In the digital world, the million dollar question is: how do you ensure that one digital asset cannot be replicated?
To answer this question, it is important to understand that the internet was built to exchange information. This information is copied from computer to computer, replicated across the network. Each bit of data that goes through a node can be replicated or stored. In other words, once a piece of information is injected into the internet, it replicates and spreads quickly through the network that erases its uniqueness. This is how information transmission works—by replication.
The problem is that, in commercial transactions, we do not pass along information for free; we transact value that shouldn't be replicated. If I send you a dollar, I'm not supposed to hold it anymore because if I did, it would be worthless...