As of this week, we now support PulseChain! This integration opens up a world of possibilities for creators, users, and developers in the PulseChain ecosystem.

For Users: Upgrade Your NFTs with Multimedia Content

The Darkblock protocol enables any multimedia file to be encrypted and permanently attached to a single NFT or entire collection, creating what we call token-bound assets that are portable, composable, and able to be accessed in a decentralized way via our open-source Viewer.

By using the Darkblock app (though we’d love to see devs build new ones for the PulseChain ecosystem), anyone can now easily encrypt and attach whatever type of content they like—whether PDFs, EPUBs, MP3s, MP4s, GLBs, etc.—to their NFTs. Only owners of the NFTs will be able to decrypt and access the content (learn more in our docs).

Using Darkblock is a perfect way for creators to sell premium content in a web3-native way or for artists or project founders to reward their communities of holders with exclusive goodies. You can even embed our open-source Viewer in your own website, offering a portal to the Darkblock app that holders can use to decrypt and access their token-bound files and allowing you to keep your community on your site rather than send them to a platform’s token-gated walled garden.

For Developers: Build the Future of Web3 Applications

Darkblock’s support for PulseChain means developers can now integrate Darkblock into their apps, platforms, games, and more.

One of the powers of Darkblock is that it showcases the power of composability in a whole new way—with multimedia files. You see, once NFTs’ carry token-bound assets (rather than the assets being locked in walled gardens and token-gated) they become accessible to any app or platform or game that integrates the Darkblock protocol.

Imagine crafting entirely new user experiences where token-bound assets act as media building blocks. Using Darkblock, devs could build web3-native versions of Audible, OnlyFans, Kindle, Gumroad, etc., on PulseChain. Games and Metaverses could integrate the protocol to enable users to connect their wallets and upload their 3D avatars and metaverse assets at runtime. For example, each Pulse Cat holder could have the 3D file encrypted and attached to their NFT.

Unleash your creativity and leverage Darkblock on PulseChain to pioneer the next generation of decentralized apps! Check out the docs or come chat in our Discord’s dev-chat channel.

How to Get Started: Connect Your Wallet

Ready to explore the potential of Darkblock on PulseChain and redefine the possibilities of NFTs?

If you’re a creator or project founder, visit our app, connect your wallet and begin encrypting multimedia content that you want to attach to your NFTs.

For developers, our documentation provides the necessary insights to seamlessly integrate Darkblock into your projects.

Darkblock is here to empower creators, users, and developers in the ever-evolving landscape of blockchain technology, so we can’t wait to see what the PulseChain community creates with Darkblock.

Stay tuned for more updates, innovations, and a future where NFTs are more than just static images – they’re a gateway to immersive, multimedia experiences.

NFTs have redefined digital ownership, extending far beyond the realm of digital art. The teams behind Darkblock and Unlock recognized this and have for years been building toward a shared mission—empowering creators with web3-native ways (i.e., permissionless, decentralized ways) to form and engage with their communities, moving them closer to creative sovereignty.

While Darkblock has been at the forefront of decentralizing content, freeing it from the walled gardens of web2 platforms by enabling creators to encrypt and permanently attach their multimedia files to NFTs (creating token-bound content), Unlock’s unique contribution to this evolving space has been enabling creators to leverage NFTs to explore web3-native subscription and membership-based business models.

Giving creators access to both capabilities is why Darkblock’s integration of Unlock Protocol is so powerful.

Flexibility and Customization

One of the key highlights of this integration is the freedom it provides to creators.

Stella Achenbach, founder of The ALANA Project, sees all kinds of groundbreaking opportunities by integrating Darkblock and Unlock into her tech stack.

“The capabilities offered by utilizing Darkblock in combination with Unlock Protocol is something I’ve been looking for a long time,” Achenbach says. “It provides us with the opportunity to build our community and sell subscriptions to exclusive content, all in a web3-native way that doesn’t rely on centralized platforms or solutions, which is a game changer for us.

“We’re beginning with selling subscriptions to ALANAmagazine and exclusive holder content, and we see the potential for so many more use cases as we continue to build and deliver value within our community.”

Watch the video below to see how creators can use Unlock Protocol to deploy a smart contract (referred to as a “lock”) and mint an NFT (referred to as a “key”) with specific conditions and time-based constraints on digital ownership, then use Darkblock’s no-code app to encrypt and attach multimedia files to those NFTs that, by virtue of a simple checkbox added to the workflow, will only be accessible to an NFT’s owner based on time constraints the creator set via Unlock.

New Business Models Unlocked

This level of customization now available to creators empowers them to experiment with various, web3-native business models, whether it’s renting content or other digital assets or selling subscriptions or memberships that come with access to exclusive content.

Subscription-Based Magazines

Imagine launching a subscription-based magazine powered by NFTs. With Unlock Protocol and Darkblock, creators can offer their readers exclusive content through NFT memberships. Whether it’s monthly issues, premium articles, or interactive multimedia experiences, this integration paves the way for innovative publishing models in the digital age.

Web3-Native Patreon

Creators can take their memberships and subscriptions to the next level by building a web3-native Patreon-style platform. With Unlock Protocol’s NFTs, creators can grant members access to premium content for as long as they remain members. Darkblock’s integration ensures the content is encrypted, stored in a decentralized manner, and accessible in diverse ways.

Time-Based Rentals

For creators such as musicians, filmmakers, or game developers, this integration introduces the concept of time-based rentals. Use Unlock Protocol to mint NFTs that grant time-based access to the token-bound music, film or 3D game assets enabled by Darkblock protocol.

Enabling the Future of Web3 Content

The integration of Darkblock and Unlock Protocol marks a significant milestone in the world of NFTs and content distribution. It’s a powerful example of how blockchain technology can empower creators and revolutionize the way content is monetized and shared.

If you’re a creator looking to explore these exciting possibilities, we invite you to join us on this journey. Watch the video below that demonstrates how easy is it is for a creator to use Unlock to mint their membership NFTs, then use Darkblock to encrypt and attach content to those NFTs that will be accessible based on the time-based conditions set via Unlock.

The future of content ownership and distribution is here!

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

About Unlock Protocol
Unlock Protocol is building the web’s new business model by enabling new ways for developers, brands, and creators to manage memberships online. Unlock’s solution is an open source, Ethereum-based protocol that streamlines membership management for online communities. Unlock Protocol can be applied to events, ticketing, certifications and credentials, content, subscriptions, newsletters, gaming, API access, or any application that requires time-based membership authorization and access. Learn more at https://unlock-protocol.com

Darkblock just wrapped up a project with Jungle Cats, a PFP project on Solana, that yielded the creation of more than 110,000 unique 3D assets. Using Darkblock’s protocol for decentralized unlockable content, each of these 3D assets was encrypted, stored in a darkblock that was minted on Arweave, and immutably attached to one of the 5,585 NFTs in the Jungle Cats collection.

This morning, holders of each Jungle Cats NFT has exclusive access to 10 unique 3D frames that showcase their iconic lion PFP. These frames vary in shape and color, ensuring that every asset is a truly one-of-a-kind addition to the NFT holder’s collection. NFT holders can now showcase their framed Jungle Cats PFP in virtual reality environments or explore augmented reality experiences. The possibilities are limited only by the imagination of the Jungle Cats community.

In addition to the Darkblock protocol’s ability to turn NFTs into decentralized vaults for encrypted digital assets, this project was also made possible by PFP Content Factory, Darkblock’s content-generation and bulk-upgrade tool. PFP Content Factory 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 partnership exemplifies the power of Darkblock’s decentralized unlockable content technology and its ability to enhance and add value to NFT projects. By providing Jungle Cats NFT holders with unique and exclusive 3D assets, Darkblock enriches the community’s experience and solidifies the value of owning a Jungle Cats NFT.

Jungle Cats holders can access and download their 3D assets by visiting the Darkblock app and following these steps:

• Connect your wallet
• Select “My NFTs” from the main nav bar
• Select the “Unlockables” tab to view your NFTs that have decentralized unlockable content attached
• Click on your Jungle Cat PFP
• To the right, under the description, you should see the Darkblock Viewer with some content visible, but still inaccessible. Click the button that says “Authenticate Ownership”
• Sign the message to confirm you own the wallet that contains this NFT
• Once the content is decrypted, select the file and download!
• Show it off in AR or VR environments

While Jungle Cats holders can access their 3D assets via the Darkblock app, the unlockable content is accessible from anywhere that integrates the protocol. Darkblock’s mission is to decentralize content and make it accessible anywhere someone interacts with their NFTs, whether it’s an ebook, videos, PDFs, or metaverse assets.

If you have a PFP project and are interested in doing something similar for your community, check out PFP Content Factory and/or email Whit, who leads communications and partnerships at Darkblock. 

NOIS is a platform that brings creators and music lovers together. Its roadmap calls for an upcoming PFP drop, the proceeds of which will fund the creation and distribution of music tracks, which will most likely also be minted on the Solana blockchain. It plans to initially use Darkblock’s protocol to deliver valuable content to its community by directly attaching it to their PFPs.  The content it expects to attach may include music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, concept art, thank-you messages, and more.

Using Darkblock’s multichain protocol and free app, creators and NFT projects are able to encrypt multimedia content; permanently store it on Arweave’s decentralized content blockchain; and then immutably attach it to their NFTs. It’s what we call “decentralized unlockable content,” which means that not only is the encrypted content stored in a decentralized manner, but it is also unlockable by the NFTs’ owners anywhere that integrates the protocol. In NOIS’ case, holders will be able to unlock their NFTs’ exclusive content on the NOIS website, via Darkblock’s app, and on the Night Market marketplace once it launches. Darkblock is also working on a Chrome extension that will allow people to view and unlock their NFTs’ Darkblock content on Magic Eden.

NOIS plans to use Darkblock to not only offer added protection for its NFTs’ assets, but to also increase the value of its PFPs for its holders over time by turning them into tokenized containers for exclusive content. It plans to also use Darkblock to increase the utility of its future Music NFTs by attaching additional assets, whether music videos or the track’s stems to encourage remixing.

We look forward to working with NOIS team to explore how decentralized unlockable content can add value to a PFP project, and return value to its community.

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 turning 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 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

Soltype has integrated the Darkblock Protocol into its platform, which means that collectors who mint or purchase Literary NFTs on Soltype are given true ownership of the attached ebooks through decentralized access. While the ebooks will be token gated and accessible on the Soltype platform, it is also using the Darkblock Protocol to encrypt and store the files in a decentralized manner, and immutably attaching them to the collectors’ NFTs so they will be unlockable by owners regardless of any platform-related issues.

“We believe decentralizing content is the future of digital ownership and we’re excited to partner with Darkblock to provide our users with a more secure and robust ebook NFT experience,” said Paco Puylaert, Soltype’s CEO and co-founder. “We’re committed to giving our users the freedom and security to forever own and access their ebooks, no matter what happens to us.”

While most ebook platforms—both in the Web2 and Web3 spaces—seek to lock readers into using their platform by storing content in their own walled gardens and gating access with a username (i.e., Kindle) or NFT (i.e., centralized ebook NFT platforms), Soltype recognizes that decentralizing content is the only way to provide true ownership of digital assets to readers, immutability to an author’s work, and prevent over-zealous censorship of literature. All Literary NFTs minted on Soltype’s platform will have their corresponding EPUB and/or PDF files encrypted, stored on Arweave and immutably attached to the NFT. 

“Decentralized content means users hold the keys to the content and choose where to consume it, not the other way around,” said Chris Seline, CEO of Darkblock.

He continued: “Amazon is a behemoth, so we never even think about the fact Kindle could disappear—but it could. And if it did, all those ebooks you’ve purchased over the years would disappear overnight. That’s the risk of centralized platforms locking content in walled gardens—and it doesn’t matter if they’re gating access with a password or an NFT, if any link in the chain is centralized, then the benefits of decentralization are lost.”

More concerning than the unlikely chance that Amazon shutters Kindle is the fact it has complete control over the ebooks its users “buy.” Amazon could go into a user’s device and delete an ebook without prior warning—in fact, it has already done this. Just like decentralized social protects users from being deplatformed without recourse and gives them ownership of their social graphs, decentralized content protects users from overzealous censorship of books and other forms of content and gives them ownership of their digital assets, whether ebooks, films, or metaverse assets.

The first Literary NFT that will be minted on Soltype’s platform and benefit from Darkblock’s tech will be Dracari by E.R. Donaldson, which is small, 140-edition test mint. It will be the world’s first decentralized unlockable ebook. 

Dracari is a dress rehearsal for Soltype’s first big mint. On March 1, Soltype will launch Riglan, a novel and Literary NFT by award-winning Marvel writer B. Earl. 

“If we believe NFTs provide the delivery and ownership technology of the future, then we need to be thinking in decades—not days,” Seline said. “Current owners and future buyers of Literary NFTs need to have confidence that the digital assets associated with their NFTs will be accessible forever without worrying about 404 messages or broken Dropbox links. That’s what Darkblock and Soltype are doing.”

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About Soltype

Soltype is the leading platform and marketplace for Literary NFTs on Solana. It provides a user-friendly interface for authors and publishers to mint, sell and promote their ebooks in NFT form. Soltype is committed to giving readers true ownership of the ebooks they purchase on their platform via the Darkblock Protocol.

Website | Discord | Twitter | LinkedIn

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

NFT-TiX, a cutting-edge platform that utilizes blockchain technology to revolutionize the ticketing experience, has integrated Darkblock’s protocol for decentralized unlockable content to give its users the ability to add utility and value to their NFT tickets.

With Darkblock, event organizers using the NFT-TiX platform will be able to deliver exclusive multimedia content in a Web3-native way to their NFT ticket holders, such as audio or video recordings of the event that was just attended, promo codes for limited-edition merch drops, backstage passes for future shows, or any type of digital schwag they can imagine. Future updates could also give organizers the option to allow ticket holders to encrypt & attach their own content (e.g., photos and other mementos) to their individual NFT tickets.

“NFT-TiX is taking the ticketing experience to the next level by incorporating unlockable content directly into the ticket, giving ticket holders exclusive access to a whole new world of possibilities, experiences and memories thanks to our partners at Darkblock,” said Emil Ljesnjanin, NFT-TiX’s CEO.

The first show where NFT-TiX will use the Darkblock integration is the Transmission festival taking place in Sydney, Australia, on Feb. 11. Organizers plan to film the entire night and produce a documentary-style movie, which will be encrypted, permanently stored in a decentralized manner, and immutably attached to attendees’ NFT tickets—all thanks to the Darkblock Protocol.

Event organizers using the NFT-TiX platform can use Darkblock to explore new monetization strategies, including multi-tiered ticket pricing where higher tiers receive more valuable exclusive content, post-purchase upsells for additional unlockables, or even (coming soon) collecting ongoing subscription revenue if NFT holders want to receive an ongoing flow of unlockable content (e.g., the audio recordings of each show on a tour). They also have the potential to collect royalties on the secondary sales of NFT tickets that are no longer just mementoes, but have value because they’ll represent ownership in actual content.

Because the unlockable content—a film in the case of the upcoming Transmission festival—is immutably attached to the NFTs, the content moves with the NFT if it’s sold in the future. This creates the potential development of secondary markets for NFT tickets that contain exclusive, high-quality content deemed valuable by super fans. And, of course, with secondary sales comes royalties for the NFT creator.

“Tickets no longer need to be just mementoes for your scrapbook. With Darkblock, musicians, concert promoters, and event organizers can deliver real value to their ticket holders, and explore new monetization and fan-engagement strategies,” said Chris Seline, Darkblock’s CEO.

He added: “By reimagining NFTs as containers for exclusive content that is decentralized rather than token-gated like our existing Web2 walled gardens, we’ve opened up a world of innovative opportunities across industries, including events and ticketing. Your imagination is the only real limitation.”

About Darkblock

Darkblock, a Web3 pioneer in decentralized content delivery and monetization, enables creators to use Web3 technology to control the distribution, accessibility, and monetization of their content, but without making it right-click-savable. By repurposing NFTs as tokenized vaults for digital content (e.g., music, videos, podcasts, films, comics, ebooks, 3D metaverse or gaming assets, or even HTML files), Darkblock provides Web3’s missing encryption and access-control layer creators need to harness the power of NFTs, 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

About NFT-TiX

NFT-TiX is a cutting-edge platform that utilizes blockchain technology to create a fair and transparent ticketing experience for event organizers and attendees. By using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to represent ownership of event tickets, NFT-TiX addresses many of the issues that plague the traditional ticketing industry, such as scalping and fraud. Additionally, NFT-TiX’s forward-thinking business model, which includes returning a percentage of re-sale revenue to the event organizer, empowers and promotes the relationship between organizers and attendees without the need for middlemen.

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Blog 

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. 

DTC, an independent marketplace for digital collectibles built atop the Polygon network, has already begun integrating Darkblock’s protocol for decentralized unlockable content, which will give creators on its platform the ability to encrypt and attach exclusive multimedia content to their digital collectibles—that could be videos, music, metaverse assets, PDFs, or any type of digital file. Only owners of the digital collectibles will be able to unlock the attached multimedia content, which will travel with the collectible if it’s ever sold to another party.

Importantly, this content will not be token-gated on DTC’s platform. Darkblock believes decentralization should apply to a collector’s ownership over content as well as to a creator’s ability to make a living without relying on centralized platforms. Token gating does not deliver on web3’s promise of decentralization because it most often relies on a centralized website portal or centralized storage to deliver the content to holders. However, Darkblock is a decentralized, open-source protocol built atop Arweave, a decentralized storage network. This means that a collector will not only be able to unlock and access their digital collectibles’ content on DTC’s website, but from the growing number of websites, marketplaces, native apps, and wallets that integrate with the protocol. 

“Web3 technology, including non-fungible tokens and protocols like ours, has the potential to revolutionize the creator economy by allowing creators to have more control over their digital assets and creations,” says Chris Seline, Darkblock’s co-founder and CEO. “Only by controlling distribution and access to their content, while also protecting the underlying IP, will the long-tail of creators be empowered to find their 1,000 true fans and make a living from their work.” 

Creator monetization opportunities made possible by Darkblock’s technology are another major factor that led to this partnership. With the protocol as the foundation, Darkblock is building a rapidly expanding suite of monetization tools, including unlockable content rental and subscription options, which will provide new sources of income for creators and collectors on the DTC platform.

“We are excited to see how this partnership will enhance the user experience on DigitalTradingCards.com and create even more opportunities for our community to collect, engage, and even monetize these unique digital assets,” says Michael Pace, DTC’s founder and CEO.

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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. 

About DTC
DigitalTradingCards.com is an independent marketplace for digital collectibles, including art, trading cards, game tokens, and a variety of other digital assets. It is secured on the Polygon blockchain and uses the Ethereum network for scaling, offering a carbon-neutral alternative to many other popular blockchain marketplaces out there.

The first result of the partnership is that the RUNNER project has integrated the Darkblock Protocol for decentralized unlockable content as a way to engage with their community and reward holders of its initial NFT collection.

The Omega RUNNER team includes veterans of Hollywood and the comic book industry and is dedicated to reimagining how the world tells stories. They are building a web3 media franchise based in a world known as Omega, where it’s not the strongest who survive—it’s the fastest. The project released a comic book last year that introduces the world of Omega and sold out its initial NFT collection, which was limited to 1,000 tokens. Holders received a physical copy of the comic, but the team was looking for an innovative way to also deliver the digital comic to their holders.

That’s when they heard about Darkblock… The RUNNER team immediately saw not just how Darkblock would enable them to deliver the comic book in a web3-native way, but also the game-changing potential for how they could leverage decentralized unlockable content to tell more engaging and interactive stories, engage their community in co-creating the Omega world, and explore new monetization opportunities like giving holders the ability to rent access to the unlockable content.

By integrating Darkblock, the RUNNER team has created a Comic Vault on its website where its NFT holders can connect their wallet and unlock the digital comic book to read without leaving the website. What’s happening under the hood is that via the Darkblock Protocol, the RUNNER team was able to encrypt the comic book, which was then permanently stored on Arweave and immutably attached to each NFT in the collection. Because Darkblock permanently stores content in a decentralized way, holders have forever-access to the comic book without the risk of losing access to it—a risk that’s inherent with existing, centralized token-gating options for providing exclusive access to content.

The nice thing about a decentralized protocol like Darkblock is that these NFT collectors can access the comic book on any other platform, marketplace, native app, wallet or website that integrates the protocol. While that’s not an extensive list at the moment, we are confident that as more high-profile projects like Omega RUNNER integrate the Darkblock Protocol, more platforms will see the benefit in integrating with us and we will become an integral piece of the web3 tech stack.

Below is the announcement from Metaversal, which is a web3 venture studio leading the project. If you have an NFT project and see the value in integrating decentralized unlockable content as a way to reward holders or explore new monetization opportunities, don’t hesitate to reach out at info@darkblock.io or join our Discord.

Metaversal integrates Darkblock to power unlockables for its Omega RUNNER franchise

Omega RUNNER opens the door to a new era of interactive entertainment, driven by unlockable content pathways that immerse fans in the canon and empower fans to contribute to the lore with their own unique storylines.

NEW YORK, NY – Omega RUNNER, the franchise from Clubhouse Pictures (Kate, Birds of Prey) and venture studio Metaversal, launches its new Comic Vault, a token-gated portal to the Omega RUNNER comic universe that will evolve into a new layer of interactive entertainment. 

The integration is the first touchpoint enabled by Darkblock, an encryption protocol that enables anyone to lock multimedia content, metaverse assets or other digital goods inside NFTs so that the assets are only accessible to owners of those specific NFTs. For instance, holders of an NFT with a trait based on a specific storyline could access an entirely different backstory than someone with a different NFT.

“We call it decentralized unlockable content, but what we offer is essentially a web3-native way to token gate any type of digital asset,” says Darkblock CEO Chris Seline. “These RUNNER comics — and any additional multimedia content the team (or fans) add in the future — will be immutably attached to these First Edition NFTs. Holders will be able to unlock and read this content on any marketplace, wallet or website that integrates the Darkblock Protocol.”

Future iterations of the Darkblock Protocol will allow NFT owners to create their own lore—whether in the form of written stories, videos and animations, or audio—and encrypt and immutably attach them to their individual character NFTs. By layering that lore into their character NFTs, they can not only contribute creatively to the project but add value to their NFT, which can eventually be rented to others who want to dive deeper. 

And, thanks to blockchain functionality, these storylines can be embedded immutably within the backstory of individual character NFTs — potentially as their own unlockables that individuals create as part of their contribution to the lore. 

“Fans have always been the lifeblood of Hollywood,” says Blaise Hemingway, writer of the RUNNER comic series. “With these types of tools, storytellers can now encourage fans to pen backstories that could become part of the official canon. That process from lore to canon is one of the most exciting aspects of unlockables, as it gives us new pathways to co-creation with our fans.” 

As Omega RUNNER helps drive this evolution of interactive entertainment with NFTs and unlockable content, Darkblock will also provide new monetization models that benefit both the project and the community. These models include enabling community members to rent access to their NFT’s multimedia content, including any character backstories they might write or record, or potentially even creating entirely new experiences based on specific facets of a story. 

“These versatile digital content controls allow project creators to provide more interactive experiences to their communities and choose the best content distribution and monetization models that work for them,” says Darkblock CEO Chris Seline. 

With control over distribution and storytelling mechanics, creators can transform themselves into a niche Netflix of sorts. They distribute their own content that goes deep into a specific storyline, with a variety of different content types and experiences for fans to enjoy. 

“We’re excited to build the next wave of Hollywood-style storytelling, using the power of NFTs to unlock entirely new storytelling opportunities,” says Metaversal co-founder Yossi Hasson. “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.”

Holders of the Omega RUNNER First Edition NFT will be first to experience the new Comic Vault, which includes both Issue #1 and the next issue in the saga, Issue #2. First Editions are available on the secondary market here. 

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About Omega RUNNER

Omega RUNNER is building a Hollywood IP brand and franchise led by Clubhouse Pictures’ Bryan Unkeless (Co-Producer of The Hunger Games), Bryce Anderson (Creative Development for Mad Max: Fury Road), Blaise Hemingway (Lead Writer from the Disney Animation Story Trust), Cedric Nicolas-Troyan (Director KATE and The Huntsman: Winter’s War), and co-founder Metaversal. Omega RUNNER focuses on creating a web3 interactive storytelling experience for holders in the world of Omega and IRL. As we expand our brand, we will co-create new virtual worlds alongside our community, with RUNNER characters at the center of this universe. First launched as a limited-run comic book, the project expands to a complete character collection in early 2023.

About Metaversal 

Metaversal partners with brands, creators, content holders, and IP owners to identify, execute, and underwrite evocative NFT projects. Backed by CoinFund, DCG, Galaxy and other leading investors, the Metaversal team is uniquely positioned to identify the requirements for success in the web3 ecosystem and remains platform and blockchain agnostic.

About Darkblock
Darkblock, a web3 pioneer in adding utility to NFTs, enables creators to use NFTs 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.