Overview

Rarible is a leading and long-standing NFT company with 5 years in web3 resulting in $300M+ in NFTs sold, ~1M monthly active users, and 1M+ social media followers.

We have developed a strong suite of products ranging from our NFT Indexer and SDK (Rarible API) which powers multiple use cases, to our marketplace-as-a-service offering (RaribleX). These tools have proven to be valuable to chains and projects alike, enabling them to accelerate their GTM and jumpstart their success with their communities.

We are proposing a collaboration that will increase NFT adoption across the Polkadot community through Rarible's technology and community, and help attract more builders to the Polkadot community.

Specifically, we're proposing to build and power a multichain NFT marketplace for the Polkadot community to bolster NFT activity and inspire greater community adoption. This marketplace will not only showcase existing NFT collections across the Polkadot community but will also include a launchpad for NFT drops. Edgeware would own day-to-day management of the NFT marketplace, curating drops, engaging the community and providing user support.

Impact

Community exposure

Compared to DeFi, NFT projects can bring faster, easier, and lower-cost higher-volume exposure to the Polkadot community.

Current community status

Polkadot already has marketplaces like RMRK Singular, Kodadot, Unique, etc., which have led the adoption of NFTs across the community through pallets and previously remark. However, the community lacks a unified one-stop marketplace supporting all the substrate chains with NFTs. Thus the Polkadot community is missing out on the potential to attract the artists/projects that are looking for a familiar NFT deployment environment without any learning curve.

Broad development across the ecosystem

Currently only a small set of chains represent the collective development of the Polkadot community. This has led to skewed growth which is not ideal for the brand value of Substrate/Polkadot-SDK, making it less enticing/welcoming for new chains to launch within the Polkadot community. A Substrate-exclusive Rarible-powered marketplace supporting all the NFT-relevant chains in the community can play a crucial role in setting up an initial example for widespread growth/adoption.

Project Details

Current available NFT marketplaces in Polkadot support either common good chains or specific commercial chains. There isn't a single marketplace supporting all the substrate chains with NFTs pallet. This Rarible-powered Polkadot NFT marketplace can fill the gap by providing a go-to place for NFT artists, curators and collectors. With 'pallet-nfts' being the most actively utilized and maintained pallet, it will be the primary focus for this chain-agnostic integration.

Rarible is looking to expand outside of EVM chains, and we are looking to support all the viable pallets-based implementations. The initial phase of integration may include Polkadot AssetHub, Unique Network, Bit.Country Pioneer and Kusama AssetHub. Based on the feedback/observations, further chain integrations will be decided collectively. For every pallet integration, apart from the pallet-nfts, there will be minimum technical prerequisites. These include actively maintained pallet sources for 6+ months corresponding to the latest Substrate/Polkadot-SDK releases, documentations for the APIs and the pallet's specification corresponding to each release, at least one external audit of the pallet for each major release, etc.

Operations (to be handled by Edgeware Contributors):

Edgeware Contributors will be responsible for the following key operations:

• Curation: Introducing the Rarible team to the Substrate/ Polkadot ecosystem and OpenGov quirks along with the curation of the development scope/ proposal.
• Social Media: Handling all social media activities, including creating and sharing engaging content, managing community interactions, and running promotional campaigns. Our goal is to increase visibility, drive user engagement, and grow the marketplace's presence across various social media platforms.
• Blog: Monthly newsletters about performance metrics and technical digests will be published regularly. This will include the latest developments, success stories, and upcoming events serving as a valuable resource for both new and existing users from the Polkadot Ecosystem.
• Support Tickets Handling: Efficiently manage all bug reports and promptly address any user inquiries. This will facilitate effective communication between users and the development team, enhancing the overall user experience and maintaining the marketplace's integrity.
• Moderation/Community Management: Actively moderate community channels to maintain a positive and inclusive environment. This includes enforcing community guidelines, addressing user concerns, and fostering a supportive space for all members of the Polkadot ecosystem.
• Establishment of Collective: Introduce an open collective for enthusiasts from the whole Polkadot ecosystem to join, opening up a way to introduce community-led strategies/ policies for the entire suite. This initiative could also result in bringing more changes/improvements to the pallet-nfts and thus boosting its adoption indirectly.

Implementation Plan

Phase 1

1. Integrate Polkadot substrate as a supported blockchain on the Rarible API thus providing developers on the Polkadot community with access to the Rarible NFT API/SDK. Rarible API integrations have five core components as follows:
   • Rarible/Substrate community SDK
   • Rarible Orderbook & Smart Contracts
   • Rarible Public API on Substrate community
   • Rarible/Substrate community Indexer
   • Integration and support for NFTs Pallets
2. Integrate Polkadot substrate as a supported blockchain on the RaribleX codebase and enable the deployment of the custom NFT marketplace.
   • RaribleX powers web2 & web3 projects to launch their own web3 marketplace for primary and secondary NFT sales. This product enables projects to accelerate GTM and offload the burden and responsibility of having to build and technically maintain an NFT marketplace themselves.
   • Examples of RaribleX marketplaces include Celosphere (Celo), Mattel, McFarlane Toys, and Mocaverse.
3. Build, test, and launch the whitelabel NFT marketplace for the Polkadot community. Starting with the top 4 blockchains ranked in terms of NFT trading volume: Polkadot AssetHub, Unique Network, Bit.Country Pioneer, Kusama AssetHub
   • Rarible will develop the front-end of the Polkadot community's branded marketplace. It will be intuitive and user-friendly, fully aligned with the Polkadot community's brand guidelines and any other reasonable guidelines they provide.

Phase 2 / Future Plans (not part of this proposal)

1. Integrate additional Polkadot-SDK/Substrate chains into the Rarible API and RaribleX services, enabling the broader community at large to benefit from this marketplace.
2. Rarible will launch multiple campaigns aimed at attracting more NFT artists and traders to the Polkadot Ecosystem.

Expected Outcomes

1. Opportunity 1: Strengthen community leadership in the NFT space.
2. Opportunity 2: Enable more development of NFT use cases through the usage of Rarible's NFT infrastructure/tools.
3. Opportunity 3: Joint marketing opportunities between the Rarible and Polkadot communities as they seek to expand the respective audiences, as well as stronger cross-pollination and unification across Polkadot chains.

Budget and Timeline

We have determined the cost for the Core Integration and Marketplace Launch to be USD 4 million. Furthermore, 10% of the total budget will be allocated to the Edgeware contributors for managing operations and for curating the whole process.
Referencing EMA30 which is $___ per DOT the total will be ____ $DOT which is ~4.4 million USD.

Benefits to the Community

This initiative will create a vibrant, inclusive environment that fosters creativity and innovation across all networks within the Polkadot ecosystem.
Also planning various campaigns that will provide existing artists the chance to reach a broader audience, further solidifying their presence in the digital art world while also attracting new artists to the Polkadot community, offering them a dynamic platform to showcase their work and gain recognition. By leveraging the power of NFTs, both emerging and established artists can benefit from increased visibility and opportunities for collaboration.

Call to Action

We invite the Polkadot community to support this initiative. Your feedback and suggestions are crucial to refining and successfully implementing this project. Please share your thoughts and let us know how we can make this project a valuable resource for everyone.