The Redemption - Redeemable NFT project

[AlterCap]

Introduction:

My name is Frankie and I am the founder of Alter, a streetwear brand that is utilising the ICON blockchain, we launched in July and have already progressed a lot in terms of connecting physical products to the ICON blockchain. All of our physical products come pegged with an NFT which is used to verify and authenticate the product along side some other benefits.

We have now started to move onto the next stage in connecting physicals to the blockchain, this is with our mint and redeem streetwear collections. We have partnered up with many projects within the ICON ecosystem to kickstart this. People will be able to mint an NFT which is backed by physical streetwear/merchandise, they are then able to trade, gift or redeem it for the physical product, upon redemption we send out the physical and a claimed version of the NFT which acts like a receipt to verify and authenticate the product.

With each wave/ cycle we get a step closer to mass adoption and I genuinely believe redeemable NFTs will be a major part of the next wave, pushing us even closer to mass adoption with the general public. We are already seeing big brands take a leap into the blockchain space and experiment with NFTs.

Tying physical products to an NFT make sense for a number of reasons, verification, authentication, IP use cases and speed of transferring ownership of a physical product are a few to name and we want to position The Redemption as the go to platform for redeemable NFTs.

So, what is The Redemption? The Redemption is a project tailored to redeemable NFTs, it will be a platform and marketplace where people can use to Mint, Trade, Gift and Redeem NFTs for physical products and also use our merchandise services.

Mint (Projects/brands/Artists)- Will be able to apply to list redeemable NFTs, this process will require certain verification steps to try safeguard users, along with this we will also have an emergency fund being built from a % of sales/ trading fees.

When applying, they will have the choice to either use their own products they have sourced or they can choose to let “The Redemption” source the products for them (If it is one of our available products). They will then be required to include certain information such as expected delivery time and details regarding the product in question etc.

This opens up another revenue stream for projects and artists, also giving the community another way to support the project/ artists and in return having a physical backed NFT.

By using our services, projects and artists will be able to offer high quality merchandise to their community without the having to go through costly and time consuming sampling process, The Redemption services make it much more convenient and cost effective due to some services having zero upfront costs involved.

Trade- I personally like and am looking forward to this part, initially you may think “why would anyone trade an NFT backed by a physical product such as streetwear etc” but we see it all the time in the real world, an item will go on sale and sell out in which it will then be traded on the secondary market for a profit or years go by and a certain shoe, item of clothing or product will be in fashion/trending so it begins being sold for more than initial retail or more than previously purchased.

The good thing about having it on chain is that the unclaimed versions will be seen as the most pristine version, even more pristine than having all packaging, receipt and un-opened due to it still being stored with the brand/project but you still own it. This also creates a physical trading system that is faster than traditional means, If you (the holder) want to sell an NFT that is backed by a physical cap or canvas, as soon as it is sold thats it done, no need to send out the physical package even though you have theoretically sold a physical item.

We also have plans to implement an NFT trading desk in the future, for example you could have 1x limited edition redeemable NFT canvas and trade it for 2x other redeemable NFTs that you may be after.

Gift- What better way to introduce someone to the blockchain space, a gift is a great incentive to peek interest into exploring something.

People will be able to mint an NFT which is backed by a physical product and head on over to the gift page, where you will be able to enter someones ICX address and send the NFT. (we will also explore other options such as redemption codes to claim gifts via email etc).

Redeem- This is the final stage, this is when the holder decides they want to claim the physical product. The user (holder) will go to the redemption page where they can view all their NFTs which are available for redemption, they will select which one they wish to redeem, fill in the delivery details and click redeem which will burn the unclaimed version out of circulation, they will then receive a claimed version of the NFT which will be used for the verification and authentication process, acting like a receipt.

We also have plans on implementing a separate page for people to view their NFT “receipts”, these won’t be seen on the tradable page as it would just cause confusion in which is claimed/unclaimed.

IP service?

Once fully operational, we plan to expand out to include an all in one IP service, this service will give people a way to profit from having full IP rights of their NFTs.

People/projects would need to apply for this service.

• We would then check the NFT they have applied for allows their owners the correct IP rights. (we will work on building a database to automate this process)
• They will then be able to choose from a range of streetwear products, canvas or digital display screens. (More products will be added as we grow)
• Send us the design which we will check is appropriate.
• (Potentially) they would then need to send us the NFT in question, we would then hold it until all the redeemable NFTs are sold. This is to try prevent watering down an NFTs IP value. So if they have asked to mint 100 of which only 50 sell and they want the NFT back, we will burn the remaining 50. (We are still undecided on this mechanic and may tweak).
• We would then list the redeemable NFTs for people to mint, once sold the owner of the NFT will receive their profits, minus production and fee costs.
• We then deal with the redemption of the NFTs via our already established connections in the mentioned physical industries and with our base of operations already set up with Alter, this positions us perfectly for this.

Note: all of these products go through Alters sampling process, we only allow top quality products which has already been demonstrated with the Alter caps, so buyers can have peace of mind knowing this is not going to be low quality merchandise. We want to stand out and we believe people should receive a product which quality represents the price they paid.

IRL physical artists?

Not only will this platform benefit already established NFT artist/projects, it can also be used by IRL physical artists, by minting their physical work as an NFT and pegging it with the physical copy which can be redeemed at a later date. We already have a few big IRL artist that we could potentially on board with this model.

Testing:

To start we will be listing redeemable NFTs from Alter and partners/collaborations of Alter. By hosting Alter+partners as the initial redeemable NFTs on the platform, it will be easier to manage testing while it is live and fine tune before we launch the application form and start on boarding other projects/artists.

Why ICON?-

Well, Alter is already based on ICON so it makes sense to use the same chain but more importantly ICON makes sense due to a variety of reasons such as low cost and fast transactions along side BTP once it is developed, we see ICON being a true secure hub of interoperability, we aim to connect “The Redemption” to multiple chains so BTP is important for our vision. Also ICON has had no major issues in the past few years, compared to other chains, the foundation and ecosystem looks stronger and stronger each day.

Benefits to ICON and current market conditions-

I fully understand some may feel this is not the right time for this kind of project given current market, however we want to position ourselves to be fully operational and established for when the market picks up, but we also want to be ready for when ICON bridge has more connected chains and BTP releases, so based on this I personally feel it is the perfect time to build The Redemption.

But what are the benefits to ICON?

Gained awareness and transactions:

We want The Redemption to become a hub and known by all chains for redeemable NFTs and with a large part of our marketing plan being targeted at projects outside of the ICON ecosystem, this will help result in gained awareness and transactions for the ICON network. Trading sales of the redeemable NFTs is also another on-chain benefit.

Unique:

It not only offers something unique to ICON but something unique to the whole NFT space in general, The Redemption will be the first platform and marketplace that focus on redeemable NFTs alongside offering all in one merchandise services pegged to NFTs.

Incentives:

We will also have incentives for the ICON community, we have already demonstrated this with Alter by giving away 10% of our main collection, airdropped over 200 NFTs which play a major role in phase 2 of Alter and act as a free mint for the phase 2 collection, along side many other ICX gift card competitions and sponsoring events. We will carry this forward with “The Redemption”.

Marketing-

For marketing, we are going the incentive route for the community to participate in. We will be doing a referral system, this system is designed to create community engagement and to start interacting with other blockchain projects, we feel this is more beneficial to the ICON blockchain as it starts merging communities rather than just focusing on the already established community within ICON which would not result in new network users.

How will the program work?

We will be offering $200 for every project that successfully partners up with “The redemption” to offer redeemable NFTs on the ICON blockchain, we will be targeting projects on chains that are integrated with the ICON bridge.

We will of course be doing standard marketing and community events along side the referral system and partnering with projects within the ICON ecosystem.

Maintenance-

Once up and running we will be using platform fees to cover maintenance costs, along side building up an emergency fund and exploring the option to set up a node to help cover these costs and to support and secure the ICON blockchain.

Will it have demand?

Thats the big question, personally I believe so but not just based on my biased opinion, based on a few factors.

1. Alter alone have 9 collaborations/ partnerships that can be on boarded and utilise the platform.
2. Since releasing the pre-proposal we have had a few discussions and people reach out interested in using it (from artists looking at being able to offer physical prints, 3D models and even hand crafted items).
3. Community members eager and interested in using the platform for the all in one IP service, giving the community a way to utilise and profit from their NFTs.
4. A few IRL physical/ traditional artists I know that have been looking for a way to enter the space that does not require them to transition over to digital art style, they are keen to use something like this.
5. Merchandise is also relatively sought after for NFT projects, there is a huge market that not many are focusing on, especially the way we plan on executing it.

Funding total $20500, Breakdown-

• Full-stack JavaScript developer ($3000/month for 2 months = $6000)
• Smart contract developer ($3000/ month for 2 months = $6000)
• UI designer/ creation ( $1750/month for 2 months = $3500)
• 1x full time project manager (including marketing management and business analyst)- $1500/month for 2 months = $3000
• Marketing budget- $2000 ($1000 reserved for 5 project referrals and $1000 on marketing materials, giveaways etc)

Funding notes:

• We are pleased to announce we will be using FRAMD for the Full stack and smart contract development services.
• The project manager funding will also be used as a buffer incase more backend development or other costs need covering such as initial hosting fees etc.

Closing notes:

We are aware that certain aspects of the project are centralised and this is due to the nature of the project, however we want to assure you that we will be working on making the project/ platform as automated and decentralised as possible, as we grow and expand this should become easier to do.

We would like to thank you all for taking your time and reading our proposal, we would also like to thank our amazing sponsor FRAMD for giving us the opportunity to present this proposal.

If anyone has any questions please reach out to me:

Telegram: @AlterCap4

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheRedemption14

[jamesp100]

Love this idea _Alter. It’s really unique & clearly a lot of thought and passion has gone into how it will work. It’s innovative and when Icon’s interoperability kicks in, they’ll be great opportunities to expand with partnerships and into other chains.

[StevenDS]

Great project! It focuses on a successful and vibrant area, being NFT’s, but also filling a void no one has tried tackle as of yet. Furthermore it can serve as a new ‘bridge’ pun intended towards cross chain ecosystems.

I would like to see some more clarification about:

• metaverse wearables being part of this project?
• made to order vs made to stock strategy in relation to minimum order quantities (storage time limits / redeemable time limits)
• Does to IP right service plan to serve a minimum order quantity in relation to the chosen garment or will individual holders also have the opportunity to order one piece for personal use with their favourite NFT on it?

[AlterCap]

Thanks for the kind words!

Clarification on said points:

• So metaverse wearable will be a part of it but will be more of an option, for example mostly if not all Alter streetwear will be metaverse compatible but if a project chooses not to have their products metaverse compatible that is fine. We will make it clear which ones are and which ones are not.

• Glad you mentioned this, so some products will be made to order in which there is not much worry regarding storage costs nor MOQ however some products will require storage and come with a MOQ.
  Now with the ones which we deal with, we ideally do not want to put a time limit on redeeming and we plan on setting aside some platform fees from the initial sale but more importantly each redeemable NFT will have a set secondary royalty fee which will go towards storage, operating and other longterm costs of the physical side.

(Down the line we may potentially add a deadline to redeem certain redeemable NFTs if said NFT project is no longer active and trading activity of said NFT has been inactive but that is a maybe and will likely talk with the community on it)

Other projects that have their own physicals and are dealing with the redemption process, may choose to have a time limit on redeeming but again this will be made clear on the NFTs.

• IP service will have no MOQ, these are products we would have either bulk ordered or are made to order, so yes, if you wanted one piece for personal use then that would definitely be possible.

[StevenDS]

Exactly what I wanted to hear/read. Especially the part of no MOQ for IP service is great. No barrier for people to get merch with their favourite NFT on it, if they own the IP rights that is.

[poopster]

I’m not saying anything about the project claiming to be decentralized, i just want to point out that there are a lot of centralized points of failure in this plan. Hopefully these are evident as they are the first thing noticed. IDK if any of these can be automated and/or more decentralized at some point but if so i think that’s the optimal situation.

[AlterCap]

Hey, yeah so the project is definitely not fully decentralised, i don’t think it would be possible for this kind of project to be fully decentralised in my opinion due to certain aspects of it. However, we will definitely be looking at making it as decentralised and automated as possible, as we grow and expand we will definitely be looking at taking certain manual parts out and automating them, alongside making it as decentralised as we can.

[AlterCap]

Response to RHIZOME vote-

1. Your experience with Alter/ verification and authentication for merchandise/ custodian framework.

I fully understand that it’s hard to judge our experience due to you not dipping your toes into Alter, there are too many projects to be involved with them all so that’s a fair statement. However many people and projects from the ICON community are involved with Alter and so far are happy with what we are doing and the quality of our products so I feel this has some merit. We also aim to be as community driven as possible so a lot of major decisions are done based on a vote rather than my biased opinion.

Verification and authentication of merchandise, agreed without any tech embedded into the merchandise it is near pointless, this is why we embed NFC tags into our caps which link back to the exact NFT version, we will also be printing individual QR codes onto other garments (hoodies, tops etc), alongside experimenting ways to implement NFC tags into hoodies and other merchandise. We are actively looking at ways to improve the verification and authentication of our products. Here is a video of one of our caps using the technology: https://twitter.com/Alter_______/status/1554857970185474049?s=20&t=qNAVO1kHc9xxeToMzwV4kg

Custodial framework of holding the merchandise, I may have the wrong end of the stick so sorry if I misunderstood but if this is regarding storage, Alter have already set up an established framework to tackle this, some merchandise we will offer via our services will not need to be physically created until they are redeemed, so storage and wastage is no issue with this. The merchandise that does need to be stored, we have storage and will be setting aside a % of sales and trading fees to cover any potential long term storage that may be needed down the line.

I feel this helps show that Alter is perfectly positioned to handle some of the merchandise services that The Redemption will offer, we will be able to embed verification technology into the merchandise alongside offering high quality products.

Now Alter will be offering a few services on the platform but in terms of actually building the platform, I would not be able to. I am first to admit where my weaknesses are and coding is one of them, this is why I am really pleased to have Framd on board as I know they are more than capable of bringing this to life. Also, they’re not afraid of keeping the project in check in the sense of telling me if there is something they don’t agree with etc. We are also looking at ways to connect with the Framd ecosystem, more than just development work for the platform.

2. IP service and IRL physical artist.

My bad, I shouldn’t have added the “?” I wasn’t questioning it in that sense, it was meant to come across as someone asking the question and me following up with what we plan. So I was more so giving an insight into the vision and scope of The Redemption and some of the stuff we have planned, the proposal is rather big so I didn’t want to put even more information but I should have maybe made certain things more clear.

In short, the all in one IP service and IRL artists will be implemented and artists on-boarded however not on launch, this will be rolled out at a later date.

3. Alter is not big enough to warrant this, I agree however Alter will merely be using it just like anyone else, the platform is not for Alter, it is for everyone. We do plan on launching the platform with Alter and partnership drops but this is mainly to help test the platform while it’s live, once we feel it’s running smoothly and ironed anything out, it will then open up for projects, artists, brands to apply and use.

Note we already have 9 partners that can potentially benefit from this platform, including Alter so that could be 10 projects already on boarded, benefiting from the platform. We are also on the look out for small established brands that may be interested in using the platform.

Alter is merely providing certain services on the platform, I explain a bit more here: https://twitter.com/Alter_______/status/1598595441712504832

(Again, something I should have made more clear)

4. Mass adoption- Glad you mentioned this, you’re 100% correct.

To start, the user will need to operate an icx address and this is simply because I feel it is best to walk before we run. I fully understand that in order to get mass adoption, the user must be able to do things simply without realising they are actually using blockchain technology, it all needs to be behind the scenes and this is exactly how I eventually want the platform to be, to have 2 log in options, 1 email (potentially based on magic) and the other direct with an ICX wallet alongside having a few payment options.

However, our initial users will be on ICON or other chains, so we feel it is best to start with one log in option via an ICX wallet as not everyone likes using/linking their email with a wallet. Once we have tweaked the platform, gathered feedback from the community and feel the sentiment towards blockchain/crypto in general is shifting back to positive, we will then look at implementing an email log in to attract the general retail market, along side adding other payments (including fiat, interesting method you mentioned so will explore that option more, thanks).

I would love to have this project fully complete straight away to where I truly envision it (all services implemented, user friendly for the general public i.e email and multiple payments without the extra steps) but it would require so much more funding.

Note: Thanks so much for giving feedback and giving an in-depth reasoning, it means a lot as it has given me a chance to clear some things up and explain certain parts in more detail. The proposal was already rather long and I am not always the best with wording these things, so I apologise for that. Hopefully me explaining/ discussing the topics you mentioned in more detail has helped reassure you and potentially swayed the scales to an approve however I fully respect your decision either way and just happy to have been able to clear a few things up!

If you wanted to chat further feel free to send me a DM or if there is anything else you want more details on please let me know. Thanks again!

[AlterCap]

Would like to thank all P-Reps who have participated in the voting so far and for all the feedback and in-depth reasoning for the votes and a huge thanks to all the approves so far!

Response to Protokol7 abstain:

I appreciate the support from you in the past, it really means a lot and i hope i can address your mentioned points well enough for you, if there is any more information needed, more details on a specific topic or i have misunderstood something please let me know! Thanks.

Economical model:

As you state, the platform does fall under a monetised product, I will explain more into how the platform will be monetised and where the money will flow.

There will be a marketplace, with this there will be a buyer and seller fee implemented, this fee will roughly be in line with the industry standard for marketplaces.

The marketplace fee will be distributed to the following pools:

1. Maintenance of the platform (general operation costs and future development)
2. Emergency fund
3. Alter M&M NFT holders
4. Potential partner (Framd)
5. Platform NFT (potential future funding)

We have not yet finalised the exact percentage split for the above however we do have rough figures in mind but nothing set in stone which is why we haven’t announced anything official yet. This will of course be decided before launch and could be added into the final report.

Services:

General listing/sell fee for new collections - If you have your own products/ redeemable items/ art work etc then the only service you need is the general listing/sell fee. This fee will also be in-line with industry standard and distributed to the mentioned pools above but more so weighed to pool 1 and 2.

Alter sourcing - projects/brands/artists will be able to use this service to on-board merchandise into their project by utilising Alters already established connections and framework.

The fee and costings for this service will vary depending on the redeemable product and the projects requirements however we aim to have most products with a zero up front fee, instead we will take an equal percentage of the profits from the sale, in return we deal with everything from sourcing the products and dealing with the actual Redemption (delivery). What is generated from this will mainly go back to Alter and Alter NFT holders due to physical costs we will have and for providing the service. However the listing/seller fee and an additional percentage will go back into pool 1 and 2.

All in one IP service - This service can be utilised by both projects and community members, community members will be able to leverage their IP rights from an NFT to create redeemable NFTs backed by physical products to sell, being able to monetise their NFTs with zero up-front fee.

Similar to the above, no up front cost however a percentage of the profit from the sale will be distributed back into the platform and to Alter.

Safeguards:

As you mentioned certain parts of the platform are centralised, the type of project it is makes it hard to be fully decentralised as there needs to be some level of central control, at least for now.

As we grow and as the industry grows it will become easier to make certain parts more decentralised and automated however for now here are a few things we plan to have as safeguards:

1. With the products that have zero up-front costs, we can lock away the product cost + shipping + 10% in bnUSD and for it to be unlocked only once the product has been redeemed, this will help prevent future cash flow and fulfilment problems. So for example, if a products raw cost is £40 and is being sold for £100, once minted we will deduct (lock away) the raw cost, shipping (say £10) and a 10% buffer meaning £55 will be locked until the product is redeemed.

2. We will be vetting all projects/ brands/ artists etc before allowing them to offer redeemable products, this is to safeguard our users. Vetting may include verification, proof of stock, contracts and other vetting methods we feel are needed.

3. Expected security protocols for such platform and accounts used to handle data.

4. Emergency fund will be used to help safeguard our users funds by compensating users effected by any malicious parties (our vetting will hopefully prevent this however the emergency fund will be there in case).

Stats on Alter:

We are currently finalising our jumper and hoodies collection with the aim of launching these in January (this was based on a vote as we could launch now however we are waiting on custom packaging). We also have 3 partnership collections in a production queue for our partnership caps with Framd, Project Nebula and ICON (total of 200 caps).

As for the general retail attraction, building such a brand in a competitive market is challenging and up until now we have mainly been focused on building relationships within ICON and other chains. However we are now looking to push more towards the retail market with collection two just around the corner, which is why we have recently updated our website and optimised our SEO, we also have a TikTok account manager which will be helping us build our brand on the platform.

Creator/investor stake:

The plan is to build the platform up, in order to do this as much money as possible needs to go back into the platform development so until then the only stake is the mentioned stake for Alter holders and potential partner (Framd).

The mentioned platform NFT for future funding will be if we feel the platform needs more funding for development, rather than coming back to the CPS we want the platform to be self sustaining and pay for itself. So we may have a future NFT sale that gives holders a stake in the platform fees.

Feature set:

On launch:

-Mint function
-Marketplace
-Gifting
-Redeem

On launch users will be able to mint redeemable NFTs from what we have listed, they will then be able to trade them on the market place, gift or redeem them (claim the physical). Each user will have their own profile page, a rough visual can be seen here: https://twitter.com/TheRedemption14/status/1587382615006396418?s=20&t=nkL3Ws1WVvwJqi6jOwC25w

After launch:

-All in one IP service
-Alter services
-On-boarding of artists, projects and brands
-General improvements
-More planned but nothing ready to announce.

[bwhli]

Thank you for the detailed response.

We agree with most of your points, except the one on mass adoption. If the team is able to commit to supporting Magic for email-based authentication as part of the initial implementation, we will change our vote to APPROVE. The Magic docs are laid out very well, and realistically shouldn’t take more than a few days for an experienced JS dev to implement. Furthermore, there is a CPS proposal currently in voting to build out Magic templates for ICON – perhaps you guys can collaborate on that process and use this platform as the first use case for these templates. We insist on this strategy because locking down the service to people who hold ICX and know how to operate ICX wallets will not give you clear insight into how people ACTUALLY perceive your project. In other words, do ICX holders love this platform because it’s great and has real product-market fit, or are they only using it being they hold ICX bags? Impossible to gauge without having the platform open to users outside the ICX vacuum.

[Robi7]

Thank you for your response.

Thank you for clearing up the monetisation as well as safeguards part.

I have however failed to find info on how muck skin do you yourself have invested in this project.

Monetised products like that should definitely require creators participation because past experiences have shown that such product perform better.

Looking forward to your answer.

[AlterCap]

Thanks for the response!

My bad, i misunderstood this. So as for what i personally have invested and will continue to invest? Time, i have already put a lot of time into this project, from the initial idea and continued planning - have made a start on the UI. Current market conditions make it hard to invest personal capital which i am sure many can understand, which is why i am more than happy and capable to invest my time into the project.

I am also more than willing to invest into the platform via the following ways:

1. As mentioned about having a future sale that rewards holders, i would be one of the investors.
2. Re-investing some of the rewards Alter generate.
3. When the market picks up, i will be able and happily invest more capital.

Also to add, as i have mentioned in the proposal, i am more than happy to use money from the project management budget (that would be going to me for managing the project) to cover any additional costs and development that may be needed.

[Robi7]

Thank you for your reply.

I feel like workscope should be estimated as much as possible as well as participation size of the creators and benefitor. Participation can also be development, management or any work related to the development of the project.

From what i’ve read it seems like you and Framd are creators and benefitors of the project, with you having the lead role.

There should be clear data on how much creators/benefitors will invest and how much CPS.

[FRAMD]

Redemption is an Alter team product. After we expanded our scope of business to provide dev services, the Alter Team got in touch and agreed to contract the FRĀMD team to build their platform. We also agreed to sponsor the proposal irrespective of us developing the platform.

Beyond this, the Alter team expressed their interest in our collaborative rather than competitive approach, and we are discussing terms to have Redemption join as the newest member of the Art Fi ecosystem. However, this is separate from the proposal.

All costs and expenses are mentioned clearly in the proposal by the Alter team.

[Robi7]

Hello FRAMD team, thank you for churning in to the discussion.

I think that bear market will be prolonged for a longer time than the majority expects, with in-between positive bumps. Thus my position on approving CPS proposals of monetised products kind in such conditions is to require participation in terms of time, development resources for passive or active benefitors of the product.

Otherwise CPS will get drained to the point no major project will be able to be proposed, core Icon tools and community incentives will stale. If CPS is driven to this point I think many Icon ecosystem builders will abandon the ship.

If we all make small sacrifices on the productivity side we can bloom when the market will turn.

All the best,
Robi