MintGate Prospectus
The Problem
What is the value of “like, follow, and subscribe” in today’s world?
As of 2021, Substack is worth $650 million, Patreon’s yearly revenue is $70.5 million, Twitch generated about $103.65 million in revenue through in-app purchases in the first quarter of 2021 alone, and YouTube generated $19.7 billion in annual revenue in 2020.
This value is generated through creators but captured by the platforms. “Like, follow, and subscribe” are the currencies that these creators use to measure their value and success. Through them, these companies generate revenue on a platform creators must use to grow.
In addition:
- Creators are forced to adapt to constantly changing algorithms on each platform to effectively monetizing.
- They have no direct control over their visibility or monetization on the platform.
- They have limited or zero means of contact to their fan base.
- They don’t own what they produce or they’re forced to share its ownership.
YouTube: You retain all of your ownership rights to and videos you upload, but when you use the site you grant a limited license to YouTube and other users.
We’re moving into a new era where creators will no longer need to create content on these platforms. They’ll become their own platform, unlocking the value behind a fully realized creator economy, sharing their financial success directly with their audiences, and earning more than ever before possible.
The Solution
At MintGate, we’re opening the gate to this new era by offering creators a new way to monetize content on any platform. We’re able to do this by building MintGate on the Ethereum blockchain and using blockchain tokens called “non-fungible tokens” or NFTs.
As a creator or brand, you can continue using the platforms you know and add a new monetization layer by turning your content into a NFT. In doing so, a creator can “tokenize” their most valued content and sell it to the world. Want to commemorate a 10k sub video? Tokenize it and only one of those subscribers will be able to claim ownership and be able to resell it.
That’s just the beginning. What if owning this NFT also came with additional benefits? Owning it could unlock access to a private blog, article, design board, product listing, video, album, whole website, or software.
Exclusive content like this translates into increased value in the NFT, which the creator is able to sell directly to their audience while retaining all the value. It’s like Patreon without the platform because the content can live anywhere.
For more seamless use, we’ve added support for Unlockable Video and Audio NFTs directly on MintGate. All streams are fully token-secured and support 4K UHD premium content. Upload a video or audio file, mint it as a NFT, and only token holders will have access. Gating content like this is also known as “token gating,” and we’ve refined it to its highest level yet.
Token gating is a way of super-charging a NFT, giving ownership of it more value. In addition to owning the content in a video NFT or audio NFT, you can also guarantee only its holders can access that content.
When you create a standard NFT only one or a select number of people can own it and sell it, but anyone can still view the art or content it references.
So why would you want to limit access to create scarce, digital content?
Value as a Creator
You’d want to for the same reason you upload exclusive content to Patreon. The difference with using Patreon and using a MintGate NFT is that your content goes from being a consumable to a commodity that you fully control.
Instead of getting paid a subscription, you get paid in number of sales of your content like you would on Amazon for selling a good. Instead of earning a fixed amount based on the size of your subscriber base, you can focus on the quality of your content to increase its market value.
This does two things:
- Quality is valued higher than quantity
- Creating for a smaller, loyal community that appreciates your interests becomes more lucrative than ever before
Expanding on the second point, turning your content into a commodity means it becomes something that can be resold by the owner. I can’t resell my subscription, but I can resell a video NFT I bought last week for more than I bought it.
This has a lot of implications for followers and we still haven’t mentioned another super power MintGate NFTs offer.
Value to your Audience
MintGate NFTs motivate fans from simply consuming content to becoming a part of the whole creation, marketing, and monetization process. As the quality and notoriety of the content increases, so does the value of the NFT they hold. This financially aligns the community and creator through token-based incentives.
Buying a song minted as a NFT incentivizes followers to promote a creator’s work in order to resell it for more, meaning that buyers financially benefit by promoting the creator’s brand. Now, a follower can make an income by supporting any influencer they want, no matter the size. This model also allows people to speculate on creators and influencers for the first time.
Buying a music or video NFT by a small creator or influencer means a) you’re an early adopter and supporter, or b) you’re speculating that this person is going to get big and their NFT will be worth much more as a result.
Community Crowdfunding
In case a, this opens up a new opportunity for early supporters to fund production. A creator can pre-release their NFT for early supporters to buy then use the proceeds to fund the creation, marketing, publishing, or any other aspect to release their work. These buyers will have access to the work as soon as it’s released and are incentivized to help in its development and exposure if they want to resell this access NFT at a higher price.
The creator or project creating the production receives funding through initial sale, but they also receiving fund through every sale of this NFT through royalties.
NFT royalties
MintGate NFTs have royalties applied to them so the creator receives a percentage of all sales. If you sell an audio NFT for $10 tomorrow and someone else sells it for $100 next week, you still earn 10%, 20%, 30%, or up to 47% of that sale.
Creator Speculator
All the above also ties into the speculation and investment aspect of these NFTs. As mentioned, for the first time it’s possible to speculate and invest in a creator’s work and their overall success.
What’s great about this model that’s also different about speculating on stocks is that you can do something to make this happen as a supporter. You can share their content, write about it, or create your own content about their work. You don’t have to passively hold a NFT and hope they get big, you can make an impact and share in their success.
Even early fans who bought your NFT just for the content itself benefit because if the value of your music or videos grow, they end up with a NFT that they may have bought for $10 that could be worth $1,000 in a few months. And thanks to NFT royalties, you still see a percentage of every sale, forever.
Glimpsing into the future, we can easily see how this grows into indexes or NFT baskets of top creators that allow people to support multiple productions at once while getting exposure to each of their growth.
Fees
MintGate applies 3% on the royalties for all NFT resales minted on the platform as a way of aligning our growth with the success of our creators and to pay for continued development.
Token Gated Content Case Studies:
$FIRST Audio
He’s a musician that launched his own social token to connect with his fans and grant access to new track releases.
Website:
https://www.jnryfirst.com/firstaudio
Project details:
$FIRST AUDIO is a way for digital artists and NFT creators to tap into the audio NFT space by having fully produced music by Harrison First in their collections. All instrumentals are produced by Harrison, and users are only required to hold 1,000 $FIRST to have access.
Every Sunday, new instrumentals will be uploaded to $FIRST AUDIO for each category of music.
- Easy to use on your own Collection. Simply download the instrumental you like and use in your next audio NFT.
MintGate use case: We protect access to his website. If the user holds the required tokens, they can access the website and download the audio tracks. It was previously password protected, but Harrison offers more upside to his fans by granting access to content and community with a token that appreciates as his brand’s growth does.
- Unique users who unlocked content: 185
PVLACE
A unique NFT released that grants your ownership for any commercial purpose.
Website:
Project details:
This unique NFT experience offers 350 tokens generated by the well-known producer 808 Mafia.
-The token is attached to a 1 of 1 unique musical composition composed by multi-platinum and chart topping producers as well as a 1 of 1 Unique 3D Animated visual artwork.
-Each NFT grants full ownership of both the corresponding musical compositions as well as the 3D Visual art, allowing the composition to be licensed/copywritten by the NFT holder for any commercial purpose, royalty-free.
MintGate use case: We protect access to the original files. If the user hold the NFT, they can access the files and use them on future productions or for commercial purposes.
- Unique users who unlocked content: 71
Uniwhales
A DeFi data curation project that has real-time monitoring of any transaction, tokens, or addresses in the crypto market.
Website:
Project details:
Analyze whale data filtered by date, transaction size, token, or DEX. They also released their DAO where as a token holder you can join. A DeFi analytics community with some of the top minds in crypto:
- Webinars with builders + traders
- Access to a dynamic, curated community with a large wealth of DeFi knowledge
- Governance. Be part of the protocol by voting on the next features to be added
MintGate use case: We protect access to their video content. Only members of the DAO can watch exclusive insights on the market by top founders and builders.
- Unique users who unlocked content: 203
Latest NFTs minted
Creator Growth Kit NFT
A collection of resources to grow a digital presence and influence.
-The Kit helps users post their work, network with creators, organize content, and more. Hundreds of guides about building a presence on mainstream social channels.
NFT data: https://www.mintgate.app/t/5MCQWX_5R88-
Charo Knight exclusive video NFT
The first ever music video NFT minted by Charo Knight. Purchase of this NFT unlocks exclusive, un-released music.
-The video captures an extravagant night at The Virgin Hotels, where Charo Knight celebrates a special occasion with his entourage. With a variety a vibes and spirits, you get an inside look at the lifestyle of an up and coming icon.
NFT data: https://charoknight.mintgate.app/t/QOGZV-N0LIAG
Crowdfunding NFT
Crowdfunding through a NFT to rescue people in Kabul.
-A group of Afghan artists, filmmakers, and tv crew are in hiding in Kabul. Users can contribute to their rescue fund by buying the NFT below. At its core, crypto is an effort to empower and liberate humanity in all ways. You’ll hear plenty of negative things on the news, but its potential for good is so much greater.
NFT data: https://afrf.mintgate.app/t/EVTD_VFLKPJR
