One word I see mentioned frequently about NFTs and marketplaces is trust.
You’ve probably seen an article (or 20) where the word is usually prefaced with lack thereof, distrust, or untrustworthy.
If you think about it, it isn’t really surprising that such labels stick in light of persistent scandals that characterize this landscape in which some of the big marketplaces have tarnished.
OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace of all, suffered a huge fail in June in the first-ever NFT insider trading case. This is on top of admitting earlier this year that 80% of NFTs minted for free on its platform were plagiarized works, fakes or spam.
To all the creators in our community impacted by the 50 item limit we added to our free minting tool, we hear you and we’re sorry.
We have reversed the decision.
But we also want to offer an explanation ↯ pic.twitter.com/Y3igaE1RM2— OpenSea (@opensea) January 27, 2022
Such an abundance of abuse, scams, frauds, and even Ponzi schemes, as some say, adds up to an unattractive-looking Wild West where fortunes are historically tied closely to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others have plumbed the depths of despair in recent months for investors and creators alike with plummeting values – Bitcoin, for instance, is down by more than half against the US dollar compared to its 2022 high in February; while in May, Terra Luna crashed completely.
In what’s widely being referred to as a crypto winter, there are predictions that values will remain low for a long time.
Connecting with like minds
There are some places in this desert-like landscape that spell opportunity for NFT creators and buyers, where climates of trust and responsibility can take hold and be a foundation in creating communities that are all about trust and responsibility.
Such an approach is needed see to the long-term success in any NFT marketplace. Building trust is key to addressing two of the most significant issues that plague the wider NFT market today:
- Fraud, piracy, and copy-minting are a plenty across too many NFT marketplaces, presenting a continuing threat to the entire web3 ecosystem.
- Barriers to entry are too high for creators, artists, brands, and galleries, many of whom find the current NFT landscape confusing and challenging, causing them to remain on the sidelines or be caught up in high-risk ventures.
If you’re an individual creator or artist, you want to look for a marketplace where power flows a community of like-minded members. Where you can sell your works at auction, and trusted smart contracts will spell out both parties’ rights on the blockchain. That offers opportunities for further revenue where resales of your work could trigger a royalty payment.
Not only that, you want and need a place that provides protection for your intellectual property. For example, enabling only thumbnails of your work to be copied by inevitable bad actors and encrypting the work itself on the blockchain, so it remains protected until a buyer decrypts it – protecting your asset itself, not just the transaction.
For many creators, being on a big marketplace isn’t what they’re looking for. Instead, they prefer a community that gives visibility to them and their works – whether that’s art, photographs, music, media, writings, and more – and connects them with like-minded buyers and fans.
A good example is Amberfi’s Global Creatives Society, that’s building a community of artists, photographers, writers, and technologists, who will work to support the livelihoods of web3 creatives around the globe and connect them with new fans and collectors.
One of the drivers in building this community is Scott Strazzante, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer based in San Francisco. Read Scott’s story on how the NFT space has brought the conversation about photography back.
Expectations
You want to tell your stories, show your work, connect with people, and earn new income. You want a community that will take NFTs and marketplaces to the next level with things like IP protection, new perpetual revenue streams with carry-forward royalties, and a simple user experience without the tech jargon.
These are reasonable expectations!
Learn more about Amberfi and discover how you can be part of a community that’s building the missing trust layer in the NFT space.
Amberfi Twitter: @amberfi_xyz
Amberfi Instagram: @amberfi.xyz
Amberfi Discord: Amberfi
