Maybe a bit late writing this article. (Promo for the EOS Nation piece.) CALL TO ACTION Let’s get going EOS community. NFTs are mainstream. Blockchain developers and investors realized NFTs were the real thing in a sort of unison. The mass awakening occured sometime following the ICO crash.
While the NFT revolution is certainly here, and EOS is well positioned to take advantage (as you noted, just look at Wax), I’m disappointed to report that there are several matters holding EOS back from being a leading player when it comes to NFTs.
First is signing up to get an EOS wallet. The process is not free or straight forward. To register an address a small amount of EOS is required to fund the transaction. As such, if a new user wants to create a wallet, they must have a friend send EOS to a what feels like a random account, deposit EOS from an exchange, or pay a fee to a third party such as Wombat. This is a colossal barrier to entry that I have no doubt turns thousands away from the platform every year.
Second, many transactions require the user to pay a fee. This, while not ideal, is an accepted part of many blockchain ecosystems and not offensive in and of itself. What is a significant hindrance however, is the non-user-friendly system of needing CPU, RAM and/or REX, depending on what function you are performing. To the uninitiated, these processes are a complete mystery and without guidance can be very costly, time consuming and frustrating. For an NFT market like Atomic Hub to flourish, transaction errors and complex transaction mechanisms should not be commonplace.
Finally, the world’s most widely used operating system, Android, does not have an EOS wallet fit for the NFT space. Unlike Apple users who can access Greymass’ Anchor, the best wallet for the NFT-loving Android user is Wombat which is designed more for gaming and does not feature anything even approaching the functionality of advanced browsers such as Chrome or Brave. While Greymass are on their way to releasing an Android version of Anchor, and Wombat can do the most of the basics, the growth of NFTs on EOS will continue to be limited until a better solution becomes widely available.
To contrast my friendly feedback and conclude, it must be highlighted that EOS is clearly coming leaps and bounds in the NFT space, with the Atomic Hub and projects such as Writer leading the charge. While growth will likely continue at an ever increasing pace, it will continue to be stymied until the user experience is enhanced.
While the NFT revolution is certainly here, and EOS is well positioned to take advantage (as you noted, just look at Wax), I’m disappointed to report that there are several matters holding EOS back from being a leading player when it comes to NFTs.
First is signing up to get an EOS wallet. The process is not free or straight forward. To register an address a small amount of EOS is required to fund the transaction. As such, if a new user wants to create a wallet, they must have a friend send EOS to a what feels like a random account, deposit EOS from an exchange, or pay a fee to a third party such as Wombat. This is a colossal barrier to entry that I have no doubt turns thousands away from the platform every year.
Second, many transactions require the user to pay a fee. This, while not ideal, is an accepted part of many blockchain ecosystems and not offensive in and of itself. What is a significant hindrance however, is the non-user-friendly system of needing CPU, RAM and/or REX, depending on what function you are performing. To the uninitiated, these processes are a complete mystery and without guidance can be very costly, time consuming and frustrating. For an NFT market like Atomic Hub to flourish, transaction errors and complex transaction mechanisms should not be commonplace.
Finally, the world’s most widely used operating system, Android, does not have an EOS wallet fit for the NFT space. Unlike Apple users who can access Greymass’ Anchor, the best wallet for the NFT-loving Android user is Wombat which is designed more for gaming and does not feature anything even approaching the functionality of advanced browsers such as Chrome or Brave. While Greymass are on their way to releasing an Android version of Anchor, and Wombat can do the most of the basics, the growth of NFTs on EOS will continue to be limited until a better solution becomes widely available.
To contrast my friendly feedback and conclude, it must be highlighted that EOS is clearly coming leaps and bounds in the NFT space, with the Atomic Hub and projects such as Writer leading the charge. While growth will likely continue at an ever increasing pace, it will continue to be stymied until the user experience is enhanced.
That final quote LOL, I believe we're very close to liftoff!!!