How Reddit minted 5 million NFTs through the Avatar initiative

by James · February 19, 2023

The Reddit logo shown on a computer screen through a magnifying glass. (Photo illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Despite the challenges facing the crypto market, Reddit’s collectible avatars initiative, launched in partnership with Polygon, has been a success. To date, over 5 million NFT collectibles have been minted, which has been a bright spot in an otherwise difficult time.

After the initial announcement in July, the avatars quickly became popular. A few months later, Reddit Chief Product Pali Bhat revealed that over 3 million Polygon wallets had been created by users. Reddit uses the Vault Wallet to store and manage NFTs directly from the Reddit app, with most created to purchase avatars.

On December 3, a new daily record was set with over 250,000 avatar NFTs minted, surpassing the previous single-day peak of just over 200,000. A few weeks later, the total number of minted avatars passed the 5 million mark, with over 4.25 million unique wallets containing at least one collectible, according to Polygon and Dune Analytics. Reddit surpassed OpenSea, one of the largest NFT marketplaces, in total users owning NFTs.

While NFTs have had branding issues due to their association with “snake oil” scams, Reddit has simplified the process by using familiar terms and avoiding jargon as much as possible. This makes user experience design and community key to the initiative’s success. Reddit also made wallet creation effortless and seamless. Unlike the conventional way of creating wallets today, Reddit creates it for you in a few clicks.

The majority of the NFTs minted so far have been free avatars given to highly active users of the site, which has millions of separate communities or subreddits. These avatars give users social power within their subreddits. With an avatar, they can stand out in the comments, give high-value accolades and use them as profile pictures.

Polygon has proven to be a successful platform for several major brands, including Instagram, Starbucks’ recently launched rewards program called Odyssey, and Nike. Through this initiative, Reddit shows how Web2 platforms, through avatar gifts, can drive significant use in Web3. The initiative’s track record of over 5 million minted NFTs shows the potential of well-known and user-friendly social platforms.

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I share stories, ideas and insights that shed light on cryptocurrencies, DAOs and Web3 startups. Originally from the Philippines, I lived in Italy where I took on Apple’s academic training program which helped me get into technology and design. Cryptocurrencies are an idea that caught my attention reading Stanford research papers on blockchain in 2018. In the past year, I have contributed to several Web3 startups that offer creative writing, product design, and branding services.