From the beginning, Darkblock has offered its Viewer as an integral part of its end-to-end solution for helping creators sell premium content in a web3-native way—i.e., we don’t want to just let creators encrypt and attach multimedia files to their NFTs, though that alone would be super cool, we want to provide them with a simple, no-code way for their fans to decrypt and access those files on their own website rather than rely on third-party apps or token-gated platforms.

Darkblock’s Viewer is a powerful tool designed to provide a seamless and immersive experience for both creators and NFT holders. But the original version did have its limitations, especially when it comes to Ethereum and EVM chains. This is because when a creator embeds the original Darkblock Viewer on their site—which is as easy to do as embedding a YouTube video—they need to designate a single token the Viewer is set up to handle, which means it works well for creators who want to give access to content attached to an ERC-1155 edition, but not a great fit for creators with an ERC-721 collection.

Darkblock’s new collection-level Viewer eliminates those limitations. Check it out now in our docs or read on for what it enables for creators.

Breaking Free from Single-Token Constraints

With the new collection-level Viewer, creators can break free from the shackles of single-token limitations.

By embedding the collection-level Viewer on their website, creators can now let their fans connect their wallets and access all the content they own from an entire collection, even if it’s unique content attached to multiple ERC-721 tokens within that collection.

Here’s an example that will help illustrate why this is relevant. Say Yuga Labs wants to enhance the value of its Apes and uses Darkblock to encrypt and attach a unique 3D, metaverse-ready Ape avatar to the corresponding ERC-721 token (easy to do via Darkblock’s PFP Content Factory). That would be cool (especially if Yuga partnered with a metaverse or game that uses Darkblock’s Unity plug-in to enable the automatic upload of that avatar at runtime…). Then, say, it wanted to attach some exclusive VIP passes to its solid gold- and trippy- fur Apes.

If Yuga wanted to embed the original Viewer, they’d need to get developers involved to allow holders to enter their individual token or build a wrapper that would enhance the Viewer to display multiple 721s. Both doable with Yuga’s resources, but out of reach for many small projects and indie creators.

With the new collection-level Viewer Yuga could embed it on their site with some simple HTML code (like we said, as easy as embedding a YouTube video) and each holder, after connecting their wallet, would immediately have access to any token-bound files attached to any NFTs they own from that collection. 

The collection-level Viewer means it’s no longer about one token – it’s about the entire collection.

Seamless, Intuitive, and User-Friendly

Our mission at Darkblock is to make it as easy as possible for creators to monetize their content in web3. The collection-level Viewer is intuitive, ensuring holders enjoy a user-friendly interface while navigating through the content attached to their NFTs, whether it’s art, music, ebooks, or any token-bound asset.

This enhancement is not just about functionality; it’s about transforming the way creators showcase their NFTs. The collection-level Viewer enables creators to offer a richer, more engaging experience to their fans right on their own website, fostering deeper connections with their community. 

As we continue to build and evolve, we’re excited about the endless possibilities this enhancement brings to the world of decentralized, token-bound content.

The collection level embeds are only available for EVM chains currently. If you need this functionality for another chain, please contact us in our Discord to request the feature!

About Darkblock

Darkblock, a web3 pioneer in decentralized content delivery and monetization, enables creators to control the distribution, accessibility, and monetization of their content without making it right-click-savable. By repurposing NFTs into tokenized vaults for digital content (e.g., music, videos, podcasts, films, comics, ebooks, 3D metaverse or gaming assets, or even HTML files), Darkblock provides the encryption infrastructure creators need to harness the power of web3 technology, unlock new storytelling and community-building tools, explore new business models and ultimately build a new creator economy free from platform control.

Website | Discord | Twitter | YouTube | Medium | LinkedIn

Because despite market conditions, web3 tech isn’t going anywhere. Companies like Disney, Mercedes-Benz, Canon, Mattel, Adidas, Amazon and Starbucks are still actively building in the web3 space, using the relative quiet of a down market to experiment with the tech and explore how they can incorporate web3 into their digital brand, content and customer-acquisition strategies.

Mercedes-Benz just this week announced it’s going all-in on web3, launching a dedicated entity called Mercedes-Benz NXT to drive its efforts in the space. On May 2, the company said in a tweet:

Enabled by the emergence of blockchain technologies, we believe digital art and collectibles will play an increasingly significant role in people’s online experience. Mercedes-Benz NXT marks a commitment to building a dedicated presence within the Web3 community.

Here’s a look at some of the brands that entered the web3 space last year:

Many of these web3 teams working for big brands will begin with digital collectibles, but they’ll be looking for ways to increase engagement, deliver value to their communities, and build brand loyalty. Content and its role as a vehicle in brand marketing and narrative storytelling is almost certain to be part of the strategic conversations. And when it is, Darkblock will be ready to provide a web3-native way to power those initiatives.

Here are some examples of big brands that are—despite the bear market—launching web3 initiatives, and how Darkblock may fit into their plans:

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz is launching a web3 studio that will use blockchain tech to grow its digital brand and reach new audiences.

Darkblock use case: Deliver exclusive content and other digital assets to its community members via their NFTs, whether high-res printable images, metaverse assets, QR codes to redeem exclusive merch, etc.

Canon

Canon is preparing to launch a dedicated Photo NFT marketplace.

Darkblock use case: Use low-res images for the actual NFT, but use Darkblock to encrypt and attach high-res printable image files. Photographers such as Emanuele Ferrari, a well-known Italian fashion photographer, is currently using Darkblock to attach extra images from the photo shoot to his NFTs.

Amazon

The e-commerce behemoth is gearing up to enter the web3 space with its own NFT marketplace. If that’s not a sign of what’s to come, I don’t know what is.

Darkblock use case: If digital goods are going to be tokenized (not just JPEGs, but ebooks, audiobooks, gaming assets) and then bought and sold, there needs to be an encryption and access-control layer that protects the asset and ensures that only the current owner can access it.

Mattel

Mattel has been exploring how to leverage web3 tech with its stable of well-known IP, including Barbie and Hot Wheels NFT collections that both sold out.

Darkblock use case: These brands are launching collections to drive brand awareness and engage with new and existing audiences. By using their NFTs as deliver vehicles for exclusive content, whether storytelling assets, behind-the-scenes content, or even just QR codes for exclusive merch, they can open up new opportunities to engage with their audiences and grow brand loyalty.

Disney

Disney is finally bringing Star Wars to the blockchain. In collaboration with Cryptoys, a collection of Star Wars digital collectibles is dropping May 24.

Darkblock use case: Similar to Mattel, the Star Wars IP is ripe for exclusive web3 content that grows engagement and builds brand loyalty.

Adidas

Adidas was an early believer in web3, dropping its first NFT collection in late 2021 in collaboration with Bored Ape Yacht Club. That effort raised $23 million for the apparel brand, which hasn’t wavered since in its bet on the decentralized web—even because of current market conditions. It recently launched ALTS, which lets its holders burn NFTs from the original collection to redeem an Adidas avatar NFT (aka PFP) that’s tied into a bigger narrative campaign.

Darkblock use case: Narrative campaigns require ongoing storytelling content to keep audiences engaged.

Starbucks

Starbucks is using web3 tech to power its new customer-rewards program, Odyssey. The program lets customers earn and buy digital collectibles (ie, NFTs) that could unlock new virtual and IRL experiences. The program has proved so popular that just getting off the waitlist has been enough to generate a ton of free marketing as people share the milestone on Twitter and elsewhere.

Darkblock use case: Customer rewards program are all about… rewarding customers. Rather than airdrop new NFTs every time you want to reward customers, Darkblock could be used to deliver rewards via customers’ existing NFTs (eg, QR codes offering discounts on their next purchase).

Nike

Nike launched its own “web3-enabled platform” called .Swoosh for its fans “to learn about, collect and eventually help co-create virtual creations, which are typically interactive digital objects such as virtual shoes or jerseys.”

Darkblock use case: Nike has already said it plans to pair its NFTs with 3D files holders can use to “express themselves in new ways,” which is a perfect use case for Darkblock. By attaching 3D files to the NFTs (rather than a web2 approach), a brand such as Nike can ensure its fans that the files are immutable and will travel with the NFTs as they’re bought and sold. Attaching the 3D files via Darkblock would also provide the NFTs with future utility in metaverse or gaming contexts as the attached 3D wearable assets could be interacted with outside the confines of Nike’s website (which won’t be possible if Nike takes a traditional web2 or token-gated approach).

Building a PFP project is hard regardless of market conditions. Holders expect regular updates, new content, added value, etc., all while founders are trying to be heads-down building for the future.

Darkblock developed PFP Content Factory to provide these founders with a quick, fun and easy way (also free!) to engage with their holders, develop some camaraderie within the community, and spread the vibes.

PFP Content Factory is a content-generation and bulk-upgrade tool that allows project founders to quickly generate unique images derived from all the PFPs in their collection, then upload the entire batch of newly generated images and have each one automatically attach to the correct corresponding NFT within the collection. This is all done via Darkblock’s protocol.

These derivatives could include overlaying a border around each PFP with custom messages (e.g., “HODL to the moon” or “Find me at #ETHDenver”) or placing each PFP in a cheesy holiday-themed frame. The product will also enable founders to generate 3D assets, such as the original PFP in a digital frame to be hung in the metaverse. Darkblock is also working on the ability to bulk-feed the PFPs into an AI engine like Midjourney to generate AI derivatives, opening up even more possibilities for unique and exclusive content.

Take this PFP of a Blue Cow eating a mushroom…

Assume there are 10k unique and colorful cows like this in the collection. A project founder could use PFP Content Factory to easily create derivatives of all 10k PFPs by applying filters, overlaying borders with custom messages (e.g., “HODL to the moon” or “Find me at #ETHDenver”) or cheesy holiday-themed frames, or randomly applying various graphics.

“Taking a single PFP and putting a border around it is not hard—but quickly doing it to 10k PFPs, and then sorting those 10k new derivatives and attaching them to their correct corresponding PFP… That’s the magic behind PFP Content Factory,” said Chris Seline, CEO of Darkblock. “We’re excited to provide PFP projects with a powerful tool that they can use to push the boundaries of what’s possible with their NFT collections.”

Darkblock piloted the tool with Jungle Cats, a 5k-edition PFP project on Solana. For Valentine’s Day, Darkblock used PFP Content Factory to create Valentine’s Day-themed versions all Jungle Cat holders’ PFPs and then attaching them all in one go to their unique corresponding NFTs. Unlike an airdrop, these Valentine’s Day PFPs were free to deliver and will forever travel with their PFP.

Of course, project founders are also able to use Darkblock’s existing collection-upgrade tool to deliver other types of content (e.g., comic books, videos, films, PDFs, etc.) to all NFTs in a collection—something more akin to “Google Drive for NFTs.”

PFP Content Factory gives projects a low-effort touch point to stay engaged with their communities and, as Darkblock rolls out analytics tools, will give project founders a glimpse into just how engaged their holders are.

The PFP Content Factory is now available for use by PFP project founders. For more information, visit Darkblock’s website or get in touch.

Musicians have discovered that NFTs offer a perfect vehicle to sell their music directly to fans, bypassing traditional industry structures and giving themselves the opportunity to explore new Web3-native business models. With NFTs, musicians can create unique digital assets that represent their music, such as albums or individual tracks, which their fans can then buy and collect. This gives fans an opportunity to support their favorite artists in a new way and, because they own a piece of the music, they’re more invested in the success of that artist, all of which creates a more meaningful relationship between musicians and their fans.

Last month, we at Darkblock did a deep dive into Literary NFTs and how authors were harnessing Web3 technology to sell their books to fans. It was such a success, that we decided to do it again—this time with music. Throughout March, we’ll explore how musicians are using NFTs and Web3 technology to find new ways to engage with fans and make a living from their work.

Here’s the schedule of Twitter Spaces and YouTube livestreams as of now. It will be updated throughout the month.

Past

Music NFTs &. The Future of Music w/ Yunice & Ash — March 8
A discussion about how musicians are approaching Music NFTs with Ash Fishman, founder of Klezma.io and its first Web3 music cohort, and Yunice, a musician w/ 400 Music NFTs under her belt.
Listen to the recording

Dialogue w/ Dope Stilo: From the Metaverse to the Cryptoverse to an Arena Near You — March 9
A YouTube livestream chat Dope Stilo, an LA-based artist who’s grown his audience through the non-traditional means of performing in metaverse concerts & dropping Music NFTs.
Watch the recording

A Web3 Music Journey with Songs of Eden — March 14
Songs of Eden is a musician with millions of Spotify streams, a multi-platinum music producer, and a pioneer in Web3 Music. He’s minted Music NFTs, held metaverse concerts, used Darkblock to reward holders w/ exclusive content, and is even preparing to launch a PFP project. Join us as Songs tells us about his journey of exploration in Web3 music.
Listen to the recording

Upcoming

Breaking into Music NFTs w/ Belle Mt — Thurs., March 16, 2pm EST
Belle Mt, an indie alt-pop band from the UK, recently sold out its first Music NFT. We’ll speak with Matt from the band about his experience entering the Web3 space and how he’s approaching this new world.
Set your reminder

Investing in Musicians with Phlote Music DAO — Tues., March 21, 2pm EST
Phlote Music DAO is a music discovery and investment platform that uses Web3 tools to support up-and-coming musicians.
Set your reminder

More events will be added as we go. To keep tabs on the events we’ll be hosting, join our Discord.

The hackathon, which Magic Eden launched this past fall after making waves in the Solana ecosystem when it made creator royalties optional, offered a chance for developers to learn more about Darkblock and our protocol. Recognizing that our tools and mission are to empower creators to make money from their work, Magic Eden had tapped Darkblock to be a partner in the hackathon. We offered a workshop and fielded questions from builders throughout the event, which ran from Oct. 28th to Dec. 13th and boasted more than $250,000 in prize money.

Web3 Music Vault was one of a few projects incorporating Darkblock’s protocol for decentralized unlockable content. It was developed by a member of the Darkblock community, Prizem, and offers one of the first-ever applications for playing token-gated music seamlessly from a playlist via Alexa.

Using Darkblock, musicians can immutably attach mp3 files to their NFTs as unlockable content. Once the Music NFTs get into the hands of collectors, all they have to do is visit Web3 Music Vault to connect their wallet and create a playlist for Alexa.

Prizem’s project offers a great example of making web3 content available in the places where people are already consuming their content. The app also offers a good example of how Darkblock’s protocol can be integrated into any website, wallet, native app, or even hardware.

Songs of Eden, a popular musician who has already utilized Darkblock to distribute his music, believes Darkblock and apps like Web3 Music Vault will enable creators to reclaim control over music that “musicians/producers have been giving away in the last few decades.”

“Web3 is a chance to get it back,” he said.

He showed off Web3 Music Vault in a video he posted on Twitter.

This technology offers promise for much more than just music. Audiobooks, podcasts, lectures, or any audio file can be attached and played using the Web3 Music Vault. The Web3 Music Vault provides users with a seamless way to play token-gated content. 

Because it was built as part of Magic Edens hackathon, the app currently supports only Solana, but Prizem has expressed interest in adding support for additional chains if the demand is there. If you want to learn more or encourage him to continue developing the app, join Darkblock’s discord and bug Prizem.

I’m taking over the blog today to share some thoughts on why we’re so excited about our partnership with the Omega RUNNER project, which we announced last month right before holiday break. 

You can find the details in the news release, but here’s the tl;dr: Omega RUNNER, an NFT project and web3 media franchise from Metaversal and Clubhouse Pictures, tapped Darkblock to build its new Comic Vault—a portal into the RUNNER universe for its NFT holders—atop our protocol for decentralized unlockable content.

We call it decentralized unlockable content, but what we offer is essentially a web3-native way to token gate any type of digital asset. In this case, the RUNNER team was able to upload the first and second issues of the RUNNER digital comic book, which was then encrypted, permanently stored on Arweave, and immutably attached to the 1,000 initial First Edition NFTs.

Holders are now able to visit the Comic Vault on the Omega RUNNER website to unlock and read these comic books, but they’ll also be able to—this is where our decentralized, open-source protocol comes into play—unlock and read their comic books on any marketplace, wallet, native app, or website that integrates the Darkblock Protocol. We also are releasing new monetization tools that will create new ways for creators, projects, and even their communities to make money from their content.

Decentralized Unlockables > Token-Gating

We’re proud of our partnership with Omega RUNNER because it highlights one of Darkblock’s core advantages—the ability for creators to use NFTs to distribute their content in a web3-native way that both protects their underlying IP from being right-click-saved and offers their collectors a decentralized method for consuming the content.

To reiterate, we’re far beyond your grandaddy’s token-gating. Most token-gating you see in the web3 space is really just a web2 solution made to look innovative because it uses an NFT instead of a password to access the content. But if a project relies on a centralized website portal or centralized storage for the content (i.e., storing the comic book PDF in a Google Drive folder), then those collectors have no guarantee the website portal or content will be accessible in three, five, 20 years from now. In the end, that’s not much different from me “buying” an audiobook on Audible; I don’t really own it as it could disappear from the app at any point.

This is NOT the way web3 should work. We have to do better or we are severely diluting the value creators can derive from NFTs. If we believe in web3’s promise to usher in the next great wave of the Creator Economy, then we need to be thinking in decades, not days. That’s what we’re doing at Darkblock. 

And kudos to the Omega RUNNER team for also thinking that way. The team over there at Metaversal and Clubhouse Pictures is full of original thinkers, technologists, and inventive storytellers that knew they wanted to push the envelope when it came to building a truly web3-native media franchise that would not only break new ground when it comes to tech, but also provide added value to community members. They could have simply token-gated the comic book, but we’re glad they didn’t—and I think their collectors will be too, even if they don’t realize it until 10 years from now.

Looking ahead

But this partnership goes far beyond encrypting and attaching comic books to NFTs.

We see so much potential with this partnership because once you realize what the Darkblock Protocol does—which is it allows a creator to turn their NFT into a tokenized, composable delivery channel for exclusive multimedia content—the mind starts spinning with all the new ways creators could monetize their content or explore more interactive storytelling methods.

As Yossi Hasson, co-founder and CEO of Metaversal, says in their announcement: “We’re excited to build the next wave of Hollywood-style storytelling, using the power of NFTs to unlock entirely new storytelling opportunities. We’re equally eager to own the distribution and create an interface for collectors and fans alike to experience the Omega RUNNER story. The Comic Vault is just the first step towards this vision of a more engaging, deeply creative story experience.”

I don’t want to drop too much alpha, as it’s not our project, but the Omega RUNNER team is already looking forward to leveraging future iterations of the Darkblock Protocol. Specifically, there are two features that will be explored.

First, we plan to introduce owner-generated unlockable content. Currently, only the NFT creator can attach content to their NFTs, but we plan to give them the option to allow their NFT owners to attach their own content to their individual NFTs. This has interesting applications when you start thinking about how a web3 media project that’s building its own story universe could empower its community to create and attach lore and their own unique storylines to their character NFTs—whether in the form of written stories, audio books, videos or animations.

Monetization Tools

Second, we are releasing new monetization tools, beginning with giving the creator the ability to rent temporary access to their NFT’s unlockable content. This ability is actually live now for creators in the Solana ecosystem as we pushed an alpha version as part of Magic Eden’s Creator Monetization Hackathon. But we’re hard at work adding cross-chain functionality and expanding the possibilities, including giving the creator the option to allow their NFT owners to rent out the unlocklable content. This essentially allows a creator to turn their community of NFT collectors into a content-distribution network.

If we return to the example of the Omega RUNNER team giving holders the ability to attach character lore and fan fiction to future character NFTs, we begin to imagine a future where a talented storyteller could monetize their own NFT by creating a backstory in a popular universe, attaching it to their NFT as unlockable content, and then giving people the ability to pay a small fee to rent and consume the content. 

The beauty of this content-rental scenario is that the creator—in this case the Omega RUNNER project—will always get a cut of any rental fee the NFT owner collects. We call it royalties on consumption and, unlike with royalties on secondary sales, splitting revenue between the creator and owner (or even four ways if you include the protocol and a marketplace that brokers the rental transaction) will be enforceable on the smart-contract level

We’ve been relatively quiet the last year as we’ve built out our protocol and added integration partners, including SolSea, Kalamint, Monarch Marketplace, Jungle Cats, and others. The partnership with Omega RUNNER though marks an important milestone for us—one that truly demonstrates how forward-thinking creators could use our decentralized content-delivery protocol to add value and utility to their NFTs, strengthen their communities, and explore the future of storytelling made possible by web3-native tools. 

But to us, decentralization also means ownership of assets without relying on centralized gatekeepers. In other words, NFT buyers and collectors should be able to access their token’s unlockable content from anywhere… not just on a centralized marketplace like OpenSea, a creator’s token-gated website, or even our own dApp. That, by the way, is also what our protocol makes possible.

That will get easier for collectors as the Darkblock Protocol becomes a standard piece of the web3 tech stack, integrated everywhere people access and interact with their NFTs.

Until then, though, we want to make it easy for NFT owners to access their unlockable content in more of the places they hang out. Since OpenSea is far and away the most popular NFT marketplace, we figured it’s a great place to demonstrate how Darkblock enables decentralized content delivery.

Darkblock’s new OpenSea Chrome extension embeds the Darkblock widget into the marketplace, allowing visitors to immediately see whether an NFT contains unlockable content and, if it does, authenticate ownership of that NFT to unlock and consume the content, whether it’s a video, music tracks, PDFs, 3D assets, or any other type of digital good.

The extension is currently available on Google’s Chrome Web Store.

Please try it out and then head to OpenSea. Given how early we are as a protocol, the vast majority of NFTs do not contain decentralized unlockable content. But if you want to see how an NFT with unlockable content shows up on OpenSea, check out this one from well-known artist Matt Griffin, who used Darkblock to attach a time-lapse video of him creating the piece, a hi-res version collectors can use to print, and a PDF with lore about the character. Or this one from musician Songs of Eden, who uses Darkblock to reward his collectors by continually attaching exclusive videos of his live performances to his NFTs. 

If you want the full experience of owning an NFT and unlocking its content, we have a free NFT you’re welcome to mint that contains unlocklables (it’s on Polygon, so gas shouldn’t cost much). Once the NFT is in your wallet (and you have the Chrome extension installed), visit its detail page on OpenSea. You should see two pieces of unlockable content, including the first three teaser pages of a comic book that I think we should finish one day. But they won’t be accessible to you until you click on “Authenticate Ownership.” Your wallet will prompt you for your signature, after which the protocol will decrypt and display your content (assuming the NFT is in the wallet you have connected).

Darkblock’s Buddy Sample NFT with its unlockable content visible on OpenSea

Need a visual guide? We published an instructional video on our YouTube channel.Quick note: This Chrome extension is still in beta, so we’d love your feedback! Take it for a test drive, and if you like what Darkblock enables, feel free to build on top of our open-source code (Github). We’re also always available to answer questions on our Discord.

Monark Market has integrated the Darkblock Protocol into its marketplace, allowing creators of metaverse assets—whether environments, wearables, art, or metaverse decor—to use Darkblock to encrypt and attach their creations to NFTs in the form of unlockable content. 

Integrating Darkblock fit with Monark’s goal to provide simple, creator-focused solutions to bring the metaverse further into the mainstream, according to Michael Shoup, CEO of Monark Market.

Michael was developing his own back-end solution to help creators protect their IP when they sell it on his marketplace, and to help consumers who need to download and reupload their metaverse assets into their preferred virtual world, when he stumbled upon Darkblock.

“The idea here is we want to enable artists to be able to create in whatever fashion they like. We want them to know their IP is protected, deliver the assets in a cool way, and finally pull that into metaverses and other software like games without having to require the users to download. It would simply be there in their metaverse.” 

The Darkblock Protocol and API facilitate file delivery for Monark into the various locations the marketplace is aiming to deliver assets: Unity, Metaverses, etc. Darkblock also plans to facilitate alternative monetization streams in the future for creators on Monark, such as content rental or subscriptions.

You can already find the Darkblock viewer embedded in Monark Market (see image below). 

Go check out their newly launched marketplace and claim their free Polygon Metaverse Party Pack NFT for your next metaverse event, complete with disco ball! 

About Darkblock: 

Darkblock enables creators to distribute and monetize their content in a web3 native way. Using Darkblock, creators can encrypt, permanently store, and immutably attach multimedia content to their NFTs that’s only available to holders—comic books, movies, music, ebooks, podcasts, or 3D metaverse assets. Whether it’s through sales, ad revenue or rentals, Darklock aims to guarantee the flow of income to creators by letting them hold the keys to their content.

Website | Discord | YouTube | Medium | Twitter

About Monark Market:

At Monark, we’re experts at building experiences within the Metaverse, and know all too well the issues surrounding the industry. That’s why we’re excited to be building Monark Market: The Marketplace for the Metaverse, focused on solving 3 main problems we see within the industry today.

Website | Discord | Twitter | Medium

The silver lining to Magic Eden making royalties optional, and the resulting debate over whether marketplaces should be enforcing something that can’t be enforced on the smart-contract level, is that it will lead to innovation that will spawn new blockchain-enabled business models for creators.

Royalties on sales were never the be-all, end-all business model. Our collective approach to how creators monetize their work and make a living in web3 is incredibly narrow compared to the endless opportunities enabled by blockchain technology.

NFTs aren’t the business model—they are a key that unlocks a multitude of business models.

This, by the way, is why we’re building Darkblock, which is an encryption protocol that enables creators to control the distribution, access to, and monetization of their multimedia content using NFTs with unlockable content. Our mission is to empower creators to harness the power of blockchain technology and develop a new creator economy free from platform control.

Magic Eden has asked the Darkblock team to lead a workshop on Nov. 9 as part of its Creator Monetization Hackathon, which we’re happy to do. We’re confident participants who build on the Darkblock Protocol will come up with some novel new monetization opportunities for creators.

To kickstart the ideation, here are four revenue models possible to develop using the Darkblock Protocol.

1. Content Subscriptions

With Darkblock, creators can encrypt and immutably attach an unlimited amount of multimedia content to their NFTs (even after they’re minted or sold). This turns NFTs into delivery channels for content and means creators can use the Darkblock Protocol to deliver new content to their audiences ad infinitum. See the possibilities?

A comic book creator could sell an NFT to her fans, then attach a new issue each month as unlockable content. An author could do the same with their ebook, or an animator with their weekly video series, or a model with daily NSFW content. The ability to turn on a subscription fee and create the web3 versions of Patreon, Substack or OnlyFans is entirely doable.

And because Darkblock makes integration into a website easy, these creators could give their holders an excuse to return to their website on a regular basis to connect their wallet, interact with the Darkblock Protocol to authenticate ownership of the NFT, then decrypt and consume the content without leaving.

2. Content Rental & Royalties on Consumption

One lever creators can pull when it comes to the access controls the Darkblock Protocol provides is giving NFT owners the ability to rent out the unlockable content. Making this possible turns a creator’s collectors into a distribution network for their content.

Here’s how it would work: Imagine a popular filmmaker releases a short film and attaches it to a collection of 2,000 NFTs, selling each for .2 ETH—at current ETH prices, a cool $628,000. Existing fans might not be able to afford the NFT, but they might be willing to pay .01 ETH (about $15) to watch the film (using the Darkblock TV app, of course). Or, maybe this filmmaker becomes super famous and the price of these 2,000 NFTs increases to 2 ETH while demand to view this short film also increases.

In either scenario, if the filmmaker gave holders the option to rent the film, holders would be able to rent it out and collect a rental fee. The holder would pocket a portion of the proceeds, a reward for their early support, while a pre-determined percentage would flow back to the filmmaker in the form of a royalty on consumption.

We envision this being done by creating special access NFTs with temporary darkblocks containing the rented content.

3. Asset Purchases & Upgrades

Another opportunity using the Darkblock Protocol is for creators to sell additional content or assets to existing NFT holders.

Let’s use game and metaverse assets for this example. Using Darkblock’s existing Unity plug-in, creators and developers can encrypt and attach game and metaverse assets to NFTs, which subsequent owners could upload to Unity-based games and metaverses at runtime.

Pretty cool. Let’s say someone buys an NFT that contains a special avatar for a specific metaverse. Later, the NFT’s owner wants to buy an upgrade and/or acquire some new wearables or metaverse fashion for the avatar. The original creator collects a small fee and attaches the additional darkblock to the existing NFT so the new asset is uploaded with the avatar at runtime.

You may ask why a creator would want to add content to an existing NFT rather than sell a new NFT. One answer is that they want value to accrue to their existing collectors. If a holder has invested over a long period of time in upgrades and extra stuff, then that NFT is chock-full of unlockable content and will fetch a higher price on the secondary market.

Here’s another possibility to get the juices flowing.

A creator-educator can use the Darkblock Protocol to attach course material to NFTs (e.g., lectures, worksheets, resources, etc.) and then provide them to each student.

That alone is a great use case. But maybe they want to sell add-ons—certain high-value templates or custom design files or even special links a student could use to redeem IRL items or schedule one-on-one coaching sessions. All of those things could be sold and then attached to that specific student’s NFT as unlockable content.

4. Gamified NFTs & Raffles

What if you want to introduce an element of gamification to your NFT project? Using Darkblock, you could.

You can use Darkblock to encrypt and attach any file type you want to an NFT—even an HTML file. So, we’ve been playing around with custom integrations that recreate the experience of redeeming a scratch-off ticket contained in a darkblock. Even to the point where your cursor becomes a little hand holding a coin…

Why would you want to do this? Maybe you want to hold a legit raffle for holders, who can buy as many raffle tickets as they want—each contained in their own darkblock—for 0.3 SOL each (about $10 at current prices). Using our NPM packages, a NFT project could integrate our protocol and the Darkblock Viewer into their website, where holders can then unlock their darkblocks and scratch off their tickets for a chance to win whatever prize you have in mind.

Going back to what’s possible with the Unity plug-in, maybe you’re a developer of a Unity-based dungeon-raiding RPG and you want to introduce some fun into a player’s experience when they find a chest or want to pay for a chance to win a special weapon or magical item. Rather than a basic reveal, the player receives a darkblock, which they can decrypt and then interact with to reveal what they’ve won.

Conclusion

These are just four ideas for monetization opportunities we believe could be built atop a protocol that gives creators control of the distribution, access to, and monetization of their content. Use your imagination and I’m sure you could come up with additional ways creators could use Darkblock and their NFTs, unlockable content, subscriptions, content rental, our Unity plug-in, microtransactions, etc., to generate additional revenue streams.

At the end of the day, creators should not place the future of their income in the hands of centralized marketplaces that can change their minds on a whim. Creators need to protect themselves and diversify their business model.

Darkblock is building the infrastructure necessary to explore new revenue streams. I hope you join us on our mission to empower creators to leverage the promise of web3 and develop a new creator economy free from platform control!

Join our Discord to take part in the revolution: https://discord.darkblock.io