You’ve probably heard something about the rapid expansion and excitement around NFTs, where creators of all kinds are serving to establish the future of digital art, experiences, and much more through non-fungible tokens — units of data stored on a blockchain that certify digital assets. From digital trading cards to art to music, NFTs are shattering records with $2.5 billion generated in the first half of 2021 and “average” prices hovering between $2,000 and $5,000.
Beyond the price milestones and headlines, therein lies a truth: the current standards for NFTs — built primarily on the Ethereum network — are constrained by an extremely limited feature set, an inherent lack of scalability, and slow network speeds. As more and more people create NFTs (and buy them), it’s essential to improve stability and sustainability on the blockchain so that the future of NFTs is healthy. That’s where we come in.
Unique Network, the first NFT chain built for Polkadot and Kusama, is explicitly made to solve the aforementioned problems by running NFTs on Ethereum. As a fully scalable blockchain for composable NFTs for advanced economies, we believe our technology and infrastructure will provide a sustainable future free of limitations, delays, and the hindrances that plague NFTs today.
Our story started with Unique Network’s inception and recognition at Hackusama 2020. Unique Network won the titles of “Build-a-Blockchain Champion” and “Community Choice” winner during the first-ever hackathon for the Kusama and Polkadot ecosystem. Unique Network’s productive, tight-knit relationship with the Polkadot team has flourished since then, having received five Web3 grants, collaborated on multiple NFT releases, and achieved the title of Polkadot Ambassador in 2019.
So, what makes Unique Network NFTs so much better than the competition? Well, just about everything. But for now, see below, where we outlined some of the distinctive features that will help build the web3.0 foundations for unique digital assets.
Flexible Economic Models
Suppose you're interested in creating NFTs, and selling them. In that case, you should want a marketplace that's built for flexibility, so you can offer your audience the best possible experience — and stand out from the competition. By building your business on Unique Network, you'll be able to choose how your customers interact with your platform and NFTs via the ability to sponsor transaction fees (a first in crypto), subscriptions, and scheduled transactions. These functions make the relationship between you and your customers more seamless and hassle-free.
Sustainable NFTs
NFTs have seen explosive growth since the start of 2021. However, they have gained a reputation — we argue unfairly — as being 'unsustainable.' This reputation comes from the reality that NFTs on Ethereum are using Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism, which is very energy-intensive. This realization was one reason why Unique Network chose to build on the Polkadot relay chain, a proof-of-stake network with a much lower carbon footprint than PoW, which Ethereum uses.
Completely Customizable
We've designed a completely customizable marketplace tailored to your end customers' experience. Whether you're launching an NFT gallery, market, wallet, or simply mining, you'll be able to build your marketplace from our open-source white-label solution. From top to bottom, we'll provide you the tools and expertise so your NFT marketplace can truly be a representation of what you're building.
Advanced Ownership and Management
The same level of customization is attainable via our ownership, administrative, and whitelist technology, which supports and reinforces the revolutionary innovation of peer-to-peer creative economies. Unique NFTs can be rented, displayed, and managed by delegated parties; the owner can share and distribute refungible NFTs.
NFT to NFT Interactivity
At Unique Network, we believe that communication and interconnectivity are crucial to continued success. Any NFT minted on Unique Network can actually own other NFTs, communicate with one another, and impact the properties of linked assets, presenting a 'Cambrian Explosion' moment for the NFT world with infinite possibilities.
Scalability
We offer the ability to scale without fear of friction. Built on the Substrate Blockchain, Unique Network allows you to launch your NFT platform without worrying about network congestion, number of users, transactions, or high transaction fees. This function also allows for greater interoperability with other Substrate chains and the realization of fully heterogeneous, multi-chain interoperability. On Unique Network, two (or more) can truly play that game.
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At Unique Network, we're excited to be a part of building a more efficient, sustainable, scalable, and completely customizable experience for the continued future and growth of the NFT market. From onboarding artists and digital design projects to building freemium games integrated with advanced NFTs, we're creating an ecosystem that we can't wait for you to become a part of. Check out some of the collections of unique digital assets that already live on our Network to get a taste of what we offer.
Whether you're a game developer, fashion designer, gallery owner, art collector, or just a crypto-curious person, Unique Network is the destination and infrastructure created directly for you and your NFT journey.