The vast majority of NFTs are still owned by a small group of “whales,” or high spenders. Despite the fact that digital assets have attracted a lot of consumer attention, creating or buying an NFT still involves a difficult and sometimes daunting user experience. NFTs may be a really pleasurable method for people to engage with one another digitally and create memories, according to DJ Gabeau, one of the original programmers behind Snapchat Stories and the creator of the web3 social network Primitives, who spoke to TechCrunch. Gabeau recognized that the majority of NFTs are now too costly, complex, or dishonest to appeal to a wide audience.
Gabeau said he first started using the Solana blockchain last summer. He previously worked as an investor at Union Square Ventures, supporting entrepreneurs at the interface of crypto and climate. While in Amsterdam, where he had the opportunity to directly watch how social networks developed in person at art galleries, restaurants, and parties around a shared interest in Solana, he began putting together a thesis on NFTs and social networks. Despite his own interest in web3, he claimed that many of the use cases for NFTs at the time left him frustrated because they tended to revolve around impractical and costly profile picture (PFP) initiatives.
That’s when he realized there was a chance to create a social network where users could interact using NFTs on the Solana blockchain, which is a much cheaper and more cost-effective than Ethereum. “It was quite obvious to me that social networks emerge, and although many of them are virtual, they are genuine. I was motivated to link these networks using NFTs because, as you can see from Ethereum, if you make it simple for people to construct around a particular asset, they will do so, according to Gabeau. The initial step in acquiring financing for Primitives was taken when he exhibited the concept to a buddy who was an investor at Redpoint.
Redpoint, Union Square Ventures, Harlem Capital, Stellation Capital, and other investors joined the $4 million seed round that the firm revealed today when it came out of stealth. Nick Grossman, an investor at Union Square Ventures who backed the startup, wrote in an email to TechCrunch, “Primitives is unlike any other NFT platform on the market and with David’s background in social networking, the company has the opportunity to make the adoption of NFTs uncomplicated and fun.”
According to Gabeau, Primitives is created to be simple to use. Primojis are NFT-based avatars that users of the app may customize and look something like doodled drawings of emojis. Then, they are urged to SMS those Primojis to their friends, who may then “claim” them when they join the network and make their own, starting a vicious loop. Users may also accumulate NFTs based on “moments,” which are connected to their presence at particular occasions or places, according to Gabeau. Their NFTs are kept in a digital wallet created by Primitives utilizing a white-label API.
He clarified that a user’s NFTs obtained outside of Primitives may be stored in the wallet. Users may create and share Primojis for free since Primitives pre-purchases smart contracts to mint the NFTs, according to Gabeau. He noted that users don’t have to go through a lot of formalities to claim the assets. According to Gabeau, the firm intends to generate revenue largely through brand relationships with marketers, like many other free social networking sites. Gabeau compared Primojis to Snapchat filters, which companies frequently employ to market their products.
