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Noun NFT Project: About The cc0 Pioneers
Noun is one of the most unique NFT projects in the space, making it a popular choice among collectors. As cc0 NFT from Substantiv DAO offers the collection of open source IP. Thanks to this, the NFTs have already made their way into toys, beer and even movies. Although they are 2D pixelated NFTs like CryptoPunks, their unique distribution method sets them apart.
In this guide, we take a deep dive into what the Substantiv NFT project is all about. We will also explore: What are the nouns DAO? How to buy a noun NFT? Who created nouns? And much more. So let’s dive right in!
What is the Substantiv NFT project?
Substantive is a generative art NFT project from decentralized autonomous organization, Noun DAO. According to the project website, “Substantive is an experimental attempt to improve avatar community formation on the chain.” Essentially, the project aims to “start identity, community, governance and a treasury that can be used by the community.”
In the meantime, all proceeds from the NFT sale go to the treasury of Substantiv DAO. These funds are later used to finance public goods in the real world.
The collection is one of the leading cc0 (or Creative Commons Zero) projects, featuring artwork of nouns in the public domain. In other words, the NFT creators have waived the artwork’s IP rights, so anyone can use the artwork in pretty much any way they want.
How many NFTs for nouns are there?
Unlike typical NFT projects, nouns do not have a predefined, limited supply of NFTs. Instead, the team auctions one noun every 24 hours, forever. The project uses what they call a “Nouns Auction Contract”, which acts as a self-sufficient NFT generation and distribution mechanism. Furthermore, each time an auction is settled, it triggers the release of a new noun NFT.
At the time of writing, a total of 557 substantive NFTs were sold. All told, they have generated around 7.8 million in trading volume so far.
Who created nouns?
Substantive DAO founders, or ‘Nounders’ as they call themselves, created the Substantive NFT project. The project reportedly draws inspiration from last year’s tweet by punk4156. At the time, the anonymous user sought community members’ interest in creating an “all-star DAO to build a new avatar project.”
After many showed interest, punk4156 explained the concept behind Substantive in a Twitter thread in June 2021. Later, a group of 10 Nounders officially created the DAO on August 17, 2021.
What are the nouns DAO?
The noun DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization based on the Ethereum blockchain. The primary governing body for the Noun Project, The DAO uses a fork of Compound Governance, an autonomous protocol.
Each substantive holder is an automatic member of the DAO, and owns one vote per NFT. Meanwhile, each founding member receives every tenth noun (or 10%), for the first five years as a reward. All funds ultimately go to the treasury of nouns DAO. Currently, the treasury has about 28,000 ETH (or about $34 million at the time of writing) in funds.
Although there is no limit to the number of nouns a member can own, they must have at least two nouns to submit proposals. Each holder can then vote on various proposals that the Treasury will support. However, the founders have veto power to overturn any malicious proposals.
Some of the previously funded proposals include featuring nouns in a Super Bowl commercial, a comedy film featuring nouns DAO, and a noun coffee. A proposal for an NFT-funded European fiction film was also adopted.
How to buy a noun NFT
Since a new noun NFT is auctioned every 24 hours, the collection continues to grow. Therefore, if you have enough funds, you can always try your luck by bidding on a noun during the daily auctions on the project’s website.
Alternatively, for a slightly lower price, you can buy a Substantiv NFT on secondary marketplaces such as OpenSea or Rare. Mind you, this still isn’t cheap; the current floor price is 35 ETH (about $42,600). Since only one NFT is released daily, they are in high demand; hence the relatively high floor price.
What is Lil Noun?
Launched early this year, Lil Noun is a new generative NFT collection from Substantiv DAO. Essentially, these are smaller versions of OG Noun NFT. In other words, they also have similar pixel art styles and are cc0 NFTs. Although quite similar to their parent collection, Lil Nouns are dropped every 15 minutes for eternity.
The collection also has its own DAO, called Lil Noun’s DAO. It focuses on creating a “new layer in the noun ecosystem: nouns as children.” In fact, DAO’s goal is to introduce more people to nouns. As with the parent collection, all auction proceeds go to the Lil Nouns treasury. Both Lil Nounders and Noun DAO receive rewards in the form of Lil Noun’s NFTs.
A final word
Noun NFT’s unique features make them a first-of-its-kind project in space – a much-needed, refreshing change in the NFT ecosystem. That said, in terms of overall NFT collection ranking, the project occupies 359th place, according to DappRadar. Of course, even though they are heavily behind popular NFT projects, that doesn’t mean nouns are a bad investment.
As previously mentioned, the project supports some interesting activations and experiences from the real world. Therefore, investors interested in this type of benefit may find Substantiv NFT to be a good investment choice. Nevertheless, as always, do your own due diligence before making any investment decisions.
