Meet Galaxis: The Tech Startup Ushering in a New Era for NFT Utility

Amid a non-fungible token (NFT) landscape flooded with trading platforms seeking to be the next OpenSea or Blur, some forward-thinking projects are seeking to bring tangible utility to the NFT space beyond simply offering a trading hub for speculators.

The global NFT market was worth an estimated $11.3 billion when the technology first burst onto the scene in 2021, and is expected to expand to a market value of over $231 billion by 2030.

Galaxis, formerly known as Ether Cards, is among a handful of projects attempting to harness that value into something that can be applied to everyday life. 

For example, Galaxis provides unique Digital Membership Cards based on NFT technology which can be used by individual creators and brands to enable token-gated access to their communities, helping build brand identity and interactive fan engagement. These membership cards can take on a dynamic form, reacting and changing to real-world events automatically, enabling exclusive access and rewards when certain real-world triggers are met.

Galaxis' application of Web3 principles to brand-building anticipates the rise of the subscription economy, which is set to be worth $1.5 trillion by 2025, and threatens to tear up long-standing obstacles to community creation where the arbitrary terms of media platforms often dictate who rises and who falls.

That's just a taste of how Galaxis is utilizing NFT technology to make its mark in the subscription-based creator economy. Let's take a look at what Galaxis is, and what it's doing to make the NFT technology practically useful for everyday usage.

From Bitcoin to NFTs

Galaxis was founded by CEO Andras Kristof, who was the first person to erect Bitcoin ATMs in Singapore in 2013. Kristof has a long history in the tech industry, having founded streaming site Viki.com in 2010, before selling the venture to Rakuten for $230 million just two years later.

Kristof went on to work with various high-profile projects in the blockchain space, including Consensys and the Ethereum Foundation, before founding Ether Cards in 2018, which went on to become Galaxis following a rebrand.

Galaxis has since formed strategic partnerships with blockchain industry mainstays Chainlink, Polygon, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), and Arbitrum, to enhance the interoperability and capabilities of its platform. 

For example, Galaxis' integration of Chainlink CCIP has enabled cross-chain functionality with Polygon and Arbitrum – two industry leaders in zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup technology, which facilitates immensely faster, cheaper and more secure transactions for the end user. 

Changing How Brands Interact with Audiences

We are now living in a time where individuals can become their own brands, and as such, new tools are being developed to enable brand-building from the grass-roots level, without unnecessary middle-men, and without being hampered by platform dependence.

Galaxis provides creators with the toolkit to spin up their own bespoke membership cards in under two hours – something that would normally take weeks of time and numerous middle-men services to achieve.

These membership cards serve several tactile functions beyond mere speculation. For example, they allow brands to achieve instant outreach to their fans, making hopeful subscriber outreach emails a thing of the past. 

Because these membership cards increase in value as the brand they're connected to grows over time, not only do they act as entry keys to a specific community, but also serve to give fans an ongoing stake in the success of their favorite project.

What's more, the platform also offers additional features which allows the NFTs to be updated and modified in real-time.  This is not part of the membership cards but is an additional feature for creators. A prime example can be seen in Galaxis' exclusive launch for NBA Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, whose NFTs were programmed to grow in value if the player achieved certain milestones on the basketball court.

The same technology can also be applied to the event-ticketing industry, enabling the swift, cheap creation of tickets for in-person events which can be stored in a smartphone, and be updated with various perks according to their usage. 

Galaxis' Developments in 2023 

The past year saw many fruitful developments emerge from the Galaxis ecosystem, including a partnership with Web3 domain name provider Ethereum Name Service, which saw an exclusive collection of twelve types of unique ENS Equinox cards that could be collected and forged into a very special thirteenth limited edition digital collectible with additional functionality.

Galaxis also worked alongside the 'Girls, Robots, and Dragons' collection to unveil the first digitally autographed NFTs, in addition to a digital sticker book concept which allows fans to interactively showcase their card collections.

The summer of 2023 saw the launch of Galaxis Gen Zero NFTs – a collection of 400 unique artworks by renowned artists Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai (famous for their work on Dungeons and Dragons, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Star Wars), which minted out in a record-breaking 48 seconds.

To date, Galaxis has provided the tech infrastructure for the creation of over 50 communities, collaborating with high-profile celebrities, artists and brands such as Mike Tyson, Steve Aoki, Val Kilmer, and the NBA.

Over 225,000 NFTs have been sold through Galaxis so far, with more than 32,000 ETH generated in secondary markets.

Future of the Creator Subscription Economy

The core utility of Galaxis' offerings lies in the ability for individuals and groups to easily monetize their talents and erect loyal, engaged communities around their brand from the bottom up. The bespoke digital membership card approach empowers creators and frees them from operating solely within the strictures of whichever platform they originally set up shop on.

Ultimately, this all adds up to a disruption of the creator economy, making it easier to monetize by breaking down previously long-standing physical barriers. With the subscription economy on the rise, this kind of utility is coming along at just the right time to make it easier than ever for creators to harness a loyal subscriber base at little cost.