Popular social media platform Reddit will launch a new feature called Collectible Avatars. These blockchain-backed items are non-fungible tokens (NFTs) running on Ethereum’s second-layer scalability solution Polygon.

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The social media platform has tested the feature since January 2022, but rumors about a potential deployment have been around since 2021. The initiative is part of a series of steps to, according to Reddit, “empower” their self-managed community.

In 2020, the social media platform launched an improved Avatar Builder and rolled out Ethereum-based community points sometime after that. The social media has been increasing its crypto and blockchain capabilities.

The Collective Avatars are another step in that direction. An official blog post clarified clarifies the new items will be purchasable with fiat currency only. As of now, users can sign up for early access and view some of the items in the collection.

The platform has been working with digital artists and gave them “license to make any style of avatar” they wanted. Collaborators will receive a percentage for every successful item sold on the platform, and for every secondary sale on NFT marketplaces. Reddit said:

(…) our goal has been to empower artists to create and sell their work. Artists will get paid for every Collectible Avatar that sells on Reddit, less any fees, and are also entitled to receive royalties from secondary sales of their Collectible Avatars (…).

As with other NFT collections, the Collectible Avatars will be unique items made by independent artists. As seen below, they will have unique clothes, designs, colors, trades, and more.

In addition, users with one of these digital items set as their avatar on the social media will be able to add gear, and accessories and their image will be highlighted in the comments section with a “glow-like effect”.

Why Not Call Them Reddit NFTs?

The social media platform decided to launch its NFT collection on Polygon due to its “low-cost transactions and sustainability commitments”. The company views blockchain technology as compatible with its decentralized vision. The official announcement added:

Reddit has always been a model for what decentralization could look like online; our communities are self-built and run, and as part of our mission to better empower our communities, we are exploring tools to help them be even more self-sustaining and self-governed.

In the coming weeks, users will have access to the Collectible Avatars. There is a subreddit called r/CollectibleAvatars which provides users with previews of the items, more info on the collection, a how-to on ways to set up a crypto wallet compatible with the Avatars, and more.

It is strange that on the official announcement, and due to the nature of the Collectible Avatars, Reddit refrains from calling them NFTs. It could be related to the large gaming community on this social network, and their animosity toward NFTs.

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At the time of writing, Ethereum (ETH) is $1,200 with a 7% profit in the last 24 hours.