Introducing Rarible (RARI): Decentralized Ownership and Royalties for Artists

The rise of the cryptocurrency industry has led to the widespread adoption of virtual currencies and payment systems. Similar to this, Non-Fungible Tokens have also enjoyed tremendous growth and acceptance over the years, and with increased popularity comes increased investment. The increase in the creation and sales of NFTs increases the need for a reliable marketplace.

Rarible is a new digital art gallery and NFT marketplace that seeks to cater to the needs of Web3 users. In this article, we discuss the features and functionality of the decentralized, cross-chain platform.

What is Rarible?

Rarible is a digital art gallery and NFT marketplace based on the Ethereum blockchain. It allows anyone to trade NFTs from other marketplaces and create NFT collections using blockchain technology. As such, Rarible’s multi-chain connection offers access to different blockchains, enabling any user to create their NFTs on various blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Tezos, and Flow, and list them on the marketplace. This cross-chain feature is powered by DAO governed open source set of smart contracts on the protocol. The contracts serve as a toolkit for developers that can be deployed to several blockchains.

History of Rarible

Rarible was founded in 2019, and it is located in Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Alexei Falin, an entrepreneur and full-stack developer; Alexander Salnikov, a product manager working in cryptocurrency since 2013 and Ilya Komolkin, a product designer. The CEO, Mr Falin, also cofounded a computer software company called Sticker Place. Salnikov, on the other hand, has founded about five different organizations and has a master’s in data science.

By 2021, the breakout year for NFTs, Rarible, alongside other NFT-related projects, enjoyed significant growth, reaching over two million active users per month and a trading value of over $273 million. By mid-2022, Rarible had successfully integrated with Ethereum, Polygon, Flow, Tezos, and Solana.

In 2020, Rarible raised its first round of funding from CoinFund, a New York-based venture capital firm. Other supporters of the project include Venrock and Parafi. Over time, Rarible has cultivated partnerships with major companies and celebrities. These include Twitter, the fast-food brand Yum!, famous boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Lindsay Lohan. All of them launched their NFTs with Rarible’s assistance.

How Does Rarible Work?

Rarible’s primary function is to serve as an NFT marketplace built on the Ethereum blockchain. As a project built on the Ethereum chain, the Rarible protocol stores details on NFT’s code, such as its transaction history and previous owners on its home chain.

Rarible Protocol works with various blockchains, including the Binance Smart Chain. When a buyer acquires an NFT from Rarible, the platform sends it to the buyer’s digital wallet and records the transaction details on the Ethereum blockchain. Rarible also supports over 20 wallets connected to one profile, allowing for greater platform interoperability.

pay a network fee. However, the cost of the network fees varies depending on the blockchain the user goes with. More popular blockchains like Ethereum tend to be more expensive, while smaller networks like Tezos are cheaper. Conversely, Rarible offers an innovative feature known as lazy minting, where the creator gets to make NFTs for free, and the buyer covers the network fees. This is included in the total cost of the NFT. With lazy minting, the NFT is minted at the moment of purchase, not at the moment of creation. Until then, the NFT is listed on the marketplace just like regular NFTs, and its data is safely stored. However, lazy minting places the NFT in Rarible’s collection, not the original creator’s. In turn, Rarible receives 2.5% from the buyer and seller each for every sale.

Rarible uses two NFT standards, the ERC-721, which permits the creation of one-of-a-kInd NFTs, and the ERC-1155, which necessitates the production of different versions of the same item. Rarible has protected itself against the lack of speed usually plaguing centralized exchanges by allowing developers to build projects freely with the Rarible Protocol.

Rarible offers its services in the form of a website and a mobile app available for free on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. On the App Store, it is known as Rarible: NFT Browser, and on the Google Play Store, it is called Rarible: NFT Discovery. The app does not let users buy, sell, or mint NFTs, but users can view NFT collections and their details.

Key Features of Rarible

Rarible’s multichain protocol enables users to trade their NFTs without knowing the intricacies of each supported blockchain. Furthermore, Rarible enjoys several other perks that set it apart from other NFT marketplaces. These include:

NFT Royalties

An interesting feature of NFTs is the ability to program royalties into these assets. This grants creators on Rarible the rights to future cash flows on the asset. With Royalties, creators can set a percentage of their profit on future sales and collect them automatically by issuing tokens.

Unlike more traditional platforms, this feature is essential to appealing to creators because NFTs can be designed to pay out royalties immediately. For example, a digital art piece listed as a 10% royalty would enable the creator to receive 10% of any consequent sales of that asset.

Free Minting

Minting NFTs can be expensive, especially when minting on popular blockchains like Ethereum. As a result, creators can avoid these costly fees using Rarible’s lazy minting function, which essentially delays recording the essential details of the art piece on the blockchain until its purchase. This also helps reduce environmental costs, but buyers must note that they must then pay extra transaction fees to mint the NFT fully.

Multi-wallet Connection

Rarible’s multi-wallet support offers a convenient solution for users who keep their digital assets in multiple crypto wallets. Users can connect up to 20 wallets to one profile and manage all their NFTs and crypto assets in one place.

How to Create NFTs with Rarible?

To create an ERC721(Single) or an ERC1155 (Multiple) NFT, you should have a metamask setup and must own Ethereum.

How to create an NFT (ERC721)?

To create an ERC721 NFT:

• Head over to Rarible’s website
• On the top right corner, select “Connect Wallet”
• When browsing the available wallet options, select Metamask
• On the top right corner, select “Create Collectible”
• Select “Single” to mint an ERC721 NFT
• Fill in all the information about the NFT, and upload the image, gif, or audio file

In this step, you are to choose a collection and fill in the name of the NFT, its description, royalties, and properties (NFT metadata)

• Upload the image/audio, and then select “Mint Token”, which will create the NFT on the blockchain
• When you select “Mint Token”, Metamask will pop up and ask you to confirm the transaction
• After confirming, another pop-up will appear asking you to sign the sell order
• You will then be redirected to your profile page where your NFT will appear

How to create Multiple NFTs (ERC1155)

To create an ERC1155 NFT:

• First, visit Rarible’s website
• On the top right corner, select “Connect Wallet”
• When browsing the available wallet options, select Metamask
• On the top right corner, select “Create Collectible”
• Select “Multiple” to mint an ERC1155 NFT
• Fill in all the information about the NFT, and upload the image, gif, or audio file

In this step, you are to choose a collection and fill in the name of the NFT, its description, royalties, and properties (NFT metadata).

• Upload the image/audio, and then select “Mint Token”, which will create the NFT on the blockchain
• When you select “Mint Token,” Metamask will pop up and ask you to confirm the transaction
• After confirming, another pop-up will appear asking you to sign the sell order
• You will then be redirected to your profile page where your NFT will appear

What is RARI?

Proving that it is more than an NFT marketplace, Rarible launched RARI, its own ERC-20 token, in 2021. It is a governance token that grants its holders the right to influence and determine Rarible’s development. For instance, RARI holders can submit and vote on proposals to change trading fees, add or remove features, act as community moderators, and curate art on the platform. RARI’s creators also dubbed it “the first governance token in the NFT space.”

RARI Tokenomics

The maximum total supply of RARI tokens is 25 million tokens. The circulating supply is now at 14,441,025 tokens.

• 10% of the total supply has been airdropped to users
• 30% was allocated to the Rarible team and their venture capital investors

However, the remaining 60% of the total supply was intended to be distributed in a weekly airdrop containing 75,000 RARI tokens. In this airdrop, 50% would be divided amongst buyers based on their activity, while the other 50% would be divided amongst sellers based on the same requirement. This was how it was distributed for a little while until RARI holders voted unanimously for the end of this distribution on January 16, 2022. Their reasons were that this distribution model failed to operate as an effective growth mechanism, coupled with the abuse by wash traders.

The token distribution is currently unclear, but the RARI team has suggested that “the DAO is shifting focus to allocating more funds to next-gen web3 projects building on Rarible protocol and the long-term growth of the space.”

News on RARI

On June 14, 2023, Rarible joined hands with the up-and-coming project Mocaverse to create the new Mocaverse marketplace, which the Rarible Protocol would power. It was made as a custom marketplace for the Mocaverse NFT community. Alan Lau, the chief business officer of Animoca Brands (owners of Mocaverse), noted that “By offering Mocaverse holders various custom marketplace features developed in partnership with Rarible, we can effectively integrate trading activities into our broader ecosystem while facilitating a seamless Mocaverse experience.”

Alex Salnikov of Rarible also expressed his belief and excitement about the partnership. He noted that to grow and thrive in the long term, every community needs its own home that is unique, safe, and not dependent on third-party policies, which is why they are excited to create one with and for Mocaverse.

Is RARI a Good Investment?

NFTs are now a popular topic in the crypto space. Rarible has presented itself as a secure marketplace, with its developers stressing safety as a major feature, alongside a comprehensive privacy policy framework. However, the NFT sector still faces security issues, including NFT scams, pump-and-dump schemes, and fake NFT sales. It’s best to research and consult with qualified personnel before choosing any platform.

Take Action on RARI

Visit Rarible’s website here to browse, buy or sell your favorite NFT collections. You can also buy the RARI token via gate.io and trade with your favorite pairs.

• RARI/USDT
• RARI/ETH