Red users will be able to purchase the limited-edition avatars to display on their profile pictures and customize them with accessories. You also don't need a cryptocurrency wallet to buy them, as debit and credit card payments will be accepted and can be stored in Reddit's own wallet, called Vault.
In a statement, the social network said it is initially releasing 90 different avatar designs, with multiple variations of each, made by independent artists partnered with Red.
The "tens of thousands" series of collectible avatars will be for sale on Avatar Builder, a Reddit space for generating and customizing avatars. In addition, in that same space, users will be able to change the appearance of their avatars with the available merchandise. However, only the Reddit community will initially have access to the avatars via the r/CollectibleAvatars subreddit forum.
The avatars, which are based on Ethereum's scaling platform Polygon, will be available to the general public in " the coming weeks," the social network said in the statement.
Similar to the hexagon Twitter uses to identify NFTs displayed on profile pictures, Reddit has added a "glow effect" so users can visually recognize NFT avatars.
Those who frequently surf the social network know the site's famous mascot, Snoo. Unlike other social networks like Facebook or Instagram, on Red it is common for users to use different versions of Snoo as their profile picture; hence the platform has chosen to launch a space for customizable avatars.
These collectibles will be able to be stored in Vault, a Red Blockchain-powered wallet where Redditors currently store their community points. Additionally, they can be traded on secondary markets like OpenSea or SuperRare, as The Verge explains, but they can't be sold directly on Reddit, at least for now.
At the moment, collectible avatars also have a fixed price, as TechCrunch points out, ranging from $10 to $100, depending on their design. The collectible avatars can be purchased with fiat currency, such as US dollars.
Red also said that it has partnered with artists who make a living on the platform, such as r/Comics, r/ProCreate, and r/AdobeIllustrator, for this first collection. Creators receive royalties from the sale of their designs on secondary markets.
This isn't Reddit's first foray into the NFT space. Like other popular social platforms, the forum site has been exploring the sector since the beginning of this year. First, by testing a feature that would allow users to set any Ethereum -based NFT as their profile picture. Then with his own " CryptoSnoos" collection.
The platform's latest move comes as other social media giants are also expanding into collectibles. Facebook and Instagram have already started testing NFT features in recent weeks, to allow their users to display NFT sharing; meanwhile, others like Twitter were already ahead.
For Red, the embrace of digital collectibles is centered around the ability to empower artists, an approach that other platforms like YouTube have also taken aim at. In its statement, Reddit commented on the matter, saying that the NFT profile pictures feature is still in its infancy, but that it plans to explore more features with the technology.