The Moonbeam Chronicle #2: From Pixels to Possibilities, the Triumphs, Challenges, and Future of NFTs
Behind the Scenes: Insights from NFT Founders on Their Journey with Moonbeam, Sharing the Stories of Teddydao, GLMR Apes, ZooDAO, and TQOE
Welcome to this special edition featuring diverse pioneers shaping the NFT landscape on the Moonbeam network. In this issue, we highlight unique insights from Teddydao, GLMR Apes, ZooDAO, and TQOE. Each team, with their distinct approaches, is pushing the envelope in NFT innovation. From their experiences and challenges to their visionary outlook on future trends, discover the rich tapestry of creativity and technological evolution that these teams bring to the blooming NFT realm on Moonbeam.
Stay tuned, stay informed, and let's embrace the NFT revolution together.
1. Could you provide some insight into your project and what motivated its creation?
TeddyDAO: KBL originally conceived the idea of a charity-centric NFT after raising funds for Ukraine through the Kusama Queens collection. The success of a single Queen raising over $15K sparked the desire for a more targeted charitable NFT. The concept of Nouns DAO inspired KBL, leading to the enlistment of pixel artist “Yumi” to create the unique pixel teddy bears. By minting one bear each day, we're aiming to drive up bids through scarcity. Ultimately, we hope Teddy DAO's teddies will become symbols of philanthropy and community support.
GLMR Apes: Hello everyone! Our project, The Great Escape, is a hyper-casual game by GLMR APES DAO. We incorporate Apes NFTs into the game, allowing our community to earn rewards and have fun. We're motivated by the blockchain environment and the distinctive 90s vibe that's inherent in our collections. We've collectively created all our art through on-chain voting, yielding impressively unique results.
ZooDAO: The motivation behind ZooDAO came from our own discontent with the NFT space. We yearned for NFTs to transcend beyond mere JPEGs on the blockchain, and aimed to provide a solution that enhances the utility of all NFTs. Another issue we noticed was the lack of effort to onboard newcomers into crypto, encouraging them to explore the space more deeply. This includes utilizing DeFi and exploring beyond Ethereum. ZooDAO fills this gap—it's a no-loss yield farming game for NFTs, where the community generates the prize pools. Essentially, it's a game where you compete for the interest your opponents' assets generate, while being protected from financial loss. A community member accurately described ZooDAO as "a gamified high-interest savings account for Web3 degens," which we believe perfectly encapsulates its essence.
TQOE: The traditional writing field is undercapitalized, and it often requires writers to have tens of thousands of followers for financial sustainability. We aim to challenge this directive with our platform that allows writers to instantly monetize their work through engaging, collaborative multimedia projects. We're proud to introduce the world's first collaborative Crypto-Novels. We hope to revitalize the art of writing with beautifully curated projects that inspire and collect unique IPs, which can be leveraged in Film, Merchandise, gaming, and the metaverse.
2. What specific features of Moonbeam attracted you to build your NFT project on it rather than other blockchain platforms?
TeddyDAO: Our decision to build on Moonbeam was influenced by several factors: our familiarity with the chain and the broader Polkadot ecosystem; the ease of deploying the modified smart contract on the blockchain; pre-existing relationships with key stakeholders; the prospect of future NFT portability due to the interoperable ecosystem, and so forth.
GLMR Apes: For gameFi, Moonbeam offers numerous advantages. We're particularly leveraging two specific features of Moonbeam's parachain: connected contracts and callPermit precompile. These allow us to send regular rewards across any chain and provide a seamless, wallet-less, and gas-less user experience.
ZooDAO: The potential of Moonbeam's connected contracts and chains is extremely attractive for a dApp like ZooDAO. Moreover, Moonbeam's compatibility with cross-chain functionality, along with its low gas fees and high yields through DeFi protocols, are attractive attributes that help us provide greater value to our users.
TQOE: We're strong proponents of the Polkadot network, and Moonbeam provides the necessary tools for development with interoperability and longevity in mind. The transaction speeds, gas fees, multichain and cross-chain functionality, as well as potential for innovative advancements were all factors that attracted us. Additionally, the unwavering support from the Moonbeam team and Foundation during our early stages was invaluable.
3. Could you describe the process of minting NFTs on Moonbeam? What are the unique benefits or challenges that you've experienced?
TeddyDAO: Our testing phase was trouble-free. Our approach differs from a typical mint where an entire collection of NFTs is released simultaneously. With Teddy DAO, we aim to generate a single NFT each day to create instant scarcity. If a secondary market emerges, we anticipate this strategy will boost donations and potentially generate royalties that Teddy holders can donate to charities.
GLMR Apes: The NFT scene on Moonbeam is vibrant and dynamic. However, leveraging the cross-chain capabilities of Moonbeam might pose a challenge due to its early development stage and the comparatively smaller community size.
ZooDAO: We minted ZooDAO’s native NFTs via LayerZero and deployed contracts on Moonbeam without a hitch. The familiarity of Moonbeam’s EVM-based tech stack was a major advantage, and we're pleased to report we faced no significant issues.
TQOE: Our full multichain capability allows us to launch collections on various EVM chains, while our native QEV token represents Intellectual Property Rights within our ecosystem. The flexible infrastructure of the Moonbeam network has facilitated seamless cross-chain messaging and successful token distribution to contributors across Ethereum, Polygon, and Optimism.
4. Could you share some insights about your NFT user base? How has Moonbeam's cross-chain compatibility impacted your project's reach?
TeddyDAO: We aim to encourage every parachain team to win a Teddy and display it on their website, symbolizing their positive impact on the ecosystem and the world at large. The effect of this strategy remains to be seen.
GLMR Apes: While our initial audience comprised mostly of Dotsama enthusiasts and early Moonbeam adopters, we've gradually attracted more members from Web3 gaming communities. Building with a cross-chain perspective allows us to reach out far beyond the Polkadot ecosystem.
ZooDAO: We anticipate a significant increase in ZooDAO-specific cross-chain compatibility use cases with the release of XCM v3 (NFT). This will allow us to integrate popular NFTs from other Polkadot ecosystems and draw those users and liquidity to NFT Battles on Moonbeam.
TQOE: Our project has experienced exponential growth and visibility by tapping into multiple communities across different chains, including Ethereum, Polygon, and Optimism. All of our projects have sold out, which indicates strong reach and demand. With offerings in various genres, both fiction and non-fiction, we cater to a broad audience base and diverse interests.
5. Could you share any interesting stories or experiences you've had while developing your NFT project on Moonbeam?
TeddyDAO: Despite some cool team moments like experiencing the Toy Box for the first time, not many stand out as the project is yet to launch. However, the reception at ETH Denver was notable, with KBL dressing up as Teddy, and everyone was keen on getting a hat, especially the “trucker cap”.
GLMR Apes: Our story revolves around the GLMJ Jungle mint. The day we minted, in April 2022, GLMR's price surged unexpectedly. We feared this could affect the minters' decision as the contract had a fixed GLMR minting price. Nevertheless, the mint was successful, and within 48 hours, all 3,333 GLMJ were minted. It marked the beginning of our exciting journey!
ZooDAO: Our journey with ZooDAO has been thrilling. As a completely original product, we've managed to distinguish ourselves in the DeFi space. While the NFT game might seem simple on the surface, developing the complex DeFi logic behind it demanded a great deal of effort from our team. Despite minor setbacks, we successfully launched a successful V0 on the Moonbeam mainnet. We're now poised for our next exciting journey with the introduction of V1.
TQOE: Moonbeam has offered fertile ground for innovation, leading us to develop a robust multichain earning mechanism. Initially, we were going to rely on another Moonbeam project for price discovery and network purchases, but we had to fast-track our own multichain redeem function due to unforeseen circumstances. This quick action has now become one of our key value propositions.
6. Based on your experience and understanding of the NFT market trends, what do you foresee as the next significant narrative or evolution in the NFT space?
TeddyDAO: I envision NFTs being increasingly used for charity.
GLMR Apes: We believe that GameFi will be the next significant catalyst. It won't be like previous trends; instead, it will consist of intelligent, fun games that utilize blockchain's potential. Players will enjoy true ownership over rewards, NFTs, and their gaming experience.
ZooDAO: As a contributor to ZooDAO, I foresee a shift from profile picture NFTs towards solutions that enhance the utility of existing NFTs. New standards like RMRK's NFT 2.0 will be vital in sparking the next NFT boom. The goal is to provide NFT holders with diverse options for their assets and avoid the downfall of projects that offer only single-purpose NFTs.
TQOE: We predict a shift from JPEGs and PFPs to utility-based NFTs offering gated benefits and enhanced user experiences. NFTs will be used in novel ways, providing unique functionalities, tangible benefits, and engaging experiences, as opposed to sitting in wallets and merely appreciating in value.
7. Could you give us a glimpse into your project pipeline? What's the next exciting launch or feature your community should look forward to?
TeddyDAO: Our official launch is imminent. Follow our Twitter handle for daily updates and announcements.
GLMR Apes: We've been busy after launching a new PvP mode and adopting a Free-to-play gasless model for our game. Our next step is to make the Great Escape fully wallet-less and chain-agnostic. Soon, you'll be able to play just with an email and claim your rewards in any token of your choice.
ZooDAO: We're excited about incorporating more protocols and farms into ZooDAO's backend. This feature will allow users to customize their DeFi farming preferences. With the valuable feedback we received from ZooDAO's V0 release, we're enhancing the user experience for our upcoming V1 release.
TQOE: We're thrilled to unveil our AI writing feature. This tool aims to eliminate writer's block and rectify errors, aiding less confident writers in creating valuable intellectual property. It's a testament to the role of AI in fostering creativity and enhancing the writing experience.
To learn more above above projects, please follow their twitter account:
https://twitter.com/TeddyDaoNFT
https://twitter.com/GLMRApes
https://twitter.com/ZooDAO
https://twitter.com/TheQuestOfEvo