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This week’s guest on the Cardano NFT Column is one of the most used NFT stores on Cardano working hard towards supporting creators and building a great solution for users: jpg.store.
The previous guest was a DID (Decentralized Identity) solution helping with verification of NFT projects, among other things.
This initiative is a point of reference for NFTs on Cardano and every week or two we will invite someone to answer some questions and give us an update directly from within the Cardano community.
Considering that many of our readers are new to the crypto space, we will have a mix of simple and technical questions.
Cardano NFT project: jpg.store
Hey, it’s great to have you here. Tell us something about your team
The team originally started with 4 team members, all friends from the same area. Which has grown to over 30 people spread across 5 continents and 10+ countries! Most of the team was brought in from within the Cardano community.
Please tell us the story behind jpg.store. How did the idea come about and what was your experience in building an NFT marketplace on Cardano? Did you encounter any complications with the EUTXO model?
Our entire purpose is to support creators & to empower the world with the power of NFTs so that means we keep our finger on the pulse. We simply focused on truly empathizing with our creator & user needs. Then we built the most exceptional experience which we would love using ourselves based on the community’s valuable feedback.
Thank you everyone – Keep overwhelming us with your dream ideas because we are absolutely taking note!
And sure, this may seem simple… but coming in “late” after other marketplaces already achieved significant momentum was pretty risky and bold. Nonetheless, all it took for us to claim the #1 NFT throne on Cardano was committing to the immense empathy and passion we embody for supporting the entire NFT space. I guess people love it when you truly see them and listen to their needs, so we’ll always be all ears for you.
Now touching on eUTxO and building on Cardano.
Yes, Bitcoin and Ethereum are currently the top dogs, and we love them for jumpstarting this decentralized world we passionately build within. But what are the chances that the first attempts are actually the best solutions for years to come?
They built their best with what was available at the time. But Cardano understood that blockchain knowledge advances at lightspeed and there existed a new way to innovate and advance in this space.
Instead of copying what had worked in the past, Cardano reimagined what the tech would look like if it was built from scratch today, while maintaining swift upgradability forever. It took all the lessons from the past, aimed hundreds of years into the future, and recruited all the brightest minds the world of academia and science had to offer.
This philosophy and privilege to learn from its predecessors led to innovations such as eUTxO and Proof of Stake amongst other key advancements. This new Cardano design is what really gets us hyped for the possibilities of NFTs and for the exciting future JPG is nurturing along.
As with all new and advanced tech, there was definitely a learning curve and that’s okay. We had to learn how to code with eUTxO and understand how it could create a better user experience. This all took thoughtful consideration but the payoff is so worth it!
Cardano NFTs now behave in ways other chains can only dream of. Here’s just a taste of the innovation so far:
- You can send dozens of different tokens and NFTs in a single affordable transaction in a matter of seconds instead of 1 asset per transaction.
- Need to send multiple assets to hundreds of people? You can do that in a single transaction as well!
- Cardano NFTs are “native assets” which means they don’t need smart contracts to run. This increases security and keeps fees predictable.
All of this comes standard for every Cardano user with no chance of getting charged for a failed send. These are meaningful advantages and worth every challenge we overcame in working with this new architecture.
Now let’s connect it all with real life examples! Employers using Cardano can instantly blast out entire payrolls to thousands of employees in hundreds of global currencies, all in a single transaction. Musicians with Cardano NFT collections can send every fan a thank you NFT, new song release, and exclusive album art in one quick send. And maybe even governments will one day send out stimulus checks to every citizen instantly appearing in their wallets. This way governments of the future may choose to efficiently boost the economy from the people up, instead of giving trillions to single businesses with trickle-down economics.
This is powerful stuff which other chains simply will not be able to copy from Cardano. Our eUTxO architecture is different down to the very core of its “DNA” and stands to be a gamechanger for the entire NFT industry.
What’s the story behind your name? Why are so many people sceptical of this technology and what can be done to change this?
It does refer to the “outsider” notion that NFTs are just JPGs. Our branding has always been playful and easily approachable since we want people to have fun in the NFT space.
Many people don’t trust cryptocurrencies and NFTs but they lack knowledge in these topics. To demystify this subject, we are actively posting educational content and guides on our social platforms so that every newcomer can have a positive experience and easily understand the misconceptions about NFTs and cryptocurrencies in general.
Congratulations on being Cardano’s number 1 NFT marketplace per volume. What does the future hold? Where do you see jpg.store in 1, 5 and 10 years respectively?
Thank you! We envision a great future for jpg.store and want to be a large contributor to the growth of the NFT and crypto space.
Within 1 year we’d love to have solidified our spot as a player in the same levels as marketplaces on Solana and Ethereum.
By the 5 year mark, we want to be the biggest NFT marketplace in the world, supporting creators in their NFT journey and presenting Cardano and its incredible vision to the masses.
We want to maintain this spot 10 years from now and, by then, hopefully have a large amount of work and partnerships under our belt, where we onboard the largest companies in the world to the NFT/crypto space.
Thank you kindly for your time. Any final words? Where can people stay in touch?
We would like to thank everyone that supported us from day 1 and shared JPG when it was getting started. The evolution and the move to a smart-contract powered marketplace wouldn’t have happened without every single one of you.
You can stay in touch with us in our Twitter profile and in our Discord channel! All our links can be found here.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views of the people interviewed are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cardano Foundation or IOG. Moreover, this content is for educational purposes, it doesn’t constitute financial advice.