Ethernity Review: Exclusive Authenticated NFTs

While at first the concept of a ‘non-fungible token’ seemed rather complex to fathom, NFTs are absolutely everywhere right now and anyone who is relatively well-versed in the crypto space will have at least heard of an NFT, and for good reason too.

According to a TechCrunch article, people have spent roughly $237 million on NFTs since 2018 with the majority of on-chain transactions occurring in January 2021 alone. These metrics are indicative of a flourishing market and of an NFT-driven craze that does not seem to be stopping any time soon.

On March 5th, for instance, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey auctioned off a blockchain receipt for a screenshot of his first tweet in 2006 and bids for it promptly exceeded $2.5 million. Later that month, famous NFT artist Beeple sold his ‘Everydays’ artwork at a Christie’s auction for $69 million!

Furthermore, there is no shortage of NFT marketplaces, NFT-based projects or crypto art creators in the space, which have caused the market sentiment surrounding NFTs to become somewhat oversaturated.

The problem with the majority of these NFT projects is that they have perhaps focused too broadly on the digital artwork environment without considering the problems that exist within specific subsections of the NFT market itself. Consequently, opportunities have arisen for projects such as Ethernity Chain to gain prominence and forward innovative value propositions that were yet to be seen in the non-fungible token ecosystem.

About Ethernity Chai 

Ethernity Chain has only recently made its appearance on the blockchain and it is by no means your standard NFT project. Built on the Ethereum Network, Ethernity Chain is a community-oriented platform that produces limited edition, authenticated NFTs (a-NFTs) and bespoke trading cards created by notable artists and endorsed by celebrities and popular figures in the entertainment, music and sporting industries.

Founded by long standing cryptocurrency investor, digital asset enthusiast and philanthropist Nick Rose Ntertsas, Ethernity Chain is dedicated to exploring the world of digital art through non-fungible tokens and to promoting social good by auctioning off NFTs for the purpose of helping charities or donating a portion of the artists’ profits to a charity of their choice.

Ethernity is a groundbreaking NFT project that is focused on charitable causes which auctions artwork featuring artists and stars from music, film, sports, crypto and other industries. Each of the digital artworks is represented as a non-fungible token (NFT) and has been created by renowned artists. The pieces feature well-known public figures and a portion of all funds raised from the endeavour will be donated to charitable causes. - Nick Rose Ntertsas on Hackernoon

Ethernity Chain Team

Ethernity Chain has an all-star team on its side that is dedicated to the long term success and development of the project and to helping Ethernity stay ahead of cutting-edge technologies in the NFT space. The Team Members at Ethernity Chain are:

• Nick Rose Ntertsas - CEO Founder
• Mr. Mac Pholea - Chief Engineer
• Evangelos Diamantis - CFO
• Adrian Baschuk - COO
• Steve D’Agostino - CMO

From Ethereum To Ethernity

According to its founder and CEO Nick Rose, Ethernity Chain was developed in conjunction with his passion for philanthropy and the art space, and the project itself took direct inspiration from the wildly addictive, Ethereum-based CryptoKitties NFT movement of 2017.

While Bitcoin concentrated on hedging away from the centralisation of government-issued currencies, its blockchain technology opened up a fascinating new horizon of opportunities. Ethereum, for instance, tapped into this technology and pioneered the world of Decentralised Applications (dApps). Then came the complex architecture of Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and, after that, NFTs made their grand entrance in the crypto space.

The 2017 Ethereum-based CryptoKitties movement blazed the NFT trail, legitimised NFTs as an asset class and gave digital collectibles a fun touch but now, in 2021, Ethernity Chain is transforming non-fungible tokens into highly collectible assets and is pioneering its own state-of-the-art NFT model, the authenticated NFT. Before diving into the utility and key features of Ethernity’s authenticated NFTs, it is constructive to briefly discuss the fundamental elements that give NFTs their intrinsic value and describe what a non-fungible token actually is.

The Value Of NFTs

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographically unique tokenised assets that are represented on-chain. Unlike ‘fungible’ tokens that are equally interchangeable with one another, for example 1 Bitcoin is exchangeable for another Bitcoin and 1 Ethereum is identical to another Ethereum, a non-fungible token is essentially the only existing version of the asset itself and it therefore cannot be exchanged for another one of the same.

There are many NFTs in existence, however the most common example of a non-fungible token would be an art piece, a collectible, or a trading card. In this instance, a user can hold two NFTs representing the exact same art piece but due to the cryptographic uniqueness of each NFT, the visually identical art pieces are in fact not the same thing and therefore are not interchangeable with one another.

It is their innate non-fungibility and non-interchangeability that gives NFTs intrinsic value, however, the issue here is that pretty much anyone with a Metamask Wallet can deploy Ethereum on a platform such as Rarible and mint their own NFT. A newly minted NFT will indeed be cryptographically unique but there is no way of proving or guaranteeing its authenticity, and this is precisely where Ethernity Chain's a-NFTs come into play.

What Are Authenticated NFTs?

NFTs are an incredibly dynamic asset class and the potential use cases that they offer are quite simply off the charts. Ethernity Chain taps into the versatility of non-fungible tokens by introducing its own in-house authenticated NFT design, known as a-NFTs, and by entrusting them with a specific utility. With so many art pieces in circulation, it is becoming extremely difficult to effectively verify the soundness of an NFT and Ethernity strives to solve this very issue with its a-NFT standard.

Ethernity developed the a-NFT model to help accurately determine the value of digital artworks and collectibles as well as provide an additional layer of asset authentication against the various counterfeits and fake art pieces that exist on the blockchain.

Moreover, Ethernity’s NFT authentication process is enhanced by the transparency of blockchain transactions and by the cryptographic uniqueness of each and every one of its a-NFTs.

All a-NFTs on Ethernity Chain are authenticated by their respective creators and endorsed by popular figures, a process that ignites greater user confidence in the collectible itself and allows purchasers to know the exact origins of the NFT, the date it was minted on and, more importantly, the celebrity who supports it. By engaging both creators and influencers simultaneously, Ethernity Chain seeks to elevate the collectible value of its art pieces as well as contribute to the narrative and history of its NFTs.

Ethernity's a-NFT Drops

Ethernity Chain launched in spectacular fashion with legendary UFC announcer Bruce Buffer introducing the countdown and announcing his own authenticated NFT on Ethernity Chain. At the time of writing, Ethernity Chain has launched several authenticated NFT offerings.

To begin with, on March 7th Ethernity Chain launched the official ‘Ethernity Chain x Boss Logic Collection’ as its first ever ‘Community Drop’.

Boss Logic is an Australian-born, digital graphic artist and one of the most respected NFT creators in the space.

The purpose of these ‘Community Drops’ is to give eager collectors early access to a selection of rare NFTs as well as give artists a platform to reveal their art to an engaged audience of NFT aficionados.

The Boss Logic ‘Community Drop’ contained 2501 NFTs to be illustrated and sold to the Ethernity Chain community. The collection was minted and sold on the official OpenSea account named ‘Ethernity Chain’ and resulted in a successful sale of 1644 NFTs, equating to approximately $884K in revenue.

Soon after the Ethernity Chain x Boss Logic Collection, several Community Drops have followed suit with a variety a-NFT offerings designed by famous artists in honour of footballing legend Pelé, skateboarding hero Tony Hawk, timeless boxer Muhammad Ali and classic fashion diva Marilyn Monroe, to name a few.

Muhammad Ali a-NFT Offering

On May 1th, Muhammad Ali Enterprises and Ethernity Chain announced the ‘Muhammad Ali Collection’ in partnership with Raf Grassetti, a prominent digital sculptor in the NFT world. To date, this is arguably Ethernity Chain’s most notable a-NFT Drop.

The a-NFT offering was carried out in honour of the ‘Greatest Of All Time’ and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ‘Fight of Century’ between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. The ‘Muhammad Ali Collection’ counted four limited edition pieces: Float, Sting, G.O.A.T and Wings. In addition, one of the a-NFTs came with a pair of physical boxing gloves signed by the legendary boxer himself.

Muhammad Ali inspired me in my personal and professional life as he did to most of us. It’s an honor and privilege to use my craft and work with new technologies to celebrate his life and create this collection to help us remember ‘The Greatest Of All Time.'”
- Raf Grossetti

Why a-NFTs Are Here To Stay

There is an argument to be made for the utility of authenticated NFTs in not only the collectibles and digital art world but also in industries as diverse as gaming, sporting, music, Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and even real estate.

According to Ethernity’s founder and CEO Nick Rose, NFTs have already taken the driver’s seat when it comes to the collectibles conversation and are consistently proving to be a foundational building block of the emerging virtual economy. That being said, Nick Rose argues that the gaming and augmented reality (AR) industries currently represent the most promising environment for NFT and, more specifically, a-NFT utility as they will likely be among the first to fully adopt them within their ecosystems.

Through blockchain technology’s distributed ledger system, virtual items and in-game assets can be tokenised on the network and exist as unique, authenticated non-fungible tokens. Subsequently, given the increasing demand for non-fungibles in virtual domains, NFTs have a strong chance of capturing a share of the $150 billion worth gaming industry and generate an entirely new marketplace for collectible value.

The technology behind NFTs will actually validate ownership for things that go far beyond collectables. Think expensive clothing or even homeownership. Also, there’s ample opportunity in the gaming industry to capitalize on the NFT trend. It’s the perfect connection between in-game items and real-world value. We love our little corner of the NFT space with artists, icons and charity, but we definitely appreciate the larger ecosystem we’re a part of - Nick Rose on Hackernoon

Polkastarter IDO

On March 8th 2021, Ethernity Chain enjoyed a wildly successful Polkastarter Initial Dex Offering (IDO). Its native token ERN grew from its IDO price of $0.275 to an all-time-high price of $73.86, returning early stage investors over 27,000% gains.

.Ethernity concluded a successful strategic investment round and secured long term support from heavyweight VC firms in the blockchain world such as Morningstar Ventures, Spark Digital Capital, Back Edge Capital, Genesis Block Ventures and Woodstock.

During its seed and strategic rounds Ethernity Chain raised $275K, a very modest amount when compared to other pre-launches at the time.

Polkastarter has made a name for itself in the crypto launchpad and fundraising space and has helped to raise funds for reputable DeFi and NFT projects such as Maha DAO, Bridge Mutual, Exeedme, SuperFarm and Refinable, among others.

The ERN Token

With a total supply of 30 million, the ERN token is Ethernity Chain’s native asset. ERN is an ERC-20 token that plays a vital role in Ethernity’s ecosystem and possesses a variety of DeFi utilities, making Ethernity Chain a DeFi-NFT crossover project.

The token provides liquidity to ERN pools and allows users to farm unique authenticated NFTs which can be traded just like other cryptocurrencies. Participants can use ERN to purchase a-NFTs and take part in staking programs. Moreover, ERN is used for governance rights and it allows token holders to vote on key changes to the Ethernity platform.

Ethernity's Deflationary Ecosystem

The ERN token operates as a deflationary asset. When users purchase a-NFTs with ERN, Ethernity collects ERN tokens as payment for the NFTs and locks 75% of the collected tokens in the Ethernity Chain Reserve smart contract for two years. Tokens are then periodically unlocked and used to refuel the Staking and Rewards Pool for Liquidity Providers.

This cycle produces a deflationary token environment in which the circulating supply of the ERN Token is directly correlated to the number of NFTs sold on the platform.

Ultimately, the ERN token economy embodies Ethernity’s community-centric ethos and helps the project maintain its decentralised philosophy.

ERN Staking And Rewards

Ethernity Chain runs a staking program for liquidity providers (LPs), however, rewards go to participants who choose to interact with the ERN/ETH pair on Uniswap. The staking lockup period runs for 30 days, after which the pool is restarted. On average, liquidity providers can expect the annual percentage yield to fluctuate between 100 and 300%. To participate in the ERN staking program, users must:

• Deposit tokens in Uniswap’s V2 ERN/ETH pair and receive DEX-issued LP tokens equivalent to the user’s stake in the pool.
• Access the staking option on Ethernity and connect the wallet address that holds the assigned LP tokens.
• Approve and lock the tokens into the staking contract known as the Liquidity Reward Program.

Ethernity Stones

Stones are farmable platform assets that allow users to redeem NFTs from the Ethernity Chain collection and are the definition of ERN’s DeFi-NFT crossover utility. To gain access to Stones, users need to sign up for an account on EthernityChain.io. The account gives users the ability not only to farm Stones, but to access new features such as buying, bidding and voting in the Ethernity marketplace.

Stones are farm-only assets, meaning they can be earned exclusively by using ERN tokens. To farm Stones, users are required to interface their Metamask Wallet with the Ethernity Chain platform, click on the ‘Farm Stones’ section and approve the transaction. It is important to note that 1 ERN token equates to 1000 Stones and that only the Metamask Wallet can be used to farm Stones. Moreover, Stones have no monetary value, they are non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for ETH or ERN.

Once the transaction is approved, the selected ERN tokens deployed for Stones farming are locked into the farming contract on Ethernity Chain.

Ethernity Packs

Packs are Ethernity’s additional NFT-based, community-oriented product that employs a lottery model. Similar to NBA TopShot Packs on the Flow blockchain, Ethernity Packs are a series of curated NFT collections starring different artists and NFTs of varying value.

Prices for Ethernity Packs typically range between $50, the minimum price, and $500, the maximum price, depending on the rarity of the NFTs contained inside.

Packs are available on the Ethernity Chain platform at different times and the only way to interact with this product is by using the ERN native asset.

Conclusion

Ethernity Chain is an authenticated NFT platform that seeks to revolutionise the collectibles industry by allowing users to own unique, authenticated NFT art pieces on the blockchain. The project leverages the power of influential figures in the sporting, entertainment, music and blockchain environments to provide an authentication layer to the world of non-fungible tokens and allow artists to showcase their talent.

Moreover, Ethernity Chain is dedicated to social good and to charitable causes, and donates a percentage of the platform’s proceeds to a wide array of charities. The primarily NFT-oriented project implements DeFi features such as staking rewards and farming options, and can thus be considered a DeFi-NFT crossover platform.

Ethernity Chain is still a very young project and it has only recently entered the hugely competitive NFT industry. Ethernity's ERN token saw an incredible price surge since Initial Dex Offering, with its native token putting in a respectable 272x from its initial price of $0.275. Given these metrics, there seems to be a growing demand for the Ethernity Chain platform and for the value proposition of its authenticated NFTs.

While it is still very early days for Ethernity and for NFTs as a whole, non-fungible tokens are visibly disrupting the the world of digital art and of collectibles, and are set to entirely redesign the concept of value in the gaming, real estate, music and Decentralised Finance industries.