Community ownership of NFT trading market is unstoppable

Why? OpenSea and Magic Eden The user experience is basically the same （ The first page is the discovery page , There is a concise linear index bar on the left side of the collection page , The same search display and so on ）？

perhaps , let me put it another way , Why? OpenSea or Magic Eden There is no activity summary on the front page of （ Such as Fractal or Hawku）、 Live broadcast entrance （ Such as Twitch）, or NFT Relevant event results, etc ？

The answer is , The historical path determines .

 OpenSea Founded on 2018 year , There were only a few NFT series , Such as CryptoPunks.CryptoPunks It's a by 10,000 A pixelated NFT Set , With some simple and filterable properties .Bored Ape Yacht Club（BAYC） Obviously deeply CryptoPunks Inspired by the ：10,000 Image generated by Zhang algorithm , Have simple and filterable properties . For practical purposes , The two collections are similar . Most of those who followed PFP series ——Pudgy Penguins、Moonbirds、DeGods、Solana MonkeyBusiness（SMB）、Azukis etc. , Are mapped to the same structural model and historical paradigm . Besides the artistic expression itself , There is no significant difference in the design of the collection itself （ Although obviously they have very different communities ）.

  obviously , The community is mapping to the technical specifications of the market , But this way is not ideal . The market should map to the unique characteristics of the community . Considering that DeFi、NFT、DAO、 The ability to utilize and configure new elements in terms of social tokens , The design space of online community is huge .

It is generally accepted that ,NFT The market will be further vertical . This naturally makes sense , Because let a domain name exchange （ Such as .eth or .sol） With a PFP exchange （ Such as BAYC or DeGods） Having the same user experience is actually strange . The market should be optimized around the type of content it hosts .

But this kind of thinking should not be a simple one size fits all . This reasoning can go further .NFT The market should not only be vertical . At least , They will ：

• Owned by the community they serve

• Integrate more non-commercial functions （ For example, live 、 Chat 、 Forum, etc ）.

Community led NFT trading platform

Magic Eden and OpenSea Are very rich , Where did the money come from ？

It's actually NFT Community itself , Because the platform will charge for each transaction 2-2.5% Transaction fee of .

One might say that transaction costs will eventually return to zero , They won't . contrary , I would argue that , Transaction costs should not be transferred to NFT Community separated third-party exchanges , It should go back to the community itself . such

Transformation is a sign of community maturity . When the community and its brand are strong enough to operate independently , It will seize the opportunity , Further strengthen their finances and improve brand loyalty through customized functions and participation for the community .

BAYC Already doing this ： Of every deal 2.5% All of them Yuga Labs all （ except OpenSea Collected 2.5% In addition to the cost of ）. There is no reason to believe that BAYC The holder is particularly loyal to OpenSea. contrary , If Yuga Labs Start a BAYC exchange ,100% The cost of will flow back to ApeCoin Controlled community Treasury ,BAYC and MAYC Most of the trading volume will be transferred there soon , Just to improve brand loyalty and expand the community's financial aspirations .

The problem lies in , The third party NFT The exchange is parasitic on NFT Community . They don't really provide value to the community （ Of course around Launchpad Price discovery is valuable , But this only provides value at one point in time , Without continuity ）, And they will extract value openly . Surviving markets must provide real value —— Whether it is to let players tap insight 、 Analysis and data , Provide a channel for potential players to discover new games , Or create a community that like-minded players can join .NFT The market must provide more than just a financial intermediary .

If my theory is correct , Why hasn't this happened yet ？ I think this is because of trusteeship NFT Trading all the significant work , This work has not yet been fully commercialized .

Metaplex and Grape Network as well as Reservoir Etc. are building all the necessary functions , A fully commoditized general exchange （ For example index 、 Inquire about 、 Search for 、 Curator, etc ）.

for example ,Grape Network Just launched the first DAO With the NFT exchange . Although it is still at a very early stage , But it is growing fast .

Once this infrastructure is universally available , Communities can easily host their own exchanges , Something interesting may happen ：

• False and fraudulent PFP The quantity will be close to zero . This is easy to understand , If you have the BAYC The official trading platform , Obviously, this platform will only present the real BAYC NFT works . In this case , Users only need to make sure that the domain name they visit is OK , Then it's almost impossible for him to buy fake NFT.

• The community will embed the transaction function in any application it aggregates . at present , This aspect mainly refers to social applications ：Discord、Twitter、Reddit etc. .Web2 Social applications can theoretically be better integrated NFT And for NFT Community support , But they didn't do that . In my submission , This will create opportunities for the vigorous development of encryption native versions of such applications , such as  Satellite（ Encrypted native Discord） and  Farcaster  and  Orbis（ Encrypted native Twitter）. Users can bid in these social apps / Counter-offer .

NFT The exchange needs to be API Priority products . There will be a single shared liquidity pool , Can be accessed on many front ends . They will also be community priority products .

Establish a transaction based community activity space

People like to roam in various community online spaces . Such as ：

1. The hall of Fortress night

2. Discord Server for

3. Reddit Sub forum of the forum （Subreddit）

4. Twitter

5. Telegram

But these experiences are incoherent . People communicate on one channel , Often just to reorganize on another channel . There is little shared state between these community instances .

There are two ways to connect these spaces effectively ： Games and NFT market . People talk about games outside of games , Then enter the game to play . Again , They will learn about... Through social channels NFT What the community is doing , Then go to NFT The market completes the transaction .

Communities are unlikely to congregate in one place . At least , There will always be people who are not targeted at the community Twitter Global flow of information . therefore , Except for the similar Reddit and Discord Outside the product , The community also wants to embed its market Twitter Class products . therefore , It's crucial , To support these communities NFT The trading platform is open first API Of . Such a trading platform should be designed to run in other user interfaces , From chat to live broadcast to dedicated two-dimensional HTML.

Since the community will naturally gather through various social channels , This pair of major websites （ for example bayc.com） What does it mean ？ There are several things ：bayc.com Become the aggregator of community activity space , And the main user interface of the community market .

As you can imagine , When users access bayc.com when , You should see ：

• BAYC Trailer for brand new movie

• BAYC Live broadcast of famous community members in the metauniverse （ Including streaming media tips in local currency of the community ）

• Highlights of recent community activities , Real world BAYC Graffiti, etc

When users browse , Business elements should be naturally embedded throughout the site . The content itself may be dynamically adjusted according to the user's credentials in the chain and current assets （ Show movie trailers to new users on the first screen , Yes BAYC Old users show their favorite community members in BAYC Live broadcast in the metauniverse ）.

In all the major consumer categories that exist today Web2 In the product , The closest product to what I have described may be Twitch. However ,Twitch1） Not community centric enough ,2） Clearly not designed to support the above diversity and nuances .

The more communities develop , The more complex the product operation becomes . This brings natural challenges and opportunities , When multiplied in countless communities , It's getting more complicated . That's why NFT The community will move away from the universal NFT The reason for the trading market .

NFT Like everything else in the crypto world , Fundamentally speaking, it is about user sovereignty . Their trading platform is no exception .