Thread by @sadcatcapital

After first being announced almost 2 months ago, the @MeritCircle_IO team have shared exciting information about their new NFT marketplace: #Sphere - @GetOnSphere

Here's a short summary of what we know from $MC so far, and what we have to look forward to 🧵

1/24

Despite NFTs being heavily related to #GameFi, current NFT marketplaces (@OpenSea, @LooksRare, @the_x2y2) are still completely focused on PFP/memes/membership/utility/celebrity NFTs.

Gaming asset NFTs are lost in the mix, and this is where Sphere comes in.

2/24

Merit Circle are working with @DeptAgency to deliver a purpose-built NFT marketplace which specifically targets these gaming assets.

The aim is to become a multi-chain, all-in-one, low-fee, marketplace for gamers to buy, sell, and trade their in-game NFTs.

3/24

Sphere's initial launch will feature 40 games, almost all of which are partnered with Merit Circle.

This number will grow quickly in time, likely with continued priority given to Merit Circle's partnered games.

Some MC partners can be found here:

https://twitter.com/sadcatcapital/status/1508453348223209477

4/24

#Ethereum and #Polygon will be the first chains to feature on Sphere.

As Merit Circle is also partnered with games on other chains, we could see future support for #Avalanche, #Solana, #Moonbeam, and #Arbitrum.

For example, @PlayAscenders and @playSHRAPNEL on $AVAX.

5/24

Sphere will charge a 2.5% sellers fee in $ETH. All 2.5% is then used to buy back $MC off the open market.

50% of this $MC is then reimbursed to the seller, while the other 50% gets permanently burned.

This means the true fee for sellers is only 1.25%.

6/24

This buyback of $MC using the 2.5% sellers fee, creates constant buy pressure for the MC token, and slowly reduces the total supply.

As sellers receive 50% of their fees back as liquid MC, we will also see the MC token disbursed far across GameFi, to many wallets.

7/24

The team have had @Quantstamp complete one audit already, with another re-audit planned. Once the re-audit is complete, @sherlockdefi will complete a third audit, as well as providing insurance up to $5,000,000 TVL.

A $500,000 bug bounty will also be live on @immunefi.

8/24

While no exact date has been set, we can expect the initial launch in the 'very near future'.

Once launched, Merit Circle will continue to develop, and refine, Sphere, based on ongoing user feedback.

9/24

So how much value will this add to the Merit Circle DAO?

We see this as a big step forward, and continues to affirm Merit Circle as the top #Gaming DAO.

Not many teams can offer their partnered projects a dedicated marketplace to use.

10/24

Sphere allows teams to focus on building engaging gameplay, rather than needing to construct a separate marketplace for each game.

Likewise, gamers who play multiple games can trade all their assets in one place, rather than heading to game specific marketplaces.

11/24

A proposal was put forward by @0xDouwe to create a new NFT aggregator, with Merit Circle.

As this would include Sphere, it could lead to Sphere being incorporated into other aggregators, driving further volume to Sphere, and the $MC DAO.

12/24

"But I can just use OpenSea or another marketplace. Why do I need to bother with Sphere?"

No other marketplace is optimized for gaming NFTs. Finding these amongst all other NFTs can be a struggle, as search functions typically don't work well.

13/24

Some other reasons:

OS - high fee (2.5% no rebate), slow/laggy servers
LooksRare - high fee (2% no rebate), only on Ethereum
X2Y2 - only on Ethereum, can't list ERC-1155s

Sphere's Ethereum contracts are also 50%+ more gas efficient, when compared to these marketplaces.

14/24

We know that Merit Circle is partnered with a vast number of games, all on different chains.

What if some of these games decided to integrate Sphere's back-end into their games? Gamers could buy/sell assets using a custom front-end, without even leaving the game.

15/24

Doing this allows games to have their own custom in-game marketplace, but still have all assets listed on a global platform - which likely has far more traffic than an individual game's marketplace would.

Saves users having to list their assets on multiple marketplaces.

16/24

2022 and 2023 has an abundance of games on #Avalanche, #Solana and #Moonbeam scheduled for launch.

Once these are chains supported, and games begin to launch, we could see Sphere volume begin to intensely pick up.

17/24

https://twitter.com/j0eferrara/status/1532511603605766168

$1m daily volume = $25,000 daily buy pressure for MC, of which 50% will be burned.

$5m = $125,000
$10m = $250,000
And so on.

For reference, OpenSea is currently doing ~$20m daily volume, and Magic Eden (on Sol) is doing ~$2.6m. This is during a low volume period.

18/24

Recently, @MoonbeamNetwork and @arringtonXRPcap announced a $100m ecosystem fund for the Moonbeam Network.

Moonbeam $GLMR is one of our strategic investments, and we are excited to see games utilize this fund to build on Moonbeam Network.

https://twitter.com/MoonbeamNetwork/status/1534570001004388356

19/24

A great example is what @DonnieBigBags is building as part of the Moonbeam and Moonriver ecosystems.

@MoonsamaNFT - Minecraft metaverse with customizable characters + resource economy
@PondsamaNFT - strategy-based fish metaverse game
@ExosamaNFT - cyberpunk meta-RPG

20/24

The Moonbeam $GLMR and Moonriver $MOVR ecosystems have been expanding with new NFTs and gaming projects.

Sphere integration, along with builders like @DonnieBigBags, could help to bring more attention to these ecosystems.

https://twitter.com/DonnieBigBags/status/1533859193194938370

21/24

You can find the full Sphere introduction article from Merit Circle here:
medium.com/@meritcircle/i…

And Merit Circle's own thread here:

https://twitter.com/MeritCircle_IO/status/1533851120040300547

22/24

If you like these types of threads, we're also regularly creating content and are very active in and around our investment projects. Give us a follow!

https://twitter.com/sadcatcapital/status/1492974110250606593

23/24

As always, none of this is financial advice. Investing/trading has risks and you're responsible for your own actions.

We are fans of the @MeritCircle_IO ecosystem, and look forward to the launch of Sphere!

24/24