Reviving Rari Chain: A Call for Community Action

[dzonson.eth]

I am reaching out to address a critical issue that we cannot afford to ignore—the current state and future of Rari Chain. Since its launch about six months ago, the initial excitement has fizzled out, and activity on Rari Chain has come to a standstill. The numbers speak for themselves: in the past 30 days, the total trading volume of NFTs on Rari Chain is a mere $100, even considering potential wash trading. Despite significant investment in marketing and infrastructure, the chain remains largely unused. There are no active users, no new applications, and overall, the project feels stagnant.

This situation is disheartening for several reasons. Rarible is a well-known name in the NFT world, and the initial response to Rari Chain was overwhelmingly positive. We saw a surge in wallet creations and ETH bridging, indicating strong user interest. To see such potential squandered is almost unimaginable. Moreover, substantial funds were poured into Rari Chain’s development and promotional campaigns. We must critically examine what went wrong and why these efforts did not translate into sustained user engagement.

My intention here is not to assign blame but to spark a meaningful dialogue on how we can collectively address these challenges. We need to identify the root causes of Rari Chain’s current state and collaboratively develop strategies to revive it. This should be a priority for all of us, yet as a community, we seem to be overlooking this crucial issue. Besides Forexus and me, I never heard anyone addressing this topic on community calls.

I urge everyone to share their thoughts and suggestions. Let’s come together to discuss and implement actionable solutions. While the team behind Rari Chain is undoubtedly working on new ideas, we cannot solely rely on their efforts. Previous initiatives like the Galxe reward program and RRC7, though well-intentioned, have not delivered the desired results and have significantly drained our budget.

The Spirit program aims to incentivize the creation of interesting applications, but we need to critically assess its impact. Allocating nearly half a million dollars for five applications will not necessarily drive user engagement. Even if these applications were live today, it’s unlikely they would attract a significant user base.

We, as a community, need to play an active role in this process. The potential of Rari Chain is immense, and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Please join the conversation, bring your ideas to the table, and let’s work together to revive Rari Chain. Our collective effort can make a difference.

[dzonson.eth]

An unwritten rule when launching new projects is to increase the initial user base through incentives that provide tangible benefits. This is a harsh reality of the web3 world, where most people engage with new projects with the hope of investing and potentially making money. If we analyze new chains, it’s clear that they all have initiatives where users earn points for participating in the network, which later translate into rewards through airdrops or similar methods.

This was also the idea behind Rari Chain. To implement this idea, we used the Galxe platform. Initially, people were earning points through social tasks like “follow Rari Chain on Twitter,” etc. The first problem arose when bots managed to abuse the referral system, earning massive amounts of points, which discouraged legitimate users from participating. For instance, a person who invested $700 to mint NFTs on Rari Chain would have 100 times fewer points than bots that earned points with zero investment and no real contribution to Rari Chain.

This was the first significant issue that drove many people away. The second issue was the selection of collections that Rari promoted and encouraged. These were collections from relatively unknown artists whose works were not valued. As a result, it was impossible to establish any meaningful floor price for their NFTs. When people saw that the NFTs they minted were not selling and were valued at best at $5, they lost interest in minting other collections. An analysis shows a significant drop in minting activity from the first few days to the last few days.

Additionally, the platform itself was so buggy that the process of earning points neither worked properly nor provided any satisfaction. Legitimate users who completed all the steps still found themselves thousands of places below the bots.

The outcome was that the Galxe program was prematurely terminated, and most people “lost money,” which is usually not the case with other projects if you invest early. The task required nearly $700, and the rewards were barely 25% of that. Unfortunately, that money did not end up in Rari’s pocket but in the pockets of artists who took advantage of the situation and never committed to their own projects with that capital. Another issue was the lack of communication channels with the artists. People who minted NFTs did not feel a sense of belonging, which is generally the idea behind NFTs as social symbols and gateways. Basically, a lot was invested moneywise, and no real users were created.

The next major mistake was the RRC7 reward program, which was launched suddenly in hopes of salvaging the Galxe fiasco. Again, the chosen eligible collections were from unknown artists whose works were evidently not valued by the market. We had a situation where Rari allocated nearly half a million dollars as rewards to bid on collections worth $2. This was quite absurd, and consequently, the result was very poor, with hardly anyone participating. In the last days, only two people were active, and the program was terminated prematurely.

Based on these observations, I believe the solution lies in relaunching similar programs with significant modifications. First, we need to negotiate with established collections that have a known floor price and reputation to potentially bridge to Rari Chain. Second, we must implement a refundable minting mechanism to help maintain the floor price of projects and make collections attractive to users. For example, users could refund the minting funds within 30 days of minting, meaning the artist would not receive the money immediately.

These are some of my ideas, and I would love for us to work on them and discuss them further. I am very eager to hear what others have to say and suggest.

[Grey]

create an announcement of a workshop focused on individual artists.

some of them are on the solana chain.

for example, someone who is able to create 10-15 works of natural landscape art.

create a competition but refer them mint to the Rari chain

from here it will most likely attract them.

Due to several factors, artists print on certain chain out of habit

has this been done ?

or grab their attention by throwing in some gas fee to mint at Rari chain.

Don’t talk about giving gifts because maybe some people don’t like the lure.

The winner will be happy, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the next work will be on the Rari chain

An artist doesn’t just create work every day. But they will continue to create and store them on certain chain.

There are those who really have an artistic soul, they don’t care about collectors, the most important thing for them is that their work is stored safely on a certain blockchain.

[forexus]

Some ideas that just popped up in my mind

• A weekly art contest where participants must mint their NFTs on the Rari Chain, top 3 will receive a bid.

• Our own Referral system with several levels, where participants get a % of the platform fees on the Rari Chain of their referrals, going down 2 levels and get incentivized for additional rewards through $RARI rewards following our system yet to be designed. I have a lot of experience with referral systems from my time in MLM, and they can work greatly if you protect it enough against cheaters, have a great user dashboard and incentivize the right tasks. We’re not incentivizing the amount of referrals, we will incentivize the activity of referrals. Inactive referrals are just a number

• Find partnerships with top NFT projects/communities to possibly launch a derivative on the Rari Chain, or bridge their project + community to the Rari Chain. DeGods example*

• In the end artists want sales! We would need some kind of fund to randomly sweep NFTs on the Rari Chain from artists and projects. This brings excitement and motivation to mint more and the word will spread.

@dzonson.eth do you have examples of open edition drops from artists who did succeed in creating volume and maintaining a high floor price? Would love to investigate to get a better view to understand what kind of artists you are referring to. Artists launched on the Rari Chain where artists chosen by the Hug art contest.

[bitblondy]

Thanks for the proposal and your thoughts / suggestions. @forexus ideas sound quite good, especially the partnership part. Is there somebody responsible at the protocol, that takes care of this on a professional level? We probably could do more on this end.

I would also be interested in the learnings from previous incentivization campaigns, since @dzonson.eth pointed out that there may are better strategies. I do think that incentivization is a way to go, but it’s quite difficult to get sustainable results.

Personally, I liked the option to mint on Farcaster, maybe that’s something that could be offered more.

The RARI token will stay exclusively on Ethereum, or is there a token planned on RARI chain at some point? Giving out the rewards on RARI chain is obviously a possible way to bring activity.

[Sixty]

Hey @dzonson.eth, thank you for the detailed analysis and for raising these critical points about the current state of Rari Chain. I fully agree that we must address the stagnation and find effective solutions to revive the chain.

Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge the disappointment and frustration stemming from the initial high expectations and subsequent decline in activity. The enthusiasm around wallet creations and bridging showed a clear interest and potential that hasn’t been sustained.

As someone newer to the RARI community, these are some potential factors contributing to the current situation from my understanding:

• Lack of Unique Value Proposition: Rari Chain may not offer something distinct enough to attract and retain users compared to other chains.

• Ecosystem and Apps: A thriving ecosystem with a healthy number of native apps, active partnerships, and collaborations is crucial for sustained growth. From my quick research, I have not seen any apps that would personally influence me to bridge to Rari Chain.

To address some of these challenges, we obviously need to make some targeted changes and efforts:

• Community Feedback and Engagement: Actively seek input from the community about their needs and preferences. Conduct surveys, host focus groups, and create forums for open dialogue. Understanding what users and creators want that would attract them to Rari Chain.

• Improve User Experience: Improve and enhance the overall user experience. Address technical issues promptly and provide comprehensive support and tutorials for new users.

• Strengthen Ecosystem and Partnerships: Foster relationships with apps on other chains, developers, and artists. Incentivize these stakeholders to build and contribute to the Rari Chain ecosystem.

• Reassess Incentive Programs: Ensure incentives align with user engagement and long-term growth rather than short-term gains.

While having this discussion on the forum is a good first step, some more actionable efforts need to be made, such as:

• Scheduling a dedicated community call to discuss the current issues and proposed solutions and encouraging participation from all stakeholders.
• Create focused working groups to tackle specific areas such as user experience, marketing, and partnerships. These groups should include both Rari DAO and Rari Foundation members.

Reviving Rari Chain will require a concerted effort from the entire community. By actively engaging with users, improving the platform, and strategically focusing resources, we can reignite the potential that was evident at launch. But first the community must come together, share ideas, and take decisive action to ensure Rari Chain’s success. The journey ahead may be challenging, but we can overcome these obstacles with collective effort and determination and build a thriving ecosystem.

[bitblondy]

Thanks for the detailed suggestions, you mention some good dimensions to work on.

I agree that this topic is something to discuss in a working group / community meetings as well, since it’s really a long-term effort.

[Firefly808]

As we contemplate reviving the Rari Chain, it is imperative to acknowledge the importance of community. The current crypto market primarily consists of programmers and finance enthusiasts, but Rari stands out as a chain dedicated to artists.

Our target audience isn’t reward farmers; it’s the traditional high fashion and art world, including small artists who exhibit their work in local galleries. These artists and their patrons aren’t motivated by monetary rewards; they are driven by passion for fashion, modeling, and art. We need to communicate that they can reach a global audience by minting their art on the Rari Chain and that art from around the world is accessible here.

Crypto lacks a true art community. While we have media like Bankless, Decrypt, and CoinTelegraph, which focus on financial aspects, there’s a void when it comes to discussing and promoting art. People often wonder where the artists are and why they aren’t more visible. This is because there isn’t a strong community or platform for them. Art needs to be as celebrated as market trends.

We need influencers and social media content creators to make owning NFTs appealing. Bridging the gap between web2 and web3 is crucial. We need people who can introduce artists to the masses and create a buzz around crypto art. Where are the Bitboys of the crypto art world?

Beyond low fees, fast finality and on-chain royalties, we must make it attractive for artists to list on Rari Chain. Artists with existing followings can bring their fans with them, but we must also help promote these artists to both crypto natives and newcomers. This includes assisting those who may not be adept at marketing themselves. Additionally, we need to be mindful that not all artists are comfortable engaging with their fans directly, especially introverts.

To summarize, we need a vibrant, supportive community that promotes and celebrates art. By doing so, we can attract genuine artists and collectors, making Rari Chain the go-to platform for art in the crypto space.