Reddit has started selling NFT avatars on polygon

Reddit has partnered with Polygon to launch a number of blockchain-based NFT avatars that can be set as profile pictures on social media.

Reddit sells the first NFTs

The NFT mania may have cooled down since the beginning of the year, but that has not stopped Reddit from launching its own limited edition NFTs.

The social network revealed in a blog post on Thursday that it is launching a series of “Collectible Avatar” NFTs that users can enter as profile pictures on the Reddit page. Apart from being NFTs, the new avatars will differ from existing Reddit avatars in that they will only be available for purchase through a new dedicated store front and will give buyers licensing rights to use them both on and off Reddit.

According to the announcement, the new NFTs will be hosted by Polygon. Reddit noted that the Ethereum-compatible blockchain’s low fees and sustainability commitments were part of the decision to choose Polygon over other chains for its new NFTs.

According to TechCrunch, the first release will feature 90 different designs in its early access phase, with the total supply in «tens of thousands». The benefits of keeping a Reddit Collectible Avatar NFT include mixing and matching an avatar’s look with items available in the avatar builder and a “glow-like effect” to follow user comments together.

Reddit says that independent artists have created all the Collectible Avatars in the first series. Creators will be paid for each avatar sold and also have the right to receive 50% of royalties from secondary sales on open marketplaces, the blog post states. Currently, only members of the r / CollectibleAvatars subreddit are for invitations only who will be able to purchase the new NFTs, but a general release is planned in the coming weeks.

List prices for Reddit’s NFT avatars range from $ 9.99 all the way up to $ 99.99 for the most expensive examples. While avatars use crypto-technology, they can also be purchased with fiat currencies such as US dollars. Once purchased, the avatars can be traded with crypto on NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea and Rarible.

Reddit is just the latest in several major technology companies to signal their belief in NFT technology. Another of the Internet’s largest social media companies, Meta, has shown clear interest in the site since it pivoted to Metaverse late last year, supporting NFTs on Instagram and making bold predictions about the potential of the digital collectibles economy. Twitter issued its own limited set of NFTs and rolled out an authentication feature earlier this year (Metas Mark Zuckerberg has said his company will add a similar authentication feature to its apps in the future). eBay also dropped its own NFT collection on Polygon in May.

NFT technology has proven divisive since it hit the mainstream in 2021, and the ongoing crypto winter has cast doubt on the future of the room as floor prices for previously sought-after collections plummet. Nevertheless, the haste of large technology companies such as Reddit, which embraces innovation, suggests that space still has room to grow.