Blockchain
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June 14, 2022

How Foundation is now The Most Curated Marketplace for NFTs

The internet is evolving, and along with it, so is our concept of social media. Virtual communication is diversifying from Web2 read-write platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to Web3 read-write-own platforms like Decentraland, OpenSea, Axieinfinity, The Sandbox, and Solana.

On these Web3 platforms, users can create, buy and sell art, purchase virtual real estate, and play virtual games to earn rewards with actual real-world value.

The current evolution of the world wide web, driven by decentralization, thrives on giving artists and creators control over the work they create as well as the ability to profit from it. One of the innovations towards this goal is NFTs, tokens built on Ethereum blockchain technology and registered uniquely so they cannot be altered or duplicated.

Multiple marketplaces have popped up all over the web to support these tokens and make them accessible to be minted and transacted by users, and we have discussed a few of them, including OpenSea, and Solana. In light of all these advantages that come with using NFTs, a lot of people are getting on board with the wave and more and more NFTs are pouring into the market as users list their work.

The NFT marketplace is the organization that acts as a matchmaker between buyers and sellers and is responsible for facilitating transactions using NFTs. The amount of sales generated by the NFT marketplace is growing as a direct result of the ever-increasing demand for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Each of these marketplaces, depending on their level of inclusivity, has a range in the quality of the NFT art they display and the amount of autonomy they provide artists. We have open marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible that are highly inclusive and host a versatile range of artwork.

OpenSea is a popular NFT Marketplace
OpenSea is a popular NFT Marketplace

OpenSea, for one, is quite user-friendly and easy to use. However, it can be quite a chore to sort through all the classes of artwork it hosts to find quality NFTs. Rarible faces the problem of authentication and the level of inclusivity the platform operates makes it porous to fraud tokens.

In this article, we will be discussing Foundation, a marketplace established to give control to the creators while eradicating fraudulent art and providing NFT collectors with quality art selections and collectibles. We will explore the Foundation marketplace and discuss:

  • What the Foundation App is
  • How the Foundation App Works
  • The Foundation App Community
  • Features of Foundation

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What is Foundation App?

Developed on the Ethereum blockchain, this platform was founded to provide artists and creators with a decentralized, non-fungible way to create valuable artwork and monetize it by sharing it with interested collectors on the platform.

Its unique approach to NFT trading by economically leveraging on social connectedness and creativity takes artist autonomy to a whole new level where social engagement on the platform becomes a tool to connect creators with a target clientele and enable them to generate revenue with their digital art. You can download the foundation app here.

The Foundation App was founded by Kayvon Tehranian and Matthew Vernon in February 2021. Kayvon Tehranian, who is also the company's CEO, graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and has extensive knowledge in the areas of iOS programming, Python, and JavaScript.

Before founding Foundation App, Kayvon held the positions of Chief Technology Officer at Universe, Senior Software Engineer at Dharma Labs, and Head of Product at Universe. 

Matthew Vernon is not only a co-founder of Foundation App but also serves as its Head of Design. The designer and entrepreneur has broad expertise and is skilled in UX/UI, Brand strategy, and product design. He  formerly founded and worked for Internet World and Neue Goods. In addition to that, he was the Lead Product Designer of Dharma Labs.

How does Foundation App Work?

Having proven itself as a highly curated non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace that is commendably stable, Foundation seeks to create a cohesive network between creators, artists, and collectors that functions as a link between crypto and culture.

Creators and collectors of exquisitely created Decentralized Finance (DeFi) utilities collaborate on developing and maintaining the platform. The NFTs are accessible to any and everyone given that the participation conditions are satisfied.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Foundation began by inviting fifty artists first to the platform, and then gave each artist two more invitations to distribute to other users so that the site could be curated entirely by the community. Select artworks handpicked by the platform's community team are highlighted on the site, in newsletters, and on social platforms.

The purpose of the platform is to give a home to artists who are innovating the digital art space, experimenting with new creative techniques and highlighting the voices of underrepresented groups of people.

The Foundation App Community

The purpose of Foundation is to create a robust ecosystem that can simultaneously provide support for all of its members, and the community is composed of curators, collectors, and creators. To support the purpose of the community, it is guided by rules.

For instance, even though Creators own all of the legal rights to their work, including the trademark and copyrights associated with it, and even though they have the ability to exhibit, reproduce, distribute, and create derivative works based on it, they are not permitted to list the work of another person, nor create NFT copies of it.

In the case of Collectors, the NFTs that they acquire become their property, and they have the ability to show, share, display, trade, or resell them on any platform. However, they do not own rights to the intellectual property of any NFT they purchase, and they are prohibited from using it commercially or making any alterations to the artwork.

Join Foundation as a creator

Being invited to mint NFTs on the Foundation platform is the only way for an artist's work to be listed on the Foundation App. Once the NFTs have been minted, the artist is then required to list it on the marketplace so that it can be accessed by users.

Foundation receives roughly 15 percent commission  of the selling price from the makers and consequently the creator gets 85 percent of the whole sale revenue. The most advantageous feature of Foundation is that it pays royalties. It will immediately transfer ten percent of all sales to the person who first sold it every time the NFT is sold.

NFT Minting
NFT Minting

Operating with this business model, Foundation NFT marketplace has been able to earn a revenue of 26,657 Ethers, which is equivalent to about $85,895,453.52 in only about 5 months after it was first made available to the public.

One of the benefits of engaging in an NFT economy that is driven and centered around creators is assured profitability. Because the creators are the focus of each and every one of Foundation's features and the platform as a whole, artists are confident that their art will reach an audience that values it on Foundation and they will be paid for it.

Foundation has a few sales media, including:

Foundation “Buy Now” Option

Once an artist has listed their NFT in the marketplace, using the Buy Now button offers them the option to sell it for the price they choose. Follow these steps.

  • After paying the gas expenses for minting, you will then activate the sales option, at which point you will attach a specific price that you believe the NFT is worth.
  • Once this is done, any collector who views it and is willing to purchase it at that price may make a payment.
  • The NFT will be promptly sent to the collector's wallet, after the payment is made and the creator will be paid in ETH.

Creators also have the opportunity to modify the cost of the item and list it for another price.

Foundation “Offers” Option

The process goes like this.

  • List your NFT in the Offers section.
  • A buyer who is interested in acquiring it can make an offer by attaching a price to it. 
  • You, as the owner of the NFT, have the ability to choose whether or not to accept it. Offers last for about 24 hours from when they’re made. Because offers are on-chain transactions, the value of the NFT is changed on-chain whenever a purchase puts an offer. This happens whenever a buyer submits an offer.
  • If you, the seller, decide to accept the offer, the NFT will be sent to the buyer's wallet as soon as possible. 
  • However, if the offer time ends before 24 hours or a higher offer is made for the same NFT, the money of the potential buyer is returned to their wallet.

Foundation Reserve Auction

Follow these steps to use this option:

  • Mint the NFT 
  • List it in auction; this makes it visible to bidders. 
  • Set the reserve price, this is the minimum price the bidder will be able to purchase the asset for. Bidding lasts for twenty-four hours, with an additional fifteen minutes of extra time for any subsequent offer that is placed within the last fifteen minutes of the preceding bid.
  • When the countdown comes to an end, the NFT is sold to the person who placed the highest offer, and ETH is sent to the seller's wallet. Every activity can be found on the chain.

Before you put an NFT up for auction, you should be aware that after the bidding has begun, you can no longer alter the reserve price, and so it is important that you make sure the price you enter is the optimal minimum price that you can sell your NFT for without overpricing it.

Join Foundation as a collector

Anyone can join as a collector. Collectors will need a crypto wallet containing enough ETH to transact and purchase NFTs on Foundation. We recommend Metamask. Click here to download. You can read up on how to set it up here.

Once an NFT has been acquired, it is added to the user's wallet, where it may be stored, resold on the secondary market, shown in a virtual gallery, or shared through social media. You can collect via one of three different options: buy now, make an offer, or participate in a reserve auction.

  • With Buy Now, collectors have the ability to make an immediate purchase of an NFT that has been posted by an artist for sale on the marketplace. After that, you trade ETH for the NFT of your choosing.
  • In Offers, collectors have the ability to propose a specific price for a listed NFT, and if the Artist agrees to the price, the NFT is sold.
  • In Reserve Auctions, collectors get to bid against other collectors to purchase an NFT. The NFT goes to whoever bids the highest for it. If you bid in the last 15 minutes of an auction, it gets extended for another 15 minutes and tis goes on until there is no subsequent bid.

Features of Foundation

  • Minting: Foundation assists artists in minting their NFTs. Minting is the process through which a digital asset/NFT is recorded on the Ethereum blockchain.
  • Creator Profile: Each creator’s profile page features their profile photo, social media links, each piece's bidding history, as well as all artists' work listed on the Foundation.
  • Auctions: Once an NFT is listed in this section, the auction starts as soon as the first bid is made. The auction will not begin if no one submits a bid. In such instances, the creator may change the price of NFTs for an extra gas fee.
  • Search and Filters: Foundation features a search feature that enables us to browse for certain producers and collectors. We may also use this capability to look for artworks that we are interested in. 
  • Decentralized Storage: The Foundation's decentralization is one of its strongest USPs The management of  the Foundation's ecology and components like the NFTs is transparently recorded. A single server does not control the whole ecosystem. It employs a decentralized peer-to-peer network, which improves efficiency, speed, and security while also lowering operational costs.
  • Art Records: Each item of art developed with the Foundation may be tracked back to its first buyer, promoting transparency by displaying information about the original creator, when it was made, and all the previous owners.

Conclusion

As highlighted, the NFT market is growing, as is the increasing interest in these type of digital assets. With this growth, this sector and technology will be hard to stop reaching new heights.

The creative economy's story is being redefined by the induction of the Foundation App. It's creating a healthy ecosystem that hosts over thirty thousand unique users trading over $150 million in value.

The platform is uncomplicated and easy to use for everyone interested in minting, purchasing, and trading NFTs while interacting with artists all over the globe. For more information on NFTs, read our article on the best NFT examples!