Reddit, a social media site for communities, is introducing a brand-new NFT-based avatar marketplace that will let users pay a set price for blockchain-based profile photos.
According to Reddit’s announcement, 90 various NFT designs are being made available in the “tens of thousands” during this early-access phase. NFT avatars will initially only be accessible to subscribers of the invite-only r/CollectibleAvatars subreddit, with quoted costs ranging from $9.99 to $99.99.
The business made it clear that purchasers of its limited-edition NFTs would have the legal right to use them as avatars both on and off Reddit. These avatars’ appearances can be customized using the avatar builder’s merchandise. In communities, users’ avatars will also display a “glow-like effect” next to their comments.
In the upcoming weeks, everyone will be able to purchase these collectible avatars on Reddit’s avatar builder page. Community members will receive unique Ask Me Anythings (AMAs) from artists, behind-the-scenes posts regarding the one-off profile images, and instructions for setting up a wallet until then.
Reddit has teamed up with Ethereum-compatible blockchain Polygon to mint these avatars on-chain. Reddit’s own blockchain wallet, called Vault, which is accessible through the company’s native app, can be used to store and manage NFTs.
This is a deeper venture into NFTs for Reddit. The business started testing a feature allowing users to use NFTs built on Ethereum as their profile pictures earlier this year. While the blockchain initiatives behind these NFT profile images are still in their early stages, Reddit stated it wants to explore new capabilities for the technology.
The company stated:
“In the future, we see blockchain as one way to bring more empowerment and independence to communities on Reddit. Reddit has always been a model for what decentralization could look like online; our communities are self-built and run, and as part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them be even more self-sustaining and self-governed.”