(本文翻譯自 陳冲 紅酒指數與紅酒NFT 2022.01.18.)
Two months after I took the helm of Financial Supervisory Commission, I gave a speech at a financial institution in Jan. 2009, the aftermath of financial tsunami was still rippling and confidence for the capital market lacking. In the speech, I specifically mentioned the Fine Wine Index, never noticed then domestically. I said that the Fine Wine Index tracked the price movement of the 50/100 fine wines on the secondary market and it somewhat represented the thinking mode of the rich and how they think the trend will evolve. The index often fell before the market fell and rose before the market rose, thus can be seen as the alternative of leading indicator. After that, many stock commenters studied the Liv-ex 100(500) Fine Wine Indices and found there’s really such a thing. All of a sudden, people started to know Fine Wine Index and coincidently, the domestic stock market also stabilized timely. This matter unintentionally became an interesting story in the market then.
Thirteen years passed. At recent gatherings, some friends from law circle lamented that being a scholar is no longer easy these days. In addition to basic research, they have just weathered the storm of cryptocurrency and again soon had to study Metaverse. Then it comes the NFT. Well if it is an original product NFT but non-artwork Wine NFT also join in the fun, and legal nature thereof is hard to define. Interestingly, NFT is the abbreviation of Non-Fungible Token, which is often translated as "non-homogenous" token. I remember when I was studying law in early days, there were so-called “res fungibles” in Latin, meaning fungibility, and rice and wine were often cited as examples. Fungible goods, no matter if translated as homogenization or fungibility, are often replaced by the same kind/quantity things, and that’s why the Fine Wine Index is generated. That red wine can have NFT obviously shows its uniqueness. But from the perspective of traditional view, it may take times to accept the changing concept.
Fungibility or uniqueness is actually a relative term. A promise to deliver ten bottles of red wine is fungibility. A promise to deliver ten bottles of 2000 Latour red wine is still fungibility. But a promise to deliver ten bottles of 1982 Latour will feature its uniqueness due to its scarcity. As least when calculating Fine Wine Index it will be excluded because it’s made for more than 25 years. If there are only three bottles of rare red wine left, it may be an "irreplaceable fungibility ", that is, a "non-homogenized homogeneous object", and the legal effect will be totally different. If further combined with other factors, such as a month ago(2021/12/15) someone blend American Robert Mondavi wines with French L ceramic factory to release limited editions, number and convert them into NFTs. That’s an example showing how fungibility n gorgeously turn to uniqueness.
In practice, we use the technology of blockchain to generate token after the digital asset is listed on the chain, so that each token is irreplaceable. It is commonly used in art but also has many applications in sports and music. Some people in Taiwan even apply it on chicken rice and puppet show. New patterns spring up, triggering hot topics as well. Strictly speaking, most NFTs de-homogenize homogeneous commodities (fungibles), making NFT a tool to recognize rights or specific objects, or converting created works into NFTs, or obtaining naming rights through NFTs. How miscellaneous that naturally it’s hard to make a conclusion legally. If there is a contract dispute in the short term, or if it is found that NFT does not have the expected uniqueness (non-homogenization), I wonder whether we can fix it since there is even no authority in charge of the daily routine business of cryptocurrency (or crypto asset) until now. When the NFT disputes occurs, maybe the Executive Yuan can only send itself to the guillotine. Or maybe to create the premier NFT instead?
The Fine Wine Index is the product of the collective behavior of the market, and the red wine NFT is the result of a small number of bargaining or outcry. People have been concerned about the money laundering problem of the latter one and there are endless problems concerning Digital Economy. Legislators can find there is still room for improvement regarding the prospect of the Law governing Ministry of Digital Development!