Popular social network Reddit announced on Thursday that it is launching a new 'Collectible Avatars' marketplace based on blockchain technology.
The company said that its new marketplace will allow users to purchase 'limited edition' blockchain-based profile pictures using traditional fiat currency. The company refrained from calling its 'Collectible Avatars' NFTs (non-fungible tokens), however, we can confirm that these are in fact NFTs to the core.
NFTs on popular NFT marketplaces like Opensea and DigitalEyes are usually bought with cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Solana. The user has to first buy the cryptocurrency on a digital wallet like Metamask and connect the wallet to the marketplace before making a purchase. Reddit says that its marketplace will allow users to directly purchase its digital avatars using fiat without the need for a separate Web3 wallet. Instead, it will use its own blockchain wallet called Vault to store and manage these NFTs.
In a blog post, Reddit wrote, "When available, people can purchase Collectible Avatars where they normally build avatars on Reddit, using local currencies, such as dollars in the U.S. As soon as someone completes a purchase, they’ll be able to use their avatar on Reddit."
"To store and manage Collectible Avatars, redditors will use their Vault – a blockchain-powered wallet on Reddit. A Vault gives users a specific digital wallet address that works across Ethereum-compatible blockchains; it’s the same Vault where redditors currently store Community Points."
Reddit has partnered with Polygon, an Ethereum layer 2 blockchain, to mint these 'limited edition' collectibles. The company said that it will be releasing 90 different avatar designs and each NFT will have a fixed price. According to , these NFTs will have a starting price of $9.99 and will go up to $99.99. In addition, these NFTs will give its users the licence to use them on and off the platform.