Reddit launches NFT avatar feature and marketplace

Popular social networking platform Reddit just announced and launched a ‘Collectible Avatars’ storefront. Users can purchase blockchain-backed NFT profiles at fixed rates. 

Collectible Avatars are a set of 90 limited- edition avatars designed by independent artists from some of its most celebrated communities. According to Reddit, the initiative aims to ‘empower artists to create and sell their work’ on their platform as the artists are entitled to payment from selling their NFTs on Reddit and will receive royalties from secondary sales of their NFTs.

For interested users, they do not need a crypto wallet to buy the NFTs so credit or debit cards will do the trick. Users can then store them in Reddit’s own Vault wallet, showcase them on their profiles and trade them on secondary markets such as OpenSea or SuperRare. 

According to Reddit’s July 7 blog post, Collectible Avatars would ‘provide owners with unique benefits on the Reddit platform.’ Holders can dress up and mix-and-match wearables for their avatars and their profile pictures will have a ‘glow-like effect’. 

The NFTs are minted and stored on Polygon, an Ethereum-compatible blockchain, and can be stored in Reddit’s native wallet Vault to support Reddit’s ‘sustainability commitments’. 

‘In the future, we see blockchain as one way to bring more empowerment and independence to communities on Reddit. Reddit has always been a model for what decentralization could look like online; our communities are self-built and run, and as part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them be even more self-sustaining and self-governed.’ according to Reddit. 

Blockchain-backed Collectible Avatars is the platform’s first step into realizing the sustainability commitments and to empower artists on their platform. 

This is not Reddit’s first move into the NFT space. In January 2022, the platform ran tests to allow users to set any NFTs as their profile pictures and last year, they released a limited number of CryptoSnoo NFTs that they described as ‘presenting a special and somewhat ridiculous opportunity to be a part of Reddit history’ to users. 

Photo: Reddit