awesome work Joe! learned a lot, communities are too powerful in this new creator-fueled economy to be pushed around, the big players will need to start listening to them or become extinct.
Couldn't agree more. Wait until you see the update I have. Made me appreciate our community that much more. To call their Discord a community isn't even fair, it's just people online.
This was an excellent article Joe – a really great read.
The thing is that any project, company, organization or even individual has something to learn from this.
So many projects spring up and consequently suffer from this affliction. They begin with the noblest of intent, and very quickly are distorted by commercial desires.
Nifty Gateway seems to be a case in point. Its function was clearly a needed one, as artists and collectors alike flocked there in the early days. It went on to birth a seemingly amazing community, a thing that does not personify in a vacuum. I mean, in the beginning the team behind it must have begun doing a lot of things right.
And then like many projects, both personal and enterprise, they went from MVP, to break-even, to profit making, and like that bossy stay-at-home Dad elected President of their child’s Parent Association, the power went to their head.
You see this everywhere in life, and in my view it is a result of more than merely greed.
It is in fact the lack of a noble purpose – a vision and purpose that is bigger than money. While Nifty Gateway’s stated aim of creating 1 billion NFT users is certainly a purpose, it is definitely not a noble one. And as their actions clearly demonstrate, it serves nothing the owner’s hip pockets.
Not only does having a noble purpose accelerating revenue growth, it creates competitive differentiation and generates emotional engagement from users. It comes from considering what exactly the business is trying to do, and who it is doing it for.
Organizations with a purpose bigger than money not only out perform their competition; they also retain their staff and customers for much longer. Once more, operating a company that has a noble purpose becomes much easier. All decisions can be framed through this lens, making the right answer to any decision easier to arrive at.
All of the NFT hubs, as well as all enterprise and individuals generally, would do well to take a leaf from this book. Rather than looking at short term capitalisation, they should focus on serving their community like you and the rest of the Writer team do. They’d be better for it, and so would the whole space and indeed the whole world.
They did send out an email saying they were working to improve some of the Marketplace features, and 888 sent out their tweets after that, so I do think you're on to something by saying that it was more about the marketplace secondary market since that's what they mentioned in the Discord (about 50% drops in the secondary marketplace).
What's crazy is NG is still driving a ton in fees, and Pak was still able to have a $14 million dollar sale even with all the problems (with credit cards and verifications and such). A healthy secondary market is the best for NG, the problem is when the floor falls out it becomes like any other worthless token that people can't wait to get rid of.
I think when there are truly thousands of collectors in the space, these works that were sold in 2021 will be in high demand just for being early - I could be wrong.
What are your thoughts on how some of the other 'premium' eth based platforms like Super-rare or foundation have approached the boom and positioning themselves as sustainable eco-systems moving forward?
SuperRare is the gold standard bringing the art world to the block chain. Foundation has far too many hidden fees and isn’t artist friendly. I’m not sure how sustainable ETH platforms are for small independent artists during a market correction. I think hicetnunc.xyz is the best around right now but even they have issues with not having a real solid way to discover small artists.
It's a shame that these greedy bastards get in the way of the development of their own platform... Guess the people will find a better option and things will take their natural course (as always). Just hope the NFT community as a whole doesn't suffer from this type of behaviors.
I could see it becoming just a pop-culture type marketplace where The Weekend, Eminem, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and others come to promote themselves. In that case, the art will shift to other platforms, and I believe it is already.
Hey Joe - thanks for the insight on Nifty Gateway, need more articles like this whether positive or negative. I'm not familiar, myself, on NG as I'm mostly buying things on Wax, but it's unfortunate for the entire NFT space when platforms let greed get the best of them. We're still early for NFTs and there are hundreds of different options to choose from. First movers advantage will only take you so far in a space full of innovation and motivated players. Community feedback is absolutely key as we navigate through a new space and it would be unfortunate for hubris and greed to be a company's downfall. Thanks Joe!
I guess I am glad I was late to the party and have Dapper and Atomic Hub/Wax roots in the space! Imperfect as they are the user experience has been much better than what you’ve chronicled here.
awesome work Joe! learned a lot, communities are too powerful in this new creator-fueled economy to be pushed around, the big players will need to start listening to them or become extinct.
Couldn't agree more. Wait until you see the update I have. Made me appreciate our community that much more. To call their Discord a community isn't even fair, it's just people online.
This was an excellent article Joe – a really great read.
The thing is that any project, company, organization or even individual has something to learn from this.
So many projects spring up and consequently suffer from this affliction. They begin with the noblest of intent, and very quickly are distorted by commercial desires.
Nifty Gateway seems to be a case in point. Its function was clearly a needed one, as artists and collectors alike flocked there in the early days. It went on to birth a seemingly amazing community, a thing that does not personify in a vacuum. I mean, in the beginning the team behind it must have begun doing a lot of things right.
And then like many projects, both personal and enterprise, they went from MVP, to break-even, to profit making, and like that bossy stay-at-home Dad elected President of their child’s Parent Association, the power went to their head.
You see this everywhere in life, and in my view it is a result of more than merely greed.
It is in fact the lack of a noble purpose – a vision and purpose that is bigger than money. While Nifty Gateway’s stated aim of creating 1 billion NFT users is certainly a purpose, it is definitely not a noble one. And as their actions clearly demonstrate, it serves nothing the owner’s hip pockets.
Not only does having a noble purpose accelerating revenue growth, it creates competitive differentiation and generates emotional engagement from users. It comes from considering what exactly the business is trying to do, and who it is doing it for.
Organizations with a purpose bigger than money not only out perform their competition; they also retain their staff and customers for much longer. Once more, operating a company that has a noble purpose becomes much easier. All decisions can be framed through this lens, making the right answer to any decision easier to arrive at.
All of the NFT hubs, as well as all enterprise and individuals generally, would do well to take a leaf from this book. Rather than looking at short term capitalisation, they should focus on serving their community like you and the rest of the Writer team do. They’d be better for it, and so would the whole space and indeed the whole world.
They did send out an email saying they were working to improve some of the Marketplace features, and 888 sent out their tweets after that, so I do think you're on to something by saying that it was more about the marketplace secondary market since that's what they mentioned in the Discord (about 50% drops in the secondary marketplace).
What's crazy is NG is still driving a ton in fees, and Pak was still able to have a $14 million dollar sale even with all the problems (with credit cards and verifications and such). A healthy secondary market is the best for NG, the problem is when the floor falls out it becomes like any other worthless token that people can't wait to get rid of.
I think when there are truly thousands of collectors in the space, these works that were sold in 2021 will be in high demand just for being early - I could be wrong.
Love it Joe!
What are your thoughts on how some of the other 'premium' eth based platforms like Super-rare or foundation have approached the boom and positioning themselves as sustainable eco-systems moving forward?
SuperRare is the gold standard bringing the art world to the block chain. Foundation has far too many hidden fees and isn’t artist friendly. I’m not sure how sustainable ETH platforms are for small independent artists during a market correction. I think hicetnunc.xyz is the best around right now but even they have issues with not having a real solid way to discover small artists.
The crypto and NFT space is so large... I have never heard of 888 or used Nifty Gateway. There is always some sort of drama going on.
It's a shame that these greedy bastards get in the way of the development of their own platform... Guess the people will find a better option and things will take their natural course (as always). Just hope the NFT community as a whole doesn't suffer from this type of behaviors.
I could see it becoming just a pop-culture type marketplace where The Weekend, Eminem, Paris Hilton, Lindsey Lohan and others come to promote themselves. In that case, the art will shift to other platforms, and I believe it is already.
Hey Joe - thanks for the insight on Nifty Gateway, need more articles like this whether positive or negative. I'm not familiar, myself, on NG as I'm mostly buying things on Wax, but it's unfortunate for the entire NFT space when platforms let greed get the best of them. We're still early for NFTs and there are hundreds of different options to choose from. First movers advantage will only take you so far in a space full of innovation and motivated players. Community feedback is absolutely key as we navigate through a new space and it would be unfortunate for hubris and greed to be a company's downfall. Thanks Joe!
Hubris! That’s NG’s biggest glaring flaw! They seem to think that they are above criticism and it’s killing their market.
I hope some of these ETH whales come over to Atomichub and spread some love around :)
Lol that would be really good to see them spread some money on Atomic hub auctions and drops
I wasn't aware of most of this. It was like reading a really well written historical narrative. Well done. :)
Definitely enjoyed learning about some of the controversy that's existed in the space before I jumped in.
Great article !
I think Nifty getaway is the way people get started in NFTs but once you learn more about it you change to other platforms.
Still probably the one who started a lot of what’s happening right now in other projects.
I guess I am glad I was late to the party and have Dapper and Atomic Hub/Wax roots in the space! Imperfect as they are the user experience has been much better than what you’ve chronicled here.
I have zero influence anywhere, clearly, you're calling me Joey Bear out in public. NG is not in it for the art, it's the money for them.