In what follows, we discuss the reasons why BaeCafe exists and how it intends to benefit the space as well as its holders by utilizing a unique combination of holder governance, art contests, staking, and a marketplace. We imagine all of this working together like a system of flywheels wherein both artists and holders contribute to their own mutual benefit, and BaeCafe as the place in Web3 where it happens most efficiently.
WHY?
By now it is clear that Web3 can be a tremendous boon to digital artists and illustrators who are willing to dive in. The recognition for their work and the rewards they can receive are far and away superior to what they could expect in traditional web2 markets, even in the “crypto winter”. Indeed, it is with digital art that we 1st notice the true power of web3 to give ownership back to the creators and to eliminate the value skimming friction of the web2 world. This has allowed many artists to escape a daily grind, or poverty, and use the freedom to truly focus on their creative endeavors, to the benefit of their collectors.
But transitioning to NFT from traditional spaces is a daunting affair. Artists who may not be familiar with crypto markets and the sort of activity that can be expected, or that should be avoided, are required to navigate a complex world of wallets and exchange values, not to mention people offering assistance or opportunity in discord and twitter dms. And there’s still some stigma associated with NFT, albeit ridiculous. For these reasons, there is often reluctance to enter or hesitancy, even guilt, experienced by artists who are considering a future in Web3.
On the other side, collectors want their collections to be appreciated and for them to appreciate in value as a result. The problem we notice here is that the subjective nature of art valuation in general, and of individual commissions specifically, limits the ability of a new collector to judge the long term market value. Further, collectors are inundated with requests to purchase from questionable sources, and it is often unclear what art is authentic, nevermind what may appreciate in value over time. Collectors concerned with these issues will avoid smaller and lesser known artists; this stifles onboarding, diversity, and value creation.
Enter BaeCafe: a safespace/springboard of empowerment and exposure for artists; a place for collectors to actively participate in the value creation and sustainability of art and artists in Web3.
HOW?
BaeCafe has a vision of how to achieve mutual benefit for artists and collectors that it will continue to realize in phases. With the phase 1 and 2 launches complete, BaeCafe has collected a substantial holder base and a large art focused following on twitter and discord. We are happy to leverage this following to give exposure to community artists and highlight those artists for our collectors — this instantly solves a primary hurdle, highlighted above, to onboarding, diversity, and safety.
Further, with the phase 1 and 2 launches, we’ve been able to generate a modestly sizable community bank that can be deployed in the next phases of governance, staking and marketplace.
Governance
Holders have already experienced a first taste of governance with their selection of Gerato’s piece for mint to cafe’s FND collection. Snapshot was used for this weighted holder vote. Results can be seen here. More baes equals more voting power.
The piece was almost instantly bid on and sold proving that BaeCafe’s vision of mutual benefit is possible and sustainable.
Periodically, Cafe will call for artist submissions upon which holders will vote. Art selected in this governance process is sold on BaeCafe FND with a split percentage, normally 70/30 in artist’s favor. Cafe portion of the split goes to the community wallet which will be put to work in the next phase, staking and marketplace.
Staking and Marketplace
In the near future, holders will be able to stake their season 1 and season 2 baes to generate a $bae token which will be exchangeable in a marketplace. Holders participating in the monthly holder votes will get stamps that will act as multipliers to their staked baes. So participating holders will be able to generate more $bae.
Offerings in the marketplace will include, but are not limited to, artist commissions, partner NFTs or WLs, IRL merch, ETH, art assets (e.g., new on chain bikini for s1) and of course more $bae. We are excited to offer these things, especially the artist commissions as these simultaneously help both our holders and our community artists get exactly what they are here for: more value from art in Web3.
Summary
BaeCafe is uniquely positioned to both benefit from and provide benefit to the Art and Artists in Web3. Through a creative use of our position, we can share these benefits with our holders and the surrounding community. Putting it another way, we are able to energize and secure the natural interplay between artists and collectors and use that energy to power a marketplace of value for the holders of our NFTs. In this way, BaeCafe is pulling the web3 art community up by its bootstraps, sustainably and thoughtfully.
