Summary: we’re relaunching as ThriveTogether.xyz, a community goal support network.

Dear Community,

From our humble beginnings in the KERNEL cohort to our evolution as a leading innovator in the NFT token-gating space, Mintgate’s journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Our mission, unwavering from the start, was to empower creators and foster a sense of community by transforming NFTs into digital access passes. With every version update, from Mintgate V3’s multi-wallet support and diverse content types to V4’s emphasis on character-driven communities, we’ve desired to stay at the forefront of innovation.

However, the dynamic landscape of the crypto world has always been one of challenges and rapid evolution. Despite our efforts, we faced hurdles in connecting with both crypto content creators and non-crypto users. The changing tides of the market and feedback from our community led us to deep introspection. We’ve always believed in creating value through utility, and based on our recent experiences and market analysis, we’ve come to the difficult decision to close Mintgate by October 13th.

Effective Friday the 13th 2023, the website app platform will retire offline.

Our humble journey, filled with many learning experiences and pivots, hasn’t been in vain. Our drive for empowering creators is older than Mintgate though, and as one chapter closes, another begins. We’re excited to early announce our next adventure Thrive Together.xyz, a prosocial platform to build and grow digital relationships. While details remain under wraps for now, we assure you it’s a blend of our tech prowess and the storytelling magic we’ve always wanted to pursue.

To every individual and partner who believed in Mintgate: your support has been the wind beneath our wings. While Mintgate might be concluding its journey, the spirit of innovation, value creation, and community building remains alive and will manifest in our upcoming endeavors.

Visit our website to follow are next adventure. Our tale has only just begun. You can also follow my journey on X @JonathanRosed.

Mintgate Sunset Announcement was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Vasco da Gama: Innovator. Ferdinand Magellan: Visionary. Christopher Columbus: Disruptor.

The history of successful enterprise can be traced back to a time when it was unrecognizable to what it’s become today. But at its core, nothing has changed.

Just as da Gama pioneered a new sea route to India, founders innovate by finding new solutions or markets. Magellan audaciously circumnavigated the Earth despite the unknown immensity of the challenge. Columbus set out for one goal, to find a route to Asia, but ended up disrupting the known world by encountering the Americas; perhaps the most successful pivot in history. All made possible by the powers of the time that believed and supported them to bring to fruition a more prosperous tomorrow.

When Mintgate first unfurled its vision, the primary goal was simple, yet innovative: add unparalleled value and utility to creators through tokens, creating a unique digital ecosystem that empowers both creators and consumers. As we stand at a crossroads today, poised to set sail into a new direction of content utility, it’s vital to recognize our roots, appreciate the voyage behind us, and navigate with purpose towards the horizon ahead.

Our beginnings as DFAME were marked by a burning passion to harness the power of blockchain for content creators and disrupt the existing platform models. With our recent Mintgate V4, our aspiration crystallized, bringing token-gating services and unlockable blockchain content to the fore. The focus was clear: enhance content utility, creating vibrant digital communities and intimate spaces for authentic interactions.

Yet, with innovation come real market and political challenges to realize a vision. The blockchain landscape rapidly evolved, and so did the expectations and behaviors of our target audience. Despite bolstering our offerings with Mintgate V3 and V4, user adoption still didn’t align with our projections. Key feedback revealed a preference for freely accessible promotional content by creators and a longing for high discoverability platforms by non-crypto users.

Moreover, external factors, such as the SEC’s tightened grip on the crypto realm, coupled with my unexpected health setback, posed hurdles. Nonetheless, each challenge offered a lesson, a unique perspective, reshaping our vision and fortifying our commitment to adapt and innovate.

The winds of the crypto realm are ever-shifting, and we have realized that our original concept of token-gating needs reevaluation. The proliferation of AI-generated content signals a new golden era in digital content, one that cannot be ignored. As we reduce operations temporarily, our sights are set on harnessing new technologies that enable rich media interaction, redefining our value proposition, and aligning with the evolving digital landscape.

As we adapt, our ethos remains unchanged: to create unparalleled value and utility in the digital world. From our token-gated beginnings, we are always putting our community at the heart of our endeavors. Watch out for part two as we embark on this exciting new chapter, backed by our invaluable learnings, unwavering spirit of innovation, and your steadfast support as we continue to reach for a more prosperous today.

Project Update: A New Frontier was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

As blockchain technology becomes more widely adopted, it’s likely that we’ll see the use of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) become more common. NFTs are unique digital assets that are stored on a blockchain and can represent a wide range of things, from digital art and collectibles to virtual real estate and in-game items. We aren’t there yet, but the fact of the matter is, getting there is almost inevitable.

So why not right now?

Sustainability of Independent Creation in Web3

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re already participating actively in the web3 space. That means you’re also familiar with Discord. It’s difficult to say why most web2 users don’t like Discord without knowing more about their specific experiences and preferences.

However, there are a few glaring reasons why some people might not enjoy using Discord from first-hand experience.

1. Discord can be overwhelming for new users due to its many features and functions, leading to difficulty in understanding how to use the platform.
2. Discord can be noisy and cluttered, making it difficult for users to find relevant information and limiting their ability to interact in large communities.
3. Discord can be intimidating for new users due to its use by experienced or dedicated members, which can limit their participation and interaction with others.

Overall, these factors can make the experience of using Discord less enjoyable for new users, which can limit their ability to interact with others in the community. There must be a better way for communities to thrive!?

Time to go beyond the Discord, where community content isn’t just consumed, it’s experienced. Enter MintGate V4!

Where We Started

Mintgate, known for token-gating services and unlockable NFT content, is excited to announce the release of V4. This update includes several new features that focus on NFT character driven interactions and private, community centered forum channels. These features enhance the user experience and provide even more ways for NFT community members to connect and engage with each other within the platform.

One of the key features of Mintgate has always been token-gating as a way to provide access to premium content and services. NFT holders have always been able to unlock exclusive videos, music & other media, participate in special events, and access other premium features.

Token-gating provided a way for users to selectively access and engage with content and services within each NFT community, and offer rewards for those who actively participated and contributed. This created a dynamic and engaging user experience, where community members could choose what content and services they wanted to access and earn rewards for their efforts.

Where We’re Headed

Mintgate on Twitter: "What if your NFT comes alive...We are so excited to share our version 4 beta. Now live on https://t.co/mVODTKm1pM pic.twitter.com/gyS1C9appX / Twitter"

What if your NFT comes alive...We are so excited to share our version 4 beta. Now live on https://t.co/mVODTKm1pM pic.twitter.com/gyS1C9appX

NFT Character Driven Interactions

At the heart of Mintgate V4 is the concept of character driven interactions. Rather than simply using their own identities, users are encouraged to use their unique and expressive NFTs to represent themselves within the platform. Anyone holding multiple NFTs from a collection can choose their favorite to represent them when engaging with the community.

In practice, these characters can be used in various interactions within the platform, such as messaging and commenting on posts. This allows users to express themselves more fully and creatively, and creates a more engaging and immersive experience that brings your NFT to life. A chance to be your NFT!

Private, community centered forum channels

In addition to promoting character driven interactions, Mintgate also places a strong emphasis on creating private, community centered forum channels. These channels are intended to be exclusive, tight-knit communities within the larger social network, where NFT community members can discuss specific topics, share content, and build relationships with each other who share their interests.

These forum channels provide a more intimate and focused space for discussion, compared to the broader and potentially overwhelming nature of the main social network. As an extension, these channels provide an opportunity for users to connect with others on a deeper level and form meaningful connections. In addition to private channels, Mintgate will also support public channels to encourage discoverability between NFT communities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mintgate V4 will strive to support the platform’s philosophy of character driven interactions and private, community centered forum channels. With the new features included in this release, NFT communities have even more opportunities to express themselves and connect with others in meaningful ways. We invite you to try out Mintgate V4 and experience the enhanced character driven interactions and private forum channels for yourself.

Announcing Mintgate V4 was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

What is Token Gating?

Commonly referred to as the next evolution of gating a community, virtual experience or physical experience via digital collectible; essentially, it boils down to a path for web3 projects to protect and monetize their content by controlling access through an NFT.

If you’re an experienced web3-er than you may also come across the acronym TPP (Token Protected Pages) where a created token or existing token can be utilized for gating with ERC-20, 721, and 1155 tokens on Ethereum.

While token gating is still in the early stages of innovation, I believe it’s a key component in the mix of elements aiding and supporting the broader adoption of blockchain protocols, NFTs, and web3 communities.

Here are 10 use cases for ways a web3 community could deploy TPP for their community content .

1. If a creator wants to grow their web3 community, they can use token gating to incentivize people to join. By requiring people to hold a certain amount of tokens to access certain content or features, the creator can ensure that only people who are interested in the community will join.
2. Token gating can also be used to reward people who contribute to the community. For example, a creator could give out tokens to people who post helpful content or participate in discussions. This would help to encourage people to be active in the community and contribute to its growth.
3. Token gating can also be used to fund the development of new features or content for the community. By requiring people to hold a certain amount of tokens to access new content, the creator can raise funds to pay for the development of that content.
4. Token gating can also be used to give people access to exclusive content or features. For example, a creator could release new content or features to people who hold a certain amount of tokens. This would help to increase the value of the tokens and encourage people to hold them.
5. Token gating can also be used to create a loyalty program for the community. For example, a creator could give out tokens to people who remain active in the community for a certain period of time. This would help to encourage people to stick around and contribute to the community.
6. Token gating can also be used to give people discounts on products or services. For example, a creator could give out tokens to people who purchase products or services from the community. This would help to increase sales and encourage people to support the community.
7. Token gating can also be used to give people access to early versions of new content or features. For example, a creator could release new content or features to people who hold a certain amount of tokens before it is released to the general public. This would help to increase the value of the tokens and encourage people to hold them.
8. Token gating can also be used to give people the opportunity to participate in beta tests for new content or features. For example, a creator could give out tokens to people who agree to participate in beta tests for new content or features. This would help to ensure that only people who are interested in the community will join.
9. Token gating can be used to give NFTs a soul and attribute real meaningful ownership around several different forms of media content.
10. Token gating can also be used to give people the opportunity to invest in the community. For example, a creator could give out tokens to people who invest in the community. This would help to encourage people to support the community and help it grow.

10 Token Gating Use Cases was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

TL;DR

In a world that is increasingly digital, it is more important than ever to build strong communities. Web3 projects are all about connecting people and creating value for everyone involved. By building a community, you create a space for people to come together and collaborate. A strong community can help a project grow and thrive. It can provide valuable feedback and help to identify problems early on. A community can also be a great source of support, both emotionally and financially.

Anyone can achieve some or all of the above. Web3 is an open sea of opportunity. All any project founder needs to do is the one thing that, in my experience, many are unprepared or unwilling to do…

…put in the hard work. Yes, that’s correct — hard work!

There are no shortcuts or fast passes for 99.99% of NFT projects out there. It requires good timing, careful planning, a strategy for your vision and even some luck.

But don’t get too discouraged. For those who are bold enough to venture forward, I have found a combination of the following 5 Tips have helped new projects build thriving web3 communities over time.

5 Key Tips for Building Web3 Communities

Building a community is not always easy, but it is essential for the success of any web3 project. By bringing people together and giving them a space to connect, you can create something truly special.

Here are 5 tips to help you get started on the right path toward achieving the results you aspire to.

1. Understand Web3 Culture
2. Effective Storytelling Required
3. Project Transparency & Member Engagement
4. Communicate Consistently
5. Involve Other Web3 Communities

Understand Web3 Culture

Yes, that may involve using lots of web3 terminology, general knowledge of popular NFT collections , and memes (yes, memes.) In general, humans in web3 are working towards building a positive, inclusive, and better future using blockchain and crypto technology.

While each community is different, investing the time to learn about the most popular communities, how they were successful with what they did to grow, can give you an edge in growing yours.

Effective Storytelling Required

In a world of increasing white noise across social media platforms, the story we tell and how we tell it is more important than ever. Web3 communities are brought to life by effective storytelling. The purpose of your project and the way you tell its story paints a picture of what the community might accomplish and what challenges it might solve. The story gives life to the project and attracts individuals who feel aligned with its stated purpose.

Discord was the weapon of choice for web3 community building, but there are several shortcomings that are quickly becoming glaringly obvious as more and more projects enter the space. As Discord notifications start to mount up, it’s important project founders understand how to break through. While Discord is great for chat communication, you’ll need an alternative platform for your media consumption (video, audio, event access, unlockables, rewards, etc). At the time of writing this article, MintGate is the only project I’ve found (and use) addressing this very real need.

Content creation has a cost. If you’re willing to put in the hard work to create it, give your community an ideal and easy way to consume it. By doing so you will help ensure your NFT project sits at the perfect intersection of storytelling and community building.

Project Transparency & Member Engagement

Keeping your community engaged means keeping them informed on the development of the project. Successful web3 projects typically maintain and update a public roadmap outlining near-term and long-term initiatives. Founders are vocal on Twitter or whichever social platform they focus on for their audience.

That said, it’s not enough just to be transparent. Building an engaged web3 community requires creating a framework for community members to actively contribute to the project. One of the most effective ways that projects are encouraging community participation is by organizing as DAOs, sharing a roadmap and delivering on expectation setting.

Communicate Consistently

Lack of consistency may reflect disorganization in the team, which can cause many users to leave your community. While blockchain pitfalls happen, it’s critical to always communicate good and bad news to the community. One of the worst things you can do to dampen your momentum is to share false information or ‘ghost’ your users as far as updates are concerned. Again, with the unfortunate amount of scams in our industry, keeping your community updated is mission critical.

Being consistent will show how strong your project and community are. Your ability to handle the ups and downs will lead to growth and will generate trust and excitement within your community. Projects who consistently ship and communicate regularly with their communities are light years ahead of those that do not — period.

Involve Other Web3 Projects

Most web3 projects use Twitter and Discord to engage and grow their communities. If you’re new to these platforms, it can often seem a little overwhelming. That said, exploring and joining other web3 communities is the best place to start. Follow a bunch of projects on Twitter. Join dozens of Discord communities that interest you.

Getting hands-on experience will help give you a taste of their personality, organization, structure, and overall community sentiment. Ultimately, you want to use this opportunity to come up with creative ideas on how you want your community to look like.

While web3 is evolving quickly, it’s critical to understand how those involved in web3 talk, act, and think. Yes, that’s going to take a lot of work — but I can speak first hand to the value that’s on the other side of the effort. I have met more amazing people to collaborate with in the last 2 years of my web3 journey than the previous 20 in the web2 space.

At the end of the day, good things come to those who work hard. I hope these tips will prove useful in your web3 community building efforts.

Community building easy as 1–2-Web3 was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Hey frens! We just launched two new features to increase your sales and promote your latest project!

Free NFT claims and bundle purchasing. How do these work? Let’s get into it.

Free NFT Claims

Free NFT claims is exactly what it sounds like. When you sign into Mintgate, you can create a new NFT project and enable free claims for it:

This will make the first 100 NFTs free to claim:

You can also activate this for any existing projects by clicking the Update Sale button and enabling it:

That’s all there is to it. But there’s still so much more to dive into with Bundle orders and Content Tiers.

Bundles & Tiers

Sell by the bundle and let your fans access different tiers of content! You can now create four tiers of content that require your fans to hold any number of NFTs you specify.

Scroll down the project page and you’ll see the Passes section and the option to Edit Tier Levels. By default, you will have a Base Pass Tier that’s automatically set to one NFT when someone clicks to buy. This will be where fans go to purchase a single NFT to access your unlockable content available with the Base Tier.

When you click Edit Tier Levels, you’ll have the option to activate three additional tiers, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. You can specify how many are required to access this tier and add a description. The “Amount to Unlock” also becomes the amount someone will purchase when they click to buy access to this tier.

I’ve just activated the Silver Pass and Gold Pass which allow anyone to buy three or five NFTs respectively in a single order. After purchasing one of the bundles, they will be able to access content I add for this tier. They can also upgrade if they purchased the Base Pass which will mint the needed NFT passes to access the tier they want to upgrade to.

For example, I bought the Base Pass for $10 which minted one NFT pass to me. But I can now Upgrade to the Silver or Gold pass to access content at that tier. If I buy the Silver Pass, I’ll pay $20 and receive 2 NFT passes because I previously purchased the Base Pass for $10. And yes, this purchase can be made with crypto or credit card.

Now that you’ve created two new tiers, you can add content to them. Just click the + Add Content button to add a video, audio file, PDF, image, or link to external sites for any given tier:

Wash, rinse, repeat for as much content you want to add for each tier and you can add new content to any tier at any point in the future. So if someone buys access to the Gold Tier, I could add more videos to that tier to increase the value of their passes. And since these are NFTs, they become more valuable and tradable on secondary markets as I include more content they can unlock.

Free Claims + Bundle Tiers = 🔥🔥🔥

Using these features together can effectively provide a free sample to your content and give them the information they need with this to decide if they want to pay to upgrade to a higher tier for more of this type of content.

Announce your free NFT claim for only the first 100 people and add a video or PDF to the Base Tier that outlines the value you or your content brings to people. A successful hook like this can help you reel in greater sales through higher tiers or even the Base Tier after the first 100 free NFTs have been claimed. You can also turn off free claims before reaching the 100 cap in order to activate sales for the Base Tier.

Summary

Launch your project on Mintgate today and sell access to your exclusive content with NFT bundle purchases and free claims for the first 100 people that visit your project page.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us in our Discord. And check out the rest of the features we support, plus use case examples for filmmakers, video content creators, musicians, podcasters, writers, educators, and more in our docs.

New Features: Claim Free NFTs & Bundle Purchases was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

NFTs (Part 1 of 3)

TL;DR

The future of digital content is on the blockchain, so ownership can be proven on the internet. What does this mean? It means as we go forward, NFT innovation will continue to coalesce with Web2 market verticals and incumbents — creating entirely new ways to experience/receive value from what already exists and what has yet to be created.

(If you’re still interested keep reading.)

Welcome to the Web3 Wayfinding Manifesto (Part 1 of 3).

This piece is all about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the purposeful utility they can bring to creators/businesses/brands in ways that previously were not technologically, economically, or commercially viable.

So what are NFTs? Simply put, they are intellectual property rights of digital content. NFTs are not just meme pictures that people trade on blockchains. Since 2017, digital art, collectibles, and in-game assets have been the most visible use cases for non-fungibles.

While the entire world was entirely fixated on the speculative aspect of NFTs (because art and NFTs were almost synonymous), those Web3 pioneers working closest to the sun knew the market held an inconspicuous secret…

…there is an endless array of viable business models and plethora of pre-existing online digital content that could, can and will be placed on a blockchain using non-fungible and semi-fungible tokens.

Major Market Sectors Impacted by NFTs

The list below barely scratches the surface on the broad spectrum of digital content within major market sectors.

• Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu host over 23,000 pieces of on-demand video content. Disney+ and HBO Max have added nearly 10,000 more.
• AR and VR creators are busy populating the Metaverse with 3D models. Marketplaces like TurboSquid are offering 60,000 3D models today and are poised for growth.
• In music, the world releases about 100,000 albums every year, each with multiple tracks that can generate millions of plays. Recording artists are moving toward self-publication models on services like SoundCloud and Audius and toward self-distribution models like Spotify.
• Shutterstock is home to over 330 million stock photographs which can be licensed and collect royalties.
• Over a billion domain names are registered each year, with 400m registered in the first quarter of 2017.
• We upload nearly 1.8 billion images per day to the Internet, or a stunning 657 billion images per year.
• In social media, we generate around 200 billion tweets per year, some of which accrue tens of millions of views and become iconic pieces of history or popular culture. There are over 600 million blogs on the internet today.

Even with this strong evidence, we still shouldn’t think of NFTs as tokenized digital content itself. A core value insight is that NFTs are much better understood as encapsulating intellectual property rights to the assets they describe.

Simply put — if we cannot truly own digital content, or easily license it, we will almost surely never resell it. Blockchains and NFTs are changing this state of affairs dramatically thanks to Web3 innovators and early adopters.

NFT Utility…Yeah Not So Much

The promise of future value, purchased today, delivered…maybe?!?🤔

NFTs that offer utilities are a type of token that can be used to buy, sell, or trade digital assets for the purpose of receiving some expanded form of value (post-purchase) such as access, event tickets, or the ability to unlock additional goods and services on a blockchain-based platform.

That challenge with selling the roadmap to your community — there’s still a lot within Web3 that is outside your control. The evidence behind this would turn this post into a ~20 min read, so I’ll provide 5 short setences to the primary reasons why utility tokens haven’t had much utility at all.

1️⃣Lack of awareness: Most people are unaware of the existence of NFTs with utility, let alone their potential benefits. Explain utility to someone who doesn’t own an NFT and you’ll get my point.

2️⃣Lack of understanding: Those who are aware of NFTs with utility often don’t understand how they work or what they can be used for. This, or the dates, terms or conditions of availability promised to the community has changed. Which leads us to trust…

3️⃣Lack of trust: The fact that NFTs with utility are often associated with scams and frauds doesn’t help to build trust among potential users. The “gotchas” of blockchain sometimes are unavoidable, but when most community members don’t live in Web3 everyday, these gotchas feel more like a lack of transparency which typically results in a massive dilution of trust throughout the community and mass exodus of the NFT on secondary marketplaces.

4️⃣Lack of adoption: Even if people are aware of a collection with a reputable brand or community and trust them, they might not have any incentive to actually use them later.

5️⃣Lack of REAL utility: In many cases, NFTs with utility simply don’t offer any compelling advantages that can be actualized, understood or provide owners value tangibility.

While this represents the journey thus far, Web3 pioneers are starting really find their way. Projects are focused on true community building. Community members are stepping into help users bogged down by blockchain friction. Roadmaps are simplifying which in turn makes them easier to deliver.

Conclusion and Web3 Wayfinding Part 2

Digital ownership is changing the world by allowing individuals to own their digital data and content. In the very near future, much of the early-stage friction will be mitigated thanks to pioneer Web3 wayfinders who are seeking ways to reduce fraudulent activity and increase trust in web3 transactions and communities.

Blockchain as a digital public good will, in time, create a more efficient and secure internet by reducing the need for intermediaries. This enablement of new business models will create new economic opportunities for the empowerment of humans globally.

Subscribe to receive an alert when I publish Web3 Wayfinding Part 2 — Blockchain, Alt Tokens & NFTs🙏

Web3 Wayfinding Manifesto (Part 1 of 3) was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

TL;DR

Oil and vinegar, windows and bricks; Brands and NFTs just don’t mix.

NFTs offer a unique opportunity for brands to connect with their customers and create a more immersive and interactive experience. However, there are some risks to consider when using NFTs, and these risks have most brands still sitting on the sidelines.

A web3 creator sits down at the dinner table and asks the oldest person there……

“Have you ever heard of NFTs?”

“You mean like cryptocurrency?”

If this sounds familiar, then you know the face on the cat pictured above is accurate. Explaining NFTs to web2-friend can be frustrating to say the least.😩

It’s important to note — Non-Fungible Tokens are not crypto and blockchain is not all about currency. After a couple of years trying to explain countless use cases using web2 analogies for NFTs, I’ve decided the problem isn’t the technology — it’s the naming convention.

For web2, NFTs have become synonymous with Cryptocurrency and all the speculative nature that comes with it. For this reason I elected to fundamentally change how I speak about NFTs. Starting with dropping the acronym NFT all together. Instead, I now describe the value facilitated by the technology, and that value is digital ownership.

So, could it really be just the name?

No, it’s not all about the name and here’s why.

NFTs have been all the rage. With prices reaching astronomical heights, it’s no wonder that brands are clamoring to get in on the action. However, NFTs are notoriously difficult to explain, especially in marketing. This has led to a number of high-profile NFT launches being met with confusion, and even ridicule. For example, look no further than Logan Paul’s CryptoZoo or Jake Paul’ Stick Dix as evidence.

Fast forward to today, brands currently don’t want to be associated with something that the general public doesn’t understand. As a result, they’re staying away from using the term “NFT” altogether. This decision could lead to competitive advantage challenges for brands as NFTs could very well be the future of digital assets. But for now, brands are content to let others take the lead while they sit on the sidelines.

Here’s a list of 10 benefits for brands considering Digital Ownership Technology (NFTs) to help advance advocacy and grow community.

10 current benefits for Brands using NFTs

🔟Brands can use NFTs to create unique, one-of-a-kind experiences for their customers.

9️⃣Brands can use NFTs to reward their community for their loyalty and support.

8️⃣NFTs can give customers early access to new products and services.

7️⃣NFTs can offer exclusive discounts and deals to long-term supporters.

6️⃣Brands can use NFTs to create custom-made products and services accross different forms of customer statuses or tiers.

5️⃣NFTs could offer private, VIP experiences.

4️⃣ NFTs can give customers and fans the opportunity to be featured in marketing campaigns.

3️⃣Brands can use NFTs to allow members to vote on and influence company decisions or future roadmap.

2️⃣NFTs can give customers the opportunity to win prizes and giveaways.

1️⃣Brands can use NFTs to build a community of customers and fans who are passionate about their brand.

In contrast, here are the risks currently causing brands to shy away from actualizing the benefits.

10 current risks for Brands using NFTs

🔟Lack of understanding or interest from the target audience.

9️⃣Being early to market and not having a competitive advantage.

8️⃣Being late to market and losing potential customers.

7️⃣Not having the necessary infrastructure in place.

6️⃣Not having a clear strategy or value proposition.

5️⃣Not having the right team in place.

4️⃣Not having the right technology or partners.

3️⃣Not being able to scale due to high costs.

2️⃣ Losing control of the NFT.

1️⃣Fraud and scams (yes, these are still a very big problem).

In summary, there’s much to consider and the current landscape is best suited for those who enjoy high-risk / high-reward markets. Having had the opportunity to work on the frontlines of web3 the past few years, I personally am all in on NFTs and the future of web3.

So what does the rest of 2022 look like? I remain optimistic that digital ownership via NFTs will continue to grow despite the current bear market.

Several projects are underway that could bring major advancements to the space, supply chain, and creator economies, including the development of new standards, improved scalability solutions, and increased adoption by mainstream platforms and businesses.

Blockchain is the future operating system of the world and a digital public good.

As a digital public good, web3 builders, creators, entrepreneurs and innovators remain hard at work. Work that’s improving the standards of blockchain to help ensure contribution is sustainable so national and international development continues. I call it unification through decentralization.

Keep your head up web3 pioneers. The future is bright. ✨🌍🌎🌏✨

Brand & NFT Matchmaking was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

New direction, new journey, new MintGate… V3 has arrived.

We announced the biggest shift in MintGate’s history during yesterday’s Twitter Space. And with it comes the most robust, versatile tools to promote content creation and support those who make it.

We’ve already rolled out the first of these features, Promoter Payouts, which gives you an opportunity to reward your audience for promoting your work. Share your success with your biggest supporters by devoting a percentage of your sales to the people who helped carry you from start to end.

On top of that warm slice of pie, we’ve also added…

• credit card support for NFT purchases
• limitless video, audio, PDF, and image uploads
• ticketing support for live event sales
• in-app crypto purchases of MATIC, ETH, BTC, and USDC
• a fully updated UI design to simplify the entire creation and sales experience

That’s right! This baby’s a la mode! We’ll soon be adding…

• USDC pricing for all sales. (So you don’t need to change your price because MATIC mooned too hard.)
• For promoters, we’ll be adding an option to get paid out in fiat directly to their bank account instead of crypto.
• Building on that, we plan to add a fiat off-ramp for all users to convert crypto to fiat in-app.
• More collaborative features to enable uploads for fan art and other community content.
• Avatar badges that include tiered access and exclusive feature releases for the limited number of early holders.
• And, long term, will be support for AR and VR so that you can host your unlockable content or event in the metaverse.

As you can tell, we got a few plans.. and we may have a few other ideas brewing in the coffee pot. But while we love announcing features as much as any other project, we also want to explain why we changed focus from token gating to content crowdfunding.

We’ll be releasing a new series that dives deeper into MintGate’s lore and origin story, but here’s the preview:

We had some immediate interest in token gating, but it never saw a critical mass in usage and it was very challenging to monetize, especially after it had been offered for free for so long. It also didn’t help that the market who wanted token gating for external content is a small percent of crypto creators, which is already a small percent of the creator ecosystem. We realized this tool alone would not be sufficient to truly benefit creators who need visibility, better ways to monetize, and a more direct connection with their audience to build a community.

This combined with our experiences working closely with creators and brands led us to the decision to remove support for token gating with third-party tokens and instead refocus on the biggest needs brought to us.

For more details about these specific events and more, let that notification bell sing as we release it to you chapter by chapter. And get ready to gather round y’all, it’s story time…

MintGate V3: The Clicks Keep Coming was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

This change will not affect anyone minting NFTs on MintGate today. We will continue to support the creation of NFTs with gated videos, music, articles, and other content directly on MintGate in order to promote creators and brands who want to fund their work this way. But to better support the success of these creators, we cannot continue supporting this utility for NFTs minted elsewhere.

To clarify, it will still be possible to mint NFTs with token gated content directly on MintGate and you can start today. But it will no longer be possible to add gated content to NFTs that were not minted on MintGate.

Thank you for your time and we hope to see you in our Twitter Space this week to explain our reasoning for this as well as what this means for MintGate as a whole.

Announcement: Removing Token Gating Support for External NFTs was originally published in Mintgate on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.