Decentralized NFT project takes on major marketplaces and woos artists

A decentralized non-fungible token project says it is committed to lowering barriers to entry for artists, creators and photographers — making it easier for them to mint their own NFTs.

Unique.One says interest in digital art is continuing to accelerate, and there is an “incredible opportunity” for creatives to reach new audiences and earn an income.

Although an array of NFT platforms already exist, the volunteer founding team behind Unique.One argues that some of these marketplaces overcharge creators, censor their work, or have too much of a corporate backing to truly represent the community’s needs.

It has embraced a different structure and governance model to ensure that its NFT project has been designed by the community… for the community.

A Unique story

The idea for Unique.One emerged during a late-night discussion in the midst of the coronavirus crisis last year, when lockdowns and quarantines were commonplace.

A community of artists, developers, designers, programmers, engineers, marketers and project managers from around the world — all with extensive interest and experience in the crypto space — came together with one goal in mind: To level the playing field for talented individuals who are seeking new revenue streams because of the pandemic.

The art marketplace they have created celebrates diversity — and the founding team say their decentralized, permissionless approach makes it a one-of-a-kind project.

Unique.One says 2020 marked a “dark year for art” — with major festivals canceled, museums and galleries forced to close, and travel restrictions imposed. In an attempt to foster creativity, the platform says it charges buyers a transaction fee of just 1% — which is lower than the commissions added by rivals. To sweeten the deal further, a no-fee policy applies for artists, meaning that creators will always get the full price their works sell for.

‘By the community, for the community’

Unique.One has teamed up with IRL Art to bridge the gap between digital and physical art, as well as raise awareness and engagement. Both projects share a similar mission — and while Unique.One’s ethos centers on “by the community, for the community,” IRL Art’s mantra is “by artists, for artists.”

As an employee-owned organization, IRL Art implements progressive profit-sharing models and equity agreements to self-fund projects — such as preserving the Black Love Mural Festival digitally for all to experience.

IRL Art and Unique.One are collaborating on three projects that aim to explore innovative relationships between physical artists and blockchain technology. The first project is a VR gallery created in Cryptovoxels in the spirit of Artifacts of the Metaverse, which IRL Art created for ETHDenver 2021. A physical gallery pop-up crypto art show and the world’s first fully tokenized mural festival will follow.

Big plans ahead

With Ethereum gas fees raising the barriers even further — and making it too expensive for artists who wish to mint their NFTs on this blockchain — Unique.One has launched a second art marketplace on the xDAI chain.

The project’s ambitions don’t end here. In time, Unique.One’s goal is to build additional community-owned platforms specializing in photography, gaming, music and videos — enabling content to be auctioned off. This would all form part of a wider ecosystem.

Its next project, Unique.Photo, is expected to launch in May and aspires to incentivize photographers instead of profiting off them.