Key takeaways:
- Reddit has launched Collectible Avatars, a limited-edition, blockchain-powered, cartoon-inspired avatar images
- Collectible Avatars are NFTs issued on the Polygon blockchain that can be purchased with fiat
- Reddit reportedly plans to implement more blockchain solutions on the platform in the future
Reddit launches NFT collection without admitting to doing so
Social media giant Reddit announced on Thursday the launch of so-called Collectible Avatars. Although the social media platform completely omitted any kind of NFT-related terms in its blog post, the newly-launched collector’s items are still image-based, blockchain-powered collectibles that are not fungible – in short, they are non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The launch of Collectible Avatars comes roughly six months after Reddit started testing NFT functionality on the site, thus mimicking other major social media firms, including Twitter and Instagram.
An excerpt from Reddit’s blog post reads:
“Collectible Avatars are backed by blockchain technology, giving purchasers rights (a license) to use the art – on and off Reddit.”
Collectible Avatars are available to purchase on the site’s own marketplace at a fixed price, ranging from roughly $10 to $100. Reddit also launched a subreddit dedicated to the avatars r/CollectibleAvatars.
Users can store purchased avatars in their Vault, which is Reddit’s own blockchain wallet solution supporting all Ethereum-compatible blockchains. It is worth noting that Reddit decided to use Layer 2 scaling solution Polygon as the platform to launch Collectible Avatars – reportedly due to Polygon’s low-cost transactions and carbon neutrality commitments.
The Reddit team noted that the launch of blockchain-backed collectibles is “one of the early steps” towards further implementation of blockchain solutions on the platform.
The company has previously launched blockchain-powered Community Points in 2020 in the form of ERC-20 tokens. The points are earned by contributing quality content to communities and grant access to premium perks. The initiative was further bolstered with Arbitrum scaling solution in 2021.
