Reddit’s collectibles, blockchain-based avatars are definitely not NFTs

Reddit dips its toe into the digital collectible craze. The site launches a new version of NFTs with collectible avatars, one of the first attempts at blockchain-based technology.

The avatars are designed by artists (many of which are of course also Redditors) and will be for sale in a new store. Initially, only a small group of Reddit users will be able to buy the avatars by joining ir / collectibleavatar’s subreddit, but the company says it intends to open the store to all users “in the coming weeks.”

Although the company does not use the word “NFT” to describe these “blockchain-supported” images, it certainly sounds like other NFT projects. For example, Redditors can access their avatars via Vault – Reddit’s blockchain – based wallet – and owning an avatar gives buyers a license “to use the art – on and off Reddit.” In particular, collectible avatars can only be paid for with regular old fiat currencies; the store front will not support cryptocurrency transactions.

Unlike many NFT marketplaces, Redditors do not have to worry about sharply fluctuating prices, at least for the time being. Avatars will be sold by the company for fixed prices between $ 9.99 and $ 99.99, although Reddit seems open to the existence of a secondary market for avatars should demand exist. The company notes that the artists behind the avatars “also have the right to receive royalties from the secondary sale of their collectibles on open marketplaces.”

Reddit is not the first platform to experiment with bringing digital collectibles to users. Meta has started testing NFT support and Instagram, and Twitter introduced NFT earlier this year. YouTube executives have also expressed themselves in technology. Even Reddit itself experimented briefly with a feature for NFTs-as-profile photos earlier this year.

But so far, most of these integrations have been focused on letting users view their collections, rather than unlocking special benefits for NFT owners. While Reddit says that the avatars have “unique benefits on the Reddit platform”, the benefits sound quite limited, at least for now. Using a collectible avatar as the main avatar on the site will give your profile picture a “glowing effect” in comments, as well as the ability to “mix and match the avatar equipment with other Reddit avatar equipment and accessories.”

At the same time, Reddit says that collectibles are only an “early step” towards bringing more blockchain-based technology into the platform. “In the future, we see blockchain as a way to bring more authority and independence to the community on Reddit,” the company said. “As part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them become even more self-sustaining and self-governing.”