Expanding the Question: Digital Assets as Proof of Ownership and Goods Themselves
When dealing with NFTs or cryptocurrencies (coins), another intriguing fundamental question arises: "Aren’t NFTs and coins more than just proof-of-ownership documents—aren’t they ‘goods themselves’ that possess intrinsic scarcity and fluctuate in price?" This is a very sharp insight. Indeed, digital assets hold a dual status: they are both a means of proving rights and the actual "goods" being bought and sold. Yet, it is precisely because of this point that digital assets part ways completely with logistics, establishing themselves as the most evolved form of commercial distribution (commercial flow).
The Fact That They Are Goods Themselves Proves the Essence of Commercial Distribution
In distribution science, the essence of commercial distribution is broadly defined by two things: first, the "act of buying and selling the goods themselves," and second, the "change of title that transfers ownership of those goods." Any process of trading an item whose price is formed and fluctuates based on market supply, demand, and scarcity is, in itself, a quintessential commercial activity. From physical apples, artworks, and stocks to digital NFTs and coins, the core of buying and selling objects of value is always governed by the mechanisms of commercial distribution—namely, "trade" and "investment transactions."
Absence of Physical Reality: The Realm of Pure Commercial Flow Where Logistics Disappears
The decisive difference between general physical goods and digital assets lies in "whether logistics occurs." When trading a physical good like an apple, the commercial distribution (concluding a sales contract) is inevitably followed by physical "logistics"—packing apples into boxes and transporting them by truck. Conversely, NFTs and coins are digital goods that lack physical reality (atoms). The transmission of a token on a blockchain network is not a physical movement passing through trucks or warehouses; it is merely an "execution procedure of a transaction" that completes the trade by updating owner records. In other words, it exists in the domain of "100% pure commercial distribution," where the logistics phase is completely bypassed.
The Boundaries of Distribution Revealed by the Evolution of Assets
The fact that NFTs and coins serve as both proof of ownership and the goods themselves clarifies how they differ from the information flows within the realm of logistics. While delivery tracking messages or barcode data are auxiliary data existing "to assist the movement of goods," digital assets are data that inherently constitute "both ownership and the object of trade." Ultimately, digital assets represent the most sophisticated and pure form of modern commercial distribution—one that requires no concept of logistics. Even in a digital era where physical reality disappears, the essence of distribution remains unchanged: wherever value and ownership are exchanged, commercial distribution will always exist.
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