EtherCards is 3 things:
- A blockchain technology that makes it possible to create NFTs with utility and to implement randomized gamification
- A platform for using this technology
- A set of 10,000 NFTs (the Founder Cards) with lifetime utility on the EtherCards platform
- Utility and Randomization
What is an NFT with utility? Currently, the only things that you can do with most NFTs is buy them, hold them, and sell them. Most of the recent attention around NFTs has been in the context of digital artworks — these NFTs are agreements that mean basically that the buyer owns the artwork. An NFT can be used as an agreement for other things as well, like the lease for a car or the deed to a piece of real estate — essentially any kind of ownership agreement for any kind of thing can be (and in the future very will might be) managed with NFTs. But ownership isn’t the only kind of agreement that NFTs can enable. An NFT can also be an agreement to give access to something or to provide a service. This is an NFT with utility. For instance, instead of just selling an album, a band can make an NFT that serves as a VIP card for backstage access; instead of just selling an artwork, an artist can make an NFT that serves as an access card for studio visits or a tool for automatically collecting commissions each time a work is sold; instead of just selling a product, a person can make an NFT that gives the buyer access to their expertise and services; instead of just putting out promotional material, a business can issue an NFT that functions as a discount coupon, a rewards program certificate or a gateway for community airdrops. By offering a way to easily create NFTs with utility, EtherCards technology makes it possible for anyone to monetize what they do, whether it be running a business, creating art, researching, educating, programming, or writing articles.
The other main aspect of EtherCards technology is randomization and gamification. EtherCards utilizes Chainlink Verifiable Random Function (VRF) to create gamification systems for distributing NFTs such as lotteries, bounties, booster packs and set-completion games. In fact, almost any application of randomized systems is possible with EtherCards technology. For instance, if a user has a valuable NFT that costs 20 ETH, they don’t have to wait until a buyer comes along who is willing to pay this high price — instead they can gamify the sale by doing a lottery where e.g. 150 people can purchase a ticket for 0.15 ETH, enabling the seller to move their NFT quickly and profitably. Marketplaces can integrate EtherCards technology natively so that people can use these technologies directly on platforms like OpenSea and Rarible. Business and creators can likewise integrate EtherCards gamification technology into their own platforms to increase engagement and accelerate distribution.
EtherCards technology provides ways to monetize any kind of service or skill through programmable NFTs with utility, and makes it possible to implement gamification in order to get NFTs moving in a meaningful way.
2. The EtherCards platform
The site ether.cards is a platform that gives people access to all of the features of EtherCards technologies. Anyone can use the interface on ether.cards to create their own NFTs with utility features. Likewise, anyone can easily set up gamefied events for distributing or selling their NFTs. The methods announced so far include lotteries, bounties, booster packs and set-completion games, but the technology opens the door for all kinds of creative gamification methods, which will be rolled out in the coming months. These gamification features can be used not only for NFTs minted on ether.cards, but for any NFT minted by recognized providers like Rarible, Mintbase, OpenSea, and Nifty Gateway.
The platform is a first in both of these areas: There has never before been mainstream access for people to mint NFTs with utility that they can use to monetize their skills or services. There has also never before been a platform that breaks out of the mold for distributing NFTs, moving past the current models where NFTs are simply auctioned off and providing new, dynamic distribution methods.
The platform is scheduled to go live in April.
3. The EtherCards Founder Series
The EtherCards Founder series is a set of 10,000 cards with utility traits that give the holder special abilities on the ether.cards platform. These cards are a limited set with features that will never again be issued. For instance, the traits on the Founder EtherCards provide discounts on the platform that never expire, improved chances in all future raffles on the platform, or lifetime free access to platform services. Some cards will have traits that make it possible to upgrade cards for more valuable ones, and some traits will be a gateway for future token airdrops. 100 of the Founder cards will have royalty traits that give the card holder a share of all profits made by the platform in perpetuity. In brief, the EtherCards Founder series are designed in a way such that value is added as the platform grows.
Summary
NFTs enable people to monetize the products of their work. NFTs with utility enable people to monetize their skills and services. EtherCards enables NFTs with utility to become building blocks in an organically growing ecosystem that anyone can join.
In the words of founder Andras Kristof, “EtherCards does for NFTs what DeFi has done for ERC-20s. We want to create and kickstart the same kind of lego-like ecosystem that can be utilized and integrated by putting together services in a free-flow fashion. We want to change how NFTs are being used forever — to change the industry, change the ecosystem.”
