Gamma, The Stacks-Based Marketplace Bringing NFTs Into Bitcoin’s Ecosystem
When it comes to buying, selling, and trading non-fungible tokens, most users head on over to the Ethereum blockchain, which is home to the majority of NFTs.
It’s an old habit born of necessity but it’s also changing with the arrival of alternative NFT marketplaces like Gamma. Unlike rivals such as OpenSea, Gamma is built on an alternative blockchain known as Stacks, which offers the unique ability to bring smart contract functionality to Bitcoin.
What that means is that NFTs built on Stacks and sold on Gamma come with the unique advantage of being secured by Bitcoin’s blockchain, which is the most secure of all with the highest level of decentralization. Gamma, as the leading platform for buying Bitcoin-secured NFTs, is also in the enviable position of being able to tap into the liquidity of what is the largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, meaning it has unrivaled potential for growth.
Gamma, therefore, sees itself as one of the leading players in the mission to bring NFTs to the Bitcoin ecosystem. What’s more, Bitcoin holders are the perfect audience for it, as many are aware of the capabilities of other cryptocurrencies and they understand the important role that NFTs play, not only in strengthening communities and digitizing art, but also in providing a growing range of utility.
Having launched in September 2021, Gamma has quickly emerged as the leading NFT marketplace on Stacks. As part of its roadmap, it ultimately plans to become a hub for Web3 social identity, which it believes will be centered on NFT technology.
Gamma is home to a first-class marketplace where users can explore dozens of different collections that are growing in popularity. In addition, its platform also provides professional, creator-first NFT launchpads for digital artists who’re looking for an easy way to deploy creator-owned and low-code smart contracts. With Gamma, it’s possible for artists with no experience to create smart contract functionality for their NFTs in a matter of minutes. In this way, creators can ensure ownership of their NFTs and protect their work, similar to copyright. Finally, Gamma also serves as a social platform through which creators can come together to collaborate and share ideas.
Although it has been around for less than a year, Gamma is already home to a growing number of popular NFT collections that have built up a fanatical following in the world of Web3. In fact, many of its collections are already in high demand. Some projects have even launched secondary collections to lower the barrier to entry to their communities.
Bitcoin Monkeys
One of the most popular projects of all on Gamma is Bitcoin Monkeys, which is a limited edition collection of 2,500 unique Stacks NFTs developed by a global collective spanning three continents. Each Bitcoin Monkey NFT acts as a membership pass to the Jungle Club, an exclusive world where members are rewarded with various exciting giveaways and airdrops (with the exact prizes they receive depends on their NFT’s rarity attributes), plus merchandise and events. They also get to vote in the MonkeyDAO, giving them a say in the future direction of the community.
Mutant Monkeys
Demand for the Bitcoin Monkeys was so high that the project soon gave birth to the Mutant Monkeys, the second collection of 5,000 NFTs that can only be created by transforming a vial of SERUM into one of them. The SERUM NFT is burnt in the process, with the Mutant Monkey NFT being minted to take its place – entirely for free. They were designed as a way to reward Bitcoin Monkey holders with a new NFT – a mutant version of their monkeys – while lowering the barrier to entry for those priced out of the original collection.
Megapont Ape Club
Putting a different spin on the monkey theme is the Megapont Ape Club collection, which was designed by the WeaslyGrizzly artist collective. The Megapont Ape Club NFTs give holders rights to enter Megapont, a thriving, fictional universe where advanced scientific mutations accelerated the evolution of every species on Earth. In Megapont, the majority of its mutated animal residents have adopted the behaviors of the human species, with chimpanzees evolving at the most accelerated rate to become the undisputed kingmakers of the kingdom.
The Megapont NFTs offers a lot of utility, with each holder entitled to create their own Robot NFT. NFTs can also be staked to earn MEGACOIN, the governance token of Megapont, which allows them to participate in its community initiatives.
Nonnish Kingdom
The Nonnish Kingdom refers to not one, but two separate NFT collections – the Nonnish Grafters and Nonnish Townsfolk – which together form one of the most popular communities on Gamma.
The creation of Ronin, part-time evolutionary biologist, and full-time creative mind, Nonnish Grafters is a collection of unique creatures that come in the night following a battle, tracking the scent of bodies aged by the heat of the day and preparing for a night of labor. The Nonnish Grafters work in silence, operating with speed and precision as they set about their work, removing faces and limbs, skin and muscle.
As for the Nonnish Townsfolk, this is a collection of 2,000 pen and paper NFTs on Stacks that represents the town’s citizens, gathered and ready for hire, at your disposal, and willing to earn their keep.
bear market buddies
Created amid the doom and gloom of crypto winter, the bear market buddies is a refreshingly honest collection of 777 unique buddies designed to help holders cope with the misery of the bear market blues. As the project’s creator says, “roadmaps are not real. But your buddies are”. They’re designed as a source of comfort for holders in these uncertain times when many crypto projects are sure to fall by the wayside. The NFTs are minted for free, available on a first come, first served basis, with buyers only required to pay the gas fees in STX required to collect one.
Satoshibles
The appropriately named Satoshibles was one of the first NFT collections on Gamma. It’s a series of 5,000 algorithmically generated NFTs created from 192 hand-drawn attributes spread across nine traits.
The collection is the creation of Ayyoub Bouzerda, a “regular guy from Morocco” who boasts unusual superpowers that transform normal, boring-looking portraits into awesome, vintage comic-book style characters, just as he’s done with the Satoshibles.
One advantage of the project is that NFT holders can access a print-on-demand service via the Satoshibles website, where users can login with their wallet to print their tokens onto a range of merchandise – such as mugs, T-shirts, and the like.
In the long-term, Satoshibles aims to create a DAO structure that will give the community the power to vote on what the future holds, whether that’s more NFT mints and drops, more merchandise or something else completely new.
The Explorer Guild
The Explorer Guild is a unique NFT collection created by Sigle, a powerful, decentralized, and open-source web3 writing platform that can be considered similar to Medium. All content published on Sigle will remain online forever, never to be censored, with writers rewarded in BTC based on how many views their content receives.
The Explorer Guild was designed primarily to fund Sigle’s platform. It’s a collection of 3,000 NFTs that were generated using 255 hand drawn attributes. It’s inspired by Jules Verne, the legendary sci-fi writer whose stories 200 years ago were incredibly futuristic yet also amazingly accurate. The Explorers have different pasts, different agendas, and different ideas and yet they arrived at Sigle to start their journey of sharing their thoughts with the world.
Each Explorer Guild NFT holder is taking part in a revolutionary moment by providing funding for Sigle’s Web3 project, with their tokens providing them with exclusive access to various premium features of the platform, including programmable newsletters, in-depth analytics, and custom domains.
How To Buy Gamma NFTs
To purchase any of the above NFTs all you need to do is buy some STX tokens and connect your wallet to Gamma’s platform.
To explore the NFTs on sale, click on the “Explore” tab and browse through the various tokens currently listed for sale on its marketplace. From there, it’s possible to filter the NFTs by price, most recently listed, or most recently sold. Users can also hit the “Explore Collections” tab to sort through the most popular collections of Gamma NFTs.
To buy an NFT, simply hover over the desired NFT and click the “Buy Now” button, or else click on the NFT to expand its detailed view. This shows an enlarged view of the token as well as details such as its rarity, sale history, and listing price.
With an extensive number of unique and interesting collections available on its platform, it’s no surprise that Gamma has emerged as the leading NFT marketplace on Stacks. It’s well positioned to scale as the digital artists’ community begins exploring the benefits of Bitcoin-secured NFTs. Gamma’s plan going forward is to double down on its community, with a focus on putting collectors, artists, and curators first. To date, it has grown to support the largest number of Bitcoin-based NFTs, and it’ll be interesting to see how it stands up to NFT platforms on Ethereum, such as OpenSea, X2YC, and others, as we go forward.