Quidd Discord AMA with CEO Michael Bramlage on April 8, 2022

On April 8, Quidd CEO Michael Bramlage spent time with our community members on Discord to answer questions and provide updates about Quidd’s development. Michael spoke about new features that are about to become available for Quidd’s users and the strategic direction of Quidd as collectors will be able to mint items in their collections as NFTs. Plus, changes are coming to make Quidd’s marketplace more Web3-friendly, giving Quidd’s community of collectors additional options to use and trade their collectibles.

Read on for a recap of the April Discord AMA with Michael.

Key Takeaways

• Quidd collectibles that are minted as NFTs will be viewable and accessible in a Quidd user’s Collection.
• Mintables that have been minted as NFTs can only be sold on open NFT marketplaces. To sell these items on Quidd, they must undergo the process of “un-minting.”
• NFTs that are minted through Quidd will have utility beyond functioning as collectibles.
• Minted collectibles will have utility beyond being art and collectibles, such as being integrated as accessories or objects in The Sandbox.
• Quidd will move to a schedule of weekly drops. There will be fewer drops, but each one will be of a higher quality.
• Auctions may become available in Q4 2022.
• After Quidd’s NFT minting function goes live, 2FA will be implemented.
• Quidd recently released Metamask account authentication, but neither Metamask nor crypto will be required to use Quidd’s marketplace.
• Quidd is building wishlist functionality that may transform the way collectibles marketplaces function.
• Quidd is about to celebrate its sixth anniversary, making it one of the oldest marketplaces that specialize in digital collectibles.

Mintables

Q: How will Quidd users access their collectibles that are minted as NFTs?

Michael: A minted NFT will appear in your Quidd collection. You’ll be able to see a thumbnail of the item, its name, and its print metadata, like the edition size and edition number. This will be a dashboard that shows what you own. You’ll also be able to see your collectibles that are stored elsewhere, such as on-chain.

We have a metaphor for how this works: Imagine that you have a magical binder that holds your baseball cards. Also, as part of that binder, you can see things that you store at other locations, such as in a safety deposit box at your bank. The items in your bank are still part of your collection, you still own them, and you’re able to see these items even if they’re not stored at the same location as your baseball cards and other collectibles — some are in a binder, some are in a box, some are in your garage, some are in your attic, or some are at the bank. But you have one portal to view all of them. That’s conceptually how a minted NFT will still be accessible via Quidd.

Q: What options will collectors have in terms of storing collectibles that have been minted as NFTs?

Michael: Let’s say you have a collectible that has already been minted. You are able to “un-mint” it. This will take the NFT that’s stored at an Ethereum wallet address and accessible through Metamask, and move it to Quidd for local storage. Collectors will have several choices for where they want to store their digital collectibles once they are minted as NFTs, including the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains and Quidd itself. This is how Quidd fits into the multi-chain world.

Q: Where will Quidd users be able to sell collectibles that have been minted as NFTs?

Michael: After you turn a Quidd Mintable into an NFT and it’s on-chain, you will be able to sell them on marketplaces such as OpenSea and Rarible, but won’t be able to list and sell it on Quidd even though it will appear in your Quidd Collection.

Maybe, in a later release, you will be able to receive bids for NFTs from other Quidd users. But you would have to un-mint your NFT to list it on Quidd’s marketplace. The buyer would then pay you by using their cash wallet on Quidd.

Once a buyer receives this collectible, it will still be Mintable, and they can then decide if they want to mint it as an NFT.

To emphasize the difference: Collectibles that have been minted as NFTs can only be sold on open marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. To sell them on the Quidd marketplace, you need to un-mint the collectibles.

Quidd NFT Utility

Q: What kind of information about collectibles will Quidd collectors be able to see?

Michael: It’s case by case. In the future, there will be more information about every item on Quidd — not just the title, metadata, provenance, and product type. A couple of things will be explained more, including whether the item is Mintable and which blockchains it can be minted to.

We’ll also see more about the attributes of the item. For example, if it’s a Game of Thrones item, which character is shown? There might be more information about specific scenes that the item is related to. This is incredibly important for several reasons. Our catalog is nearly six years old, and we need a way to organize the items, like the Dewey Decimal System for libraries.

Q: Will the majority of Quidd’s Mintables have utility aside from being art and collectibles?

Michael: Imagine, for instance, that minted collectibles can be used as accessories or objects in The Sandbox. That is something that we want to do. That means more and more objects will have added value beyond their collectability.

Some may also be used as keys to unlock rewards, and others might be playable game pieces that are compatible with specific environments or applications.

The Quidd team is still building to make sure things are compatible in different environments. One example is the art style, such as bringing Rick and Morty’s line drawing into The Sandbox’s voxel world. We have created a number of new processes with utility and are future-proofing them.

The State of Panini

Q: Which company has control over the existing Panini IP that exists on Quidd?

Michael: For all intents and purposes, I don’t see the current relationships with Panini and the NBA changing whether those collectibles become Mintables. This is a decision where a couple of entities must agree.

We feel really good about the community of Panini and NBA collectors on Quidd. And we feel really good about the persistence of that vintage inventory. This is a drop from 2019 and we see somebody buying those vintage items every day.

It’s fun to watch that become a vintage treasure trove. I do think some of the objects look beautiful. Some of them feature amazing NBA players. There are cases where athletes made their first appearance in collectibles, which may set them up as blue chips in the future. But for now, I can’t speak about specific conversations between Quidd and Panini.

These collectibles predate NBA Top Shot, which makes them very special for any collector.

Feature Request

Q: Will Quidd ever have a feature where a notification is sent to users if an item is sold for more than a specific price, hopefully reducing the likelihood of users spending more than planned?

Michael: Quidd needs users to double-tap to confirm every purchase decision in the app. I understand that a triple-confirmation may work better for some scenarios, but at the moment, there isn’t a ticket in our system for this, so I don’t expect it to be built imminently.

We do have to worry about fat-fingering or accidentally double-tapping. We’ll discuss that internally soon. The solution is not technically challenging to implement.

I do think it’s smart to have triple confirmation for purchases.

Drop Roadmap and Drop Times

Q: What drops will be on Quidd over the next month?

Michael: We think Quidd will move into the pattern of having weekly drops that are more awesome. In the past, we did multiple drops a day. In 2022 and beyond, we believe it is right to have fewer but not special drops. I can’t name the specific brands that we are lining up with, but we’ll be moving into this schedule within one month.

Q: Will there be more drops at random times throughout the day to serve users located in different regions?

Michael: I don’t think we’ve found the right time for drops. After we standardize the day of the week when we have new drops, we may try different times to serve more folks in different time zones. But first and foremost, Quidd users should expect a standardized weekly schedule.

Auctions

Q: What are your plans for auctions? Will users be able to list items that are sold to the highest bidder after a fixed amount of time passes?

Michael: We don’t have designs for the auction system yet, but we may implement another sales format before auctions are defined for Quidd. Auctions may become available in Q4. Think about this: if you mint a collectible as an NFT, then, for now, you can auction it off on a marketplace such as OpenSea.

There’s a lot about the auction format that we like. For example, blind Dutch auctions could be applied to new drops.

2FA and Metamask Authentication

Q: Previously, you said that 2FA will be a prerequisite for associating a crypto wallet with a Quidd account. When can we expect to see 2FA be implemented, given that minting is right around the corner?

Michael: Minting will come first. We are currently performing checks to make sure it will work properly before we make it available for every Quidd user.

2FA will come shortly thereafter, and it will be a requirement for new users when they create their accounts.

We recently released Metamask account authentication. That means if you already use Metamask, you can create your Quidd account by using your wallet address. This will automatically associate your credit card with your wallet address and use Metamask as the mechanism to sign it.

Q: Does every Quidd user need to use Metamask?

Michael: Neither Metamask nor crypto will be required when creating an account on Quidd. I don’t expect every user to be ready to work solely with a self-custody wallet. But many users may want to have their collectibles both on-chain and off-chain. Some collectors may simply hold a Mintable and resell it without minting it on-chain.

Q: How will 2FA be implemented?

Michael: We will have 2FA on Quidd before moving into the hot summer months. There will be a process for existing users to set this up. We’ve been working on 2FA over the past four months. What we’re figuring out now is when to slot it in. In short, 2FA will be required to create and maintain accounts.

The Development of Wishlists

Q: Will wishlists be updated and indicate that we are looking for a “shiny”?

Michael: We’re around two-thirds of the way there. But first, we’re trying to make sure minting works smoothly. We’ll tighten withdrawals, meet our commitment to depreciate the coin economy, and add new ways for users to make deposits. Then, 2FA will be added and we’ll finish building wishlists.

We’ve heard from the Quidd community that we should go all the way and build a bidding system where anyone who makes a bid needs to have sufficient funds in their wallet. This would involve placing the bid’s funds in escrow. From the owner’s perspective, this would be much more than a signal — it would be a bid that could be immediately accepted so the funds can be transferred. Some might think this is aggressive, but I think it’s pretty sweet.

Q: How will the wishlist add to Quidd’s existing functionality?

Michael: Wishlists are awesome, but they become even greater when information about additions becomes available to everyone. This could happen in a message center, a centralized place where all this information is recorded and is easy to access.

Wishlists could be an innovative feature and transform the way collectibles marketplaces function. We’re eager to take those extra steps in late Q2.

A wishlist with a message center would be built before escrowed bids. This will make Quidd’s existing features faster, better, slicker, and more efficient.

The Future of Quidd

Q: How will Quidd evolve over the next few years?

Michael: We’re close to celebrating our sixth anniversary. That isn’t just six years of being a company — that’s six years of offering digital collectibles since May 2016. Few companies and marketplaces have evolved as much as we have, and even fewer can say they’ve been in the game for this long. I believe that adds authenticity to what we do. It also shapes how we think about the business — we don’t chase after one big week and then become complacent.

Quidd is much more interested in making decisions that are less about the next six days or six weeks, and more about the next six or 60 years. Take our Mintables as an example. We must make decisions about the smart contracts so that once they are minted, they’re yours forever. These decisions are irreversible and permanent.

And I hope that gives not only our OGs but also our new community members comfort in knowing that their collected items will evolve. We think of them as digital heirlooms — or even simply heirlooms.

About Quidd

Quidd is the original digital collectible and NFT marketplace. For over five years, Quidd has facilitated the issuance, sale, and exchange of limited-edition and officially licensed digital collectibles, featuring more than 325 of the world’s most popular brands, including Marvel, Disney, Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, and more.

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