter or click to view image in full size On-chain Demomakers to the rescue. The on-chain “demoscene” is just getting started, we can already find smart contract libraries to generate asset file types such as HTML/XML, JSON, SVG, PNG, WAV, MIDI in the wild. Imagine what could be done when data generation meets on-chain logic. ⭐ Unlocking New Abilities With on-chain assets, you can generate Metadata on the fly with data from blockchain storage. It is thus technically possible to update your NFT at each new block produced, or even at transaction speed! That’s why the standard for Metadata Updates helps devs communicate all Metadata changes to third parties. Smart-contract extensions enable new on-chain use-cases for your assets: Dynamic Traits are a standard way to update asset attributes (buy, sell, gain new abilities) Redeemables are things you can redeem through campaigns attached to your assets. They can be on-chain like token airdrops or off-chain like merch validated by a signature. Components Libraries: allows to share and reuse code for assets generation. Such new abilities push the limits of usecases for art and RWA assets. Redeemables are actively pushed by OpenSea, and Carbonable Labs is working with contributors on a Starknet implementation. With Great Power Comes Great Responchainbilities For “new abilities” to not rhyme with “less security”, standards must be battled-tested and well-integrated by dApps and 3rd-parties. Indeed, highly-dynamic financial assets needs their metadata to be displayed timely and accurately on 3rd-parties marketplaces. ⛓️‍💥 Note: Be sure to verify that marketplaces display up-to-date Metadata. Here’s an URL to check live asset Metadata. 🫵🏼 What’s in it for You? Get involved and earn points by: Star and contribute to Carbonable Labs Github repositories. Join the conversation on Telegram or Discord. Implement on-chain Metadata in your NFT project. Follow Carbonable and tek_kac on X. Cool On-chain Art You Should Check Out Ethereum shout-outs 256art: on-chain generative platform with animation & sound libs 5/9: On-chain Chess, CTFs, SVG, and much more crazy stuff. CyberBrokers: On-Chain SVG NFT collection on Ethereum mainnet Starknet shout-outs art-peace: A on-chain r/place pixel community blobert: A fully-onchain NFT collection used for gaming. RWAtcher.com: Live monitoring of Carbonable Project Metadata. Nicera Labs: Art collective exploring on-chain interactions for performances.