Category: NFT Project

NFT Real Estate Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on by Anthony Georgiades

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been used to disrupt several industries, starting with the art market and diversifying into music, communities, and real estate. 

While these rapidly changing markets have been easier to disrupt, real estate could pose a much more significant challenge being a slower market, taking an average of 8 weeks per sale compared to art, which typically takes no longer than a wire transfer. 

This article will look at how NFT real estate works, reasons to use NFTs in the real estate market, the top two NFT real estate projects, challenges real estate NFTs could face, and their future in the market. 

How Do Real Estate NFTs Work?

Real estate NFTs are similar to traditional NFTs; they can be purchased on cryptocurrency marketplaces such as OpenSea and  SolSea using Ethereum, Solana, or the cryptocurrency chosen by the seller. Each NFT is then held in a cryptocurrency wallet. 

Real estate NFTs can be used to generate a passive income by representing equity in a real-estate project. They can cover everything from property ownership to a share, in which the NFT holder will be paid much like a traditional dividend. For example, if the NFT owner represents a 15% share in a real estate project, the holder will earn 15% of the net profit. 

Due to their tokenized nature, most real estate NFTs can be sold at any time, provided there is a marketplace with sufficient liquidity for the asset. However, some real estate investments will require the owner to hold for an agreed period, which will be made clear before a purchase is made. 

Why Use Real Estate NFTs?

With NFTs still being a new technology, how practical are they compared to a system that’s been in place for decades? 

Being immutable, NFTs show absolute proof of ownership, improve credibility, and are fully transparent, without many of the complexities of the traditional real estate system, such as surveying and complex contracts. Here are two benefits that NFTs bring to real estate. 

NFTs can dramatically decrease the volume of paperwork required to purchase a property. Current real estate investments require copious amounts of paperwork as part of the ownership transfer, which can be overwhelming for all parties involved. 

Real estate NFTs help streamline this process, as much of the back-office paperwork can be automated with the NFT’s underlying smart contract. This, in theory, allows buyers and sellers to transfer ownership in a matter of minutes (after legal counsel has been consulted). 

Top NFT Real Estate Projects

Origin Story 

Origin Story has partnered with the real estate investment group Roofstock to bring real-world real estate properties to the NFT marketplace. Roofstock believes that this deal will help cut sellers’ fees by 50%, dramatically improving the profitability of selling property. 

Roofstock also believes that on-chain real estate transfers could increase transaction speeds, streamlining the buying process. Since 2015, Roofstock has facilitated over $5 billion in investment transactions and plans to implement NFT real estate investments in 2023. 

The Sandbox

The Sandbox is one of the largest Ethereum-based Metaverses in the DeFi market. Showcasing an entire world to explore, The Sandbox offers unique play-to-earn virtual reality gameplay in which players can buy land plots, buy and sell in-game assets, and complete tasks for rewards. 

The Sandbox first rose to fame in 2021, when it was endorsed by Deadmau5, Snoop Dogg, and Atari, all of which own land plots within the digital world. Land plots are valued based on the area they’re in, with land close to celebrities having a higher value. For example, the three plots around the Snoop Dogg Mansion sold for $1.23m, with one selling for $453,000. 

LoanSnap

LoanSnap launched the first seven mortgage NFTs in November 2021 in the form of home equity loans. These NFTs work like traditional mortgages, replacing mortgage notes with NFTs. 

The location and size of the NFT mortgages were not disclosed and have not yet been available to the general public or crypto investors. However, LoanSnap also plans to issue a stablecoin called bHome. bHome will represent fractional ownership in the NFT mortgage notes, which would allow investors to own a percentage of the mortgage. 

Challenges for NFTs in Real Estate

Much like any other new technology, real estate NFTs don’t come without their drawbacks. Firstly, only 12% of Americans understand the concept of NFTs, creating an educational divide. Although NFTs offer a wide array of benefits, the underlying technology could be too complex for everyday real estate workers and home buyers to fully utilize without the risk of hacks and scams, which have been used to steal $100m since July 2021.  

Secondly, regulation could make real estate NFTs more complex than first thought. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ramped up its investigation into NFTs, stating that NFTs are being used to raise money, like traditional securities, rather than being sold as art. 

Real estate NFTs would undergo a Howey test before they’re accepted into the mainstream real estate market. Should they be considered a security, they will have to be registered with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, file regular reports, and comply with Rule 505 of Regulation D.

Final Thoughts: Do NFTs Have A Place In The Future Of Real Estate?

In the future, real estate NFTs could be used to streamline both residential and commercial real estate transaction processes, and open the asset class to an international decentralized community of buyers and sellers.  

As the real estate market is already heavily regulated, current laws covering privacy and data protection will likely make it difficult to buy and sell real estate properties as NFTs. Property laws in the real estate’s location could also add additional complexity to the deal, with different states and countries having different rules regarding real estate ownership.  

That being said, real estate NFTs may begin to slowly influence the real world market, allowing individuals to hold mortgage debt, support new building projects and take part in group investments instead of outright buying and selling a whole property.

Otherside NFTs Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on by Anthony Georgiades

Otherside is a metaverse world designed around the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection. 

“The Otherside” will offer a massive role-playing game where over 10,000 players can interact, complete missions, and voice chat simultaneously. 

The Otherside NFTs were originally sold to BAYC holders and went on public sale on April 30, 2022. 55,000 land parcels were sold for over $300 million, though not without controversy. Due to high network usage, transaction fees were extremely high, and some transactions failed altogether. 

In this article, we’ll look at what The Otherside is, how it works, its founders, how you can buy an Otherside NFT, and what happened during the land sale that caused a stir among Crypto Twitter. 

What Is The Otherside?

The Otherside is a 3D massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) focusing on the BAYC community. It’s designed to help expand the utility of the BAYC project, combining the benefits of BAYC with a range of other NFT projects.  

Like other Metaverse projects, players can explore an open world, venture out on quests, buy, own and sell land, and harvest resources to potentially generate passive income. 

There are four unique resources in the game: Anima, Root, Shard, and Ore. 

Players can also find and collect “artifacts,” rare in-game assets. 

The Otherside ecosystem consists of a marketplace for materials called The Agora, a unique arcade machine, and The Codex, which works much like a book telling the tales of The Otherside. In its basic form, The Codex describes the Metaverse. However, it continues to change and can be added by players describing their in-game experience. 

As of January 2023, The Otherside is only accessible to landholders who own Otherdeed NFTs. These can be purchased on OpenSea and have a floor price of around 1 ETH – 1.5 ETH. 

How Does The Otherside Work?

The Otherside operates using several components: 

  • Unique playable NFT characters
  • Otherside Land NFTs
  • Kodas

Here’s how each works. 

NFT Characters

To create diversity in The Otherside, a wide range of NFTs can be used as playable characters as long as the owner holds an Otherdeed NFT. This increases the number of players, as BAYC NFTs would price out many holders. 

Otherside Land NFTs

Otherside land NFTs, also known as Otherdeeds, come in a wide range of unique land types offering a diverse range of terrains for players to explore. Land types include castles surrounded by lava, bone-chilling glaciers, psychedelic realities, and thousands of other options. 

Each piece of land will have unique sediment, including rainbow atmos, biogenic swamps, chemical goo, cosmic dreams, and an infinite expanse. There are 200,000 land parcels, each of which will have one or more resources (Anima, Root, Shard, and Ore.)

Alongside its sediment, each Otherdeed land parcel will also have a range of unique traits, such as:

  • Environment
  • Resources
  • Artifacts
  • Sediment tier
  • Environment Tier
  • Kodas

This makes each plot unique, with resources determining the value and rarity of the land NFT. 

Kodas

Kodas are a new series of NFT characters and will play an important role in The Otherside Metaverse. Initially, there will be 10,000 Kodas for every 100,000 Otherside Land NFTs, meaning players will have a 10% chance of owning one. 

As of January 2023, Kodas remains somewhat of a mystery. There is currently no information on how players will interact with them, and their storyline remains a secret. Nonetheless, many investors believe the value of Kodas will surge in the future. 

Who Created The Otherside?

The pioneer of The Otherside is Yuga Labs, the company that created ApeCoin and BAYC. They are supported by three developers: Andreesen Horowitz, Animoca Brands, and Improbable. 

Andreesen Horowitz, also known as “a16z crypto,” is the venture-capital firm that led the first seed round for The Otherside. One of its partners, Chris Lyons, has since become part of Yuga Lab’s board for the project. 

Animoca Brands is a venture capital and gaming software company. It already has prior success in the Metaverse, having helped build The Sandbox, and is now working on the funding and technology for The Otherside. 

Improbable is a UK-based company pushing the boundaries of Metaverse technology. Using funding from Animoca, Improbable aims to create the largest, most secure, and most interactive platform across a range of virtual worlds. 

How To Buy An Otherside NFT

You can buy Otherside NFTs on OpenSea.

Begin by creating an OpenSea account and connecting your wallet– MetaMask is the best option.

Once connected, search for Otherdeed for Otherside, ensuring the collection has a blue verification tick. 

Search through NFTs based on traits and click “Buy Now” to make your purchase. 

Land Sale Disaster

Despite being a highly anticipated project from a well-known NFT project, the initial Otherdeed NFT drop was a disaster for many investors. Before release, the majority of the 200,000 land plots available were reserved for the BAYC community, which immediately monopolized the market. 

Only 55,000 land plots were sold publicly, with a mint value of over $300 million. This made the mint one of the most expensive of any Metaverse projects and immediately priced out many collectors. 

Before the Otherdeeds sale, Yuga Labs announced they wouldn’t rely on a dutch auction, which is known for creating “gas wars” where fees are driven up until only the richest investors can buy into a project. 

Instead, Yoga Labs planned to use a wave system to release their NFTs. Unfortunately, this was even less successful than a dutch auction. Upon release, thousands of investors swarmed the platform to buy an Otherdeed NFT. This resulted in extremely high minting fees, and several transactions failed as collectors couldn’t afford the gas fees. Consequently, investors who experienced failed transactions lost thousands of dollars.

By the end of the sale, only NFT investors with large amounts of capital could buy. Yoga Labs apologized for the incident and stated that in the future, they might need to move the BAYC ecosystem to another blockchain network to prevent similar problems. 

Final Thoughts: Exploring Otherside’s Potential 

The Otherside is an exciting spin-off of the BAYC brand and has the potential to take the community to new highs. 

With many exciting features, interactive gameplay, and a storyline that will continue to develop, The Otherside could change how we interact with blockchain gaming. 

However, despite its potential, The Otherside may be too expensive for everyday NFT gamers to get involved. 

The fact that almost 75% of the total supply went to BAYC holders and investors were priced out of the remaining supply during The Otherside auction means that only a select few collectors can participate. If the project wants to thrive, it needs to consider the wider NFT community and create new ways for collectors to enjoy the Metaverse without a large initial investment. 

Azuki NFTs Explained (Read Before Buying)

Posted on by Andrew Amarosa

Azuki is a collection of 10,000 avatar NFTs inspired by anime artwork. The collection works like most profile picture NFTs (PFP NFTs,) utilizing a randomized selection of traits to create each unique character. 

Released in January 2022, Azuki had one of the most successful NFT launches, selling out on OpenSea and LooksRare in just three minutes. During its release, Azuki generated an estimated $29 million and caught the attention of the entire NFT market. 

In this article, we’ll look at what Azuki is, how it works, what are Azuki’s Beanz, how to buy an Azuki NFT, Azuki Controversy, and the project’s future. 

What is Azuki?

Azuki is a PFP NFT project consisting of 10,000 generative anime-inspired avatars. Its unique aesthetic has been compared to a combination of the 3D game The World Ends with You and the skateboarding magazine Thrasher. 

Azuki was initially planned to be launched using a Dutch Auction (where a set starting price is made and decreases throughout the sale.) The dev team planned to set a starting price of 1 ETH for 8,700 NFTs (1300 were whitelisted) and decrease this by 0.05 ETH every 20 minutes until its price hit 0.15 ETH. However, as the collection sold out in three minutes, it never decreased in price. Instead, all NFTs were minted at 1 ETH- around $3246. 

Post-launch, the value of Azuki increased exponentially, with Azuki hitting almost $300 million in transaction volume across NFT marketplaces like OpenSea. Lower value NFTs were selling for around $36,000, while rare options sold for over half a million USD. Azuki had become the eighth-most traded NFT collection worldwide in just one month, competing with household names like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks. 

How Does Azuki Work?

Alongside unique PFP NFTs, Azuki promised investors a long-term roadmap which helped attract the NFT community to the project. This roadmap included immersive 3D experiences, unique Azuki-themed merchandise, in-person exhibits for Azuki holders, and even a native currency called $BEAN.

Since its initial release, all holders have had access to The Garden. Within The Garden, holders can be the first to access collabs with other NFT projects, Azuki drops, clothing, tickets, live events, and more. 

However, this initial roadmap was disrupted in early May 2022 after Zegabond (an Azuki founder) published a blog that mentioned his previous three projects and how each had failed. Each had been a big hit at the time and experienced controversy in one way or another. This decreased the price of Azuki’s by over 45% and caused significant backlash throughout social media, which we’ll go into more detail below. 

As of January 2023, Azuki has continued to follow its roadmap, offering streetwear to members of The Garden, the creation of a Gallery Metaverse, and plans for Meta-games within the community. 

Who created Azuki?

Azuki was created by Churu Labs, a group of artists and developers located in Los Angeles. Each member has a background in technology, gaming, and crypto, using a pseudonymous name to stay anonymous. They go by the names of 2pm.flow, location tba, HoshiBoy, and Zagabond. 

Churu labs created Azuki to take PFP NFTs to the next level, aiming to impact the real world with in-person events, merchandise, and more. 

What are Azuki’s Beanz?

In April 2022, Azuki launched a second collection called Azuki Beanz. This collection was more affordable than the traditional Azukis and had rumors to be linked to Adidas and Supreme (though these turned out to be untrue.)

The collection consists of around 30,000 NFTs, and each Azuki holder was airdropped a mysterious box that contained a unique character from the Beanz collection.

Azuki Beanz holders receive access to an exclusive Discord channel, with merchandise and collectible drops being announced in the future. 

There are two BEANZ NFTs in total; one red and one blue, each with its own personality. Red BEANZ is a rule breaker, making his way from The Garden into the alley. Apparently, the Red BEANZ bites your Azuki if you tell him what to do. 

The second bean is a blue BEANS NFT. Blue BEANZ is constantly getting into trouble. They annoy Azuki’s and have a bad reputation. 

How To Buy An Azuki NFT

You can buy an Azuki NFT on LooksRare and OpenSea.

Start by setting up an account and collecting your wallet on either platform. MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet are good options for this. 

Once you’ve connected your wallet, search for Azuki in the search bar, ensuring the collection has a blue checkmark to avoid a rug pull. 

Find the NFT you want to buy and click “Buy Now” to complete the purchase. 

Azuki Controversy 

In May 2022, Zagabond announced he was behind three defunct projects; Tendies, CryptoZunks, and CryptoPhunks. CryptoPhunks, in particular, was seen as a huge issue amongst the Azuki community, as it was considered a rug pull after the dev team disappeared. Consequently, many investors started to question the legitimacy of Azuki. 

But the criticism didn’t stop there. After additional research, on-chain data discovered that the founder of CryptoPhunks completed a wash trade (when a buyer and seller collaborate to inflate the market.)This caused the Azuki floor price to plunge further, decreasing from 19 ETH ($ 45,410) to as low as 10.5 ETH ($25,095.)

To address the controversy, Zagabond held a Twitter space on May 10th, hosted by Andrew Wang, a popular cryptocurrency figure. Vagabond claimed that he handed off the communities, then tried to justify his actions by stating there’s no rulebook for creators to follow. 

However, developers who worked with Zagabond took to Twitter to share their experiences. In a detailed Twitter thread, “dvx,” a former CryptoZunks team leader, stated that Zagabond was consistently dishonest about his work, failed to communicate with his team, and abandoned the project despite a roadmap already being in place. Other developers stated that Zagabond was scamming from the start and had no intention for the projects to succeed. 

Despite this criticism, Azuki buyers actually increased by 1200%, with investors capitalizing on the lower floor price. 

Final Thoughts: Is Azuki Still Worth The Investment

Although Azuki experienced negative publicity in 2022, it remains a strong investment option with a floor price of 14 ETH as of January 2023. 

The dev team has successfully expanded the project with Azuki Beanz and continues to pursue the planned roadmap, providing value to holders in the process. This continuous investment shows that the dev team is invested in the long-term success of the project. 

Nonetheless, as with any investment, completing your due diligence is always important. Only invest what you can afford and ensure Azuki is the right project for you before making any decisions. 

2022 In Review & 2023 Roadmap

Posted on by Tiffany Behnam

2022 was a big year for Pastel Network. In 2021, we made a massive shift to focus on opening our infrastructure such as Sense and Cascade to the entire Web3 ecosystem. By the end of 2021, we were poised to increase exposure and bring our vision of an ecosystem supported by Pastel’s suite of products to fruition. Despite market conditions, we kept our foot on the pedal to develop and refine Pastel’s mission critical infrastructure technology and seek out new partnerships and collaborations. We worked tirelessly to deliver new solutions to the market.

Below, we recap some of our largest achievements of 2022 including the Cezanne Mainnet Release and launch of SmartMint.

Cezanne Mainnet Release — Our Biggest Upgrade Yet

After having been under development for over 8 months, we released Cezanne in August as our largest release to date. Cezanne marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Pastel Network. The release brings countless improvements to both end-user & NFT functionality — such as registration, minting, transferring, and trading — alongside unrestricted access to advanced protocols like Sense and Cascade via interoperable Open-APIs, seamless composability, improved token economics, and the most powerful protocol standard for the Web3 ecosystem.

This upgrade includes:

  • Improvements to NFT Minting and Collections
  • Support for NFT Transfers, Trades, and Auctions
  • Interchain account identification via PastelIDs
  • Cross-chain network access via Web3 APIs
  • Dramatic upgrades to Sense (our near-duplicate NFT detection protocol)
  • Enhancements to Cascade (our distributed NFT storage protocol)
  • User-friendly utility services via PastelUp
  • Improvements to network optimization and security
  • And more!

SmartMint by Pastel — A No-Code NFT Minting Platform.

SmartMint is a no-code NFT minting platform where creators can easily create, manage, and mint NFTs on their own custom smart contracts. The tool also provides creators with additional peace of mind as it leverage Pastel’s infrastructure for near-duplicate NFT detection (Sense) and permanent NFT data storage (Cascade). SmartMint enables creators to mint NFTs on Ethereum, Solana, Pastel, and more.

SmartMint by Pastel enables creators to do what they love without the hassle and complexities of minting and deploying NFTs across various platforms and blockchains. Easily create smart contracts and NFTs in seconds via our no-code tool powered by Pastel’s advanced technologies for guaranteed NFT security, storage, and counterfeit protection.

Below is a detailed list of all our accomplishments from 2022.

2022 Overview of Pastel Network

  • Partnership with Nervos: to provide permanent storage to and protect their NFT ecosystem against NFT copymint, fraud & scams
  • Launch of the SuperNode Founder Program: this program was created to reward early network users/participants for their contributions and activity in Pastel’s ecosystem as well as encourage long term decentralization.
  • Ambassador Program: this was launched to strengthen the Pastel Community and ensure its growth and long term social media success.
  • PSL Listed on KuCoin: KuCoin began the trading of Pastel’s native utility token, PSL, on the KuCoin Exchange and commenced a PSL Staking Program
  • Cezanne Testnet Release: Cezanne brings countless improvements to both user & NFT functionality such as registration, minting, transferring, and trading.
  • Collaboration with Polygon Studios: to bring Sense and Cascade to the Polygon NFT ecosystem
  • Milestone Launch of SmartMint: a no-code NFT minting platform where creators can easily create, manage, and mint NFTs on their own custom smart contracts. The tool also enables creators to mint NFTs on multiple networks while leveraging Pastel’s infrastructure for near-duplicate NFT detection (Sense) and permanent NFT data storage (Cascade).
  • Partnership with Ava Labs: to bring Sense and Cascade to the Avalanche NFT ecosystem
  • Partnership with Parity Technologies: to bring Sense and Cascade to the Polkadot NFT ecosystem
  • SmartMint Banff Upgrade: refined functionality of SmartMint’s core workflows, added a number of features to enhance user experience and minting capabilities, and extended SmartMint compatibility to support minting NFTs directly on Solana.
  • Cezanne Mainnet Upgrade: having been under development for over 8 months, Cezanne is Pastel’s largest release to date that brings significant enhancements to the Pastel blockchain and improved functionality.

2023 Roadmap

This year, we aim to capitalize on the momentum we created over the past year and focus on what is vital for Pastel Network to continue to cement ourselves as the preeminent Web3 protocol standard. We will continue to execute our vision across interoperability, user experience, and versatility.

In 2023, we are focused on:

  • Expediting development release cycles of Testnet and Mainnet upgrades — such as with versions Monet and Van Gogh;
  • Building stronger cross-chain bridges, specifically with Ethereum Polygon, and Polkadot;
  • Enhancing SmartMint and developing new features;
  • Refining user and partner experience with the roll-out of new technical resources and tools;
  • Expanding our network of partners across more L2s, DApps, enterprise user-cases, native L1s; and
  • Further increasing our exposure to the community of technical users, non-technical users, and creators.

In spite of the broader uncertainty in the market and ever-changing landscape, we believe that delivering upon our roadmap will position Pastel for success in years to come.

Please see below for Pastel Network’s target 2023 release schedule. Note that all releases and milestones are subject to change.

Q1 2023

Mainnet Upgrade: Monet Release 1.2

  • Supernode Storage Challenges— A novel mechanism by which Pastel Supernodes verify that other nodes are following the rules of the protocol and storing all files they are supposed to be
  • Self-Healing — Intrinsic storage redundancy of Cascade to replace lost or missing symbol files resulting from Supernodes leaving the network
  • Supernode Health and State Challenges
  • Sense Stabilization — Includes refactoring of the core protocol and asynchronous execution

Explorer

  • Upgrade for additional features and analytics including support for parsing of comprehensive ticket data and additional historical statistics

OpenAPI

  • Production OpenAPI 2.0 supported via Mainnet
  • UI/UX for user account management

Network Tools

  • Release of Testnet Faucet

Smartmint

  • Integration of Pastel’s Sense & Cascade protocols
  • Additional network support (Binance Smart Chain)

Documentation/Services

  • Complete overhaul of documentation including client setup docs for Node, Walletnode, and Supernode
  • Endpoint exposure via PastelID RPC

Business Development Tools

  • Cascade Demo for third party partners

Q2 2023

Mainnet Upgrade: Monet Release 1.3

  • Further support for ownership transfer —Gifting of NFTs, Bridging NFTs and assets across Ethereum, enhancement of PastelID
  • New PastelId APIs to work with light wallets
  • PastelId Blockchain-less API Mode — API execution via light clients (i.e., does not require running a full copy of the blockchain)
  • Wallet Enhancements — Support for new address types and additional functionality such as import/export
  • Objectless Ticket APIs — Buy, sell, trade and return both created and signed TXs as ‘hex’ instead of submitting it directly to the blockchain

Open API

  • ERC-721 NFT functionality with to bridge and Wrap/Unwrap
  • API for ownership transfer (e.g. gift, wrap/unwrap PSL/wPSL)
  • API to expose set of core Pastel APIs to work with blockchain-less API, such as acceping ticket TXs

Network Tools

  • Release of DevNet
  • Streamlined support for multiple networks (across Mainnet, Testnet, and Regtest)
  • Continuous running of automatic stress tests

SmartMint

  • PFP Generator
  • Additional Network Support (Pastel, ImmutableX)

Documentation/Services

  • PastelId blockchainless API mode

Bridges

  • Ethereum
  • Polygon

User Tools

  • Pastel Hub — Browser-based application that interacts with Wallet via Web App and support consumer facing services for direct exposure to just Sense and Cascade

Q3

Mainnet Upgrade: Van Gogh Release 2.0

  • Hardening access protection to NFT and Cascade files — IP whitelisting layer (e.g. Supernodes will only respond for file access calls from other registered Supernodes)
  • Activation of WN-2-SN-2-SN encryption
  • Sense Enhancements— Support for additional file types
  • Bug fixes

Open API

  • “Host your own OpenAPI” package — dockerized or containerized solution that any user can acquire and run to have their own OpenAPI server for whatever purpose)

Light/Mobile Wallet

  • Browser extension wallet

SmartMint

  • Additional Network Support (Flow, Avalanche)

Documentation/Services

  • PastelId blockchainless API mode (see above)

Bridges

  • Polkadot — Includes the native deployment of a Parachain to seamlessly interact with the Polkadot ecosystem

Q4

Mainnet Upgrade: Van Gogh Release 2.1

  • NFT Auctions — Add functionality to run various auction formats
  • Sense Enhancements — Includes sharding, correlation optimization techniques, and tSNE
  • Client Reputation Tracking — Include across various client types to aggregate various indicators like Supernode storage challenges, successful registrations, and manual user complaints
  • Bug fixes

Security / Infrastructure

  • Harden against DDOS attacks (random IPs via VPN / whitelist / blacklist)
  • Simple load balancer

Business Development Tools

  • Sandbox for Layer 1 Partner PoC

Bridges

  • Avalanche, Solana

About Pastel Network

Pastel Network is a fully decentralized, developer-friendly layer-1 blockchain serving as the preeminent protocol standard for non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) and Web3 technology.

Pastel allows for the development of third-party decentralized-applications (“DApps”) to sit on top of its Network, enabling developers to enjoy the scalable registration features, storage processes, and security of the broader ecosystem. Lightweight protocols such as Sense — which was built to assess the relative rareness of a given NFT against near-duplicate metadata — and Cascade — which conducts permanent, distributed storage of underlying NFT data — can be integrated cross-chain across various layer-1 blockchains, layer-2 protocols, or other third-party apps.

Pastel is managed by world-class developers, cryptographers, and technologists, supported alongside an experienced and extensive network of marketers, influencers, and third-party agencies. Pastel is backed by key stakeholders including Innovating Capital, a prominent venture fund.

For more information on Pastel Network, visit https://pastel.network/.

Originally Published on Pastel Network’s Medium

Magic Eden NFT Marketplace Explained (Read Before Using)

Posted on by Anthony Georgiades

Magic Eden is the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, with over 10 million unique users and 20,000 daily transactions. It lets users sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs), including art and music NFTs. 

In August 2022, the company announced it would release Ethereum NFTs, though its primary blockchain would remain Solana. It also released an optional royalty model in October 2022, replacing the 2% platform fee. 

In this article, we’ll look at what the Magic Eden marketplace is, how it works, who founded it, and its unique launchpad feature. 

What Is The Magic Eden NFT Marketplace?

Magic Eden is a decentralized NFT marketplace where users can buy, create, sell and trade Solana and Ethereum NFTs. 

The platform showcases a range of NFT collections, including digital collectibles such as Okay Bears, y00ts, and the Degenerate Ape Academy, as well as music NFTs and gaming collectibles. 

As the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, 90% of all secondary Solana NFT platforms are completed on Magic Eden, which has a trading volume of over $1.44 billion. 

Magic Eden raised $27 million during its Series A funding round, helping it compete with other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. In July 2022, Magic Eden raised an additional $130 million in a Series B funding round, which was led by Electric Capital and Greylock. Magic Eden was valued at $1.6 billion following this second funding round. 

As of December 2022, Magic Eden users have access to a marketplace where they can search using different categories such as “Most Popular,” “Auctions,” or by release date. They also have access to an insights tab, a tab for Magic Eden games, and a unique launchpad. 

When searching for a collection, users can filter stats based on the last 24 hours, week, or 30 days. They can also filter NFTs based on the unique attributes of a collection. These attributes include eyes, mouth, background, and other features. Or, if an investor has a specific budget in mind, they can filter an NFT collection based on its status and price. 

Through the insights tab, users can view live auctions and recent market activity for all collections. This is great for collectors who want to stay up to date, with options for everything from recent transactions to top holders. 

How Does The Magic Eden Marketplace Work?

To get started with Magic Eden, you need a Solana-compatible wallet such as Exodus, Trezor, or SolFlare. You then need to purchase SOL to cover the price of the NFT plus the Solana blockchain fee. 

From here, you can connect your wallet to Magic Eden by clicking the “Connect Wallet” button on the right side of the screen. You don’t need to make an account. Once connected, you can buy any NFT collection on the platform by bidding on it at auction or clicking “Buy now” to make an instant purchase. 

In November 2022 the most popular collection on Magic Eden was Claynosaurz, followed by y00ts and DeGods. The most popular collection of all time remains Okay Bears, a profile-picture NFT collection showcasing a range of bears with unique, quirky characteristics. 

Alongside a comprehensive website, Magic Eden has its own iOS app. This app lets users browse a range of NFT collections; however, it doesn’t let users buy NFTs. NFT purchases are currently limited to the web browser. 

Although mostly focused on Solana collections, Magic Eden also supports Ethereum (ETH) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Otherdeed For Otherside, and Azuki. These can be found on the “Popular Collections” tab under the “Ethereum” section. 

If you want to get involved in the future of Magic Eden, you can also purchase Magic Tickets on the site. Each ticket grants you access to the Magic Eden decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO is currently an exclusive Discord channel where users can vote on future marketplace policies. 

Who Founded The Magic Eden Marketplace

Magic Eden was founded in 2021 by four friends: Sidney Zhang, Jack Lu, Zhuoxun Yin, and Zhuojie Zhou. Before founding Magic Eden, each member had previous crypto and development experience. 

Sidney Zhang formerly worked as an Uber Eats developer, Jack Lu worked at FTX, Zhuoxun Yin was a product manager at Coinbase, and Zhuojie Zhou worked as a Facebook developer. 

Magic Eden Launchpad

To promote the adoption and success of Solana NFTs, Magic Eden created a unique launchpad to kick-start NFT artists’ projects. The launchpad works in a similar way to an art auction house, with all collections accepted by the launchpad being featured on the front page of the site. 

As well as promoting NFT collections, the Magic Eden Launchpad helps creators actually mint their NFTs. It uses an innovative automatic distribution system that takes care of the technical side of NFT creation. This lets creators focus on the artwork instead of worrying about complex coding. 

To be part of the launchpad, creators are required to go through a vigorous application process, which will look at the project, its utility, and its design. This process is extremely strict, and only 5% of applications are accepted. 

Popular launchpad collections include Syberials: Mint Scrolls, Moon Strike NFT, and WADE Collab. HumanX, Plato Eats: Foodies, and Toys R Us are also set to be released at the start of December. 

Final Thoughts: Magic Eden Is The Best Marketplace For Solana NFTs 

With over 90% of secondary Solana NFT sales, Magic Eden is by far the most preferred NFT marketplace for Solana-based projects. It’s easy to use, with a seamless interface that makes it easy to find top collections, analyze current stats and search for gaming-based NFTs. 

By combining Solana and Ethereum NFTs, the platform has made itself a one-stop shop for NFTs, where both creators and investors can find and buy the collections they want. 

The standout feature of the Magic Eden marketplace is its launchpad. As its launchpad grows in popularity, it will help the platform become the first place new creators look towards when creating their collections. This will only speed up the widespread adoption of Magic Eden, which could one day compete with the likes of OpenSea to become one of the world’s largest NFT marketplaces. 

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