SuperRare

SuperRare is a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace and social network for tokenized digital art. At the SuperRare platform, artists can issue limited edition art pieces that can be traced on the blockchain to provide verifiable proof of history and prevent counterfeiting^[1].

In March 2021, SuperRare raised $9 million in a Series A funding round from top-tier investors. The round was led by Velvet Sea Ventures and 1confirmation with participation from Collaborative Fund, SamsungNext, BlockTower Capital, Ashton Kutcher, and Guy Oseary’s Sound Ventures, Scott Belsky, Mark Cuban, Marc Benioff, and Chamath Palihapitiya^[2].

History and Background

SuperRare is a social platform that encourages the creation and collection of crypto art.

The company was founded in 2017 by John Crain, Charles Crain, and Jonathan Perkins in Newark, New Jersey, USA.

In November 2017 John Crain, Charles Crain, and Jonathan Perkins started experimenting with tokenizing digital art and building a product where the creators in the network actually own their creations^[3].

They are also the founders of Pixura, the company building the crypto collectible technology running SuperRare. The Pixura platform was created to enable users to build, track and exchange crypto collectibles^[4].

Overview

SuperRare is a platform where digital art lovers can connect and collect. The idea behind SuperRare is the belief that collecting is inherently social so collectors and artists should be able to easily interact around their shared passion. On the platform, users can see who the top collectors and trending artists are, how many pieces they’ve bought or created, and how much Ethereum (ETH) they’ve spent or accumulated. A user can also view the art itself along with a description and its history of owners^[5].

SuperRare is positioning itself as the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace on Ethereum (ETH) offering solely unique digital artwork. The full history of ownership, plus price paid and commission can be publicly viewed on the Ethereum blockchain^[6]^[7].

At SuperRare, artists can upload works onto the platform for free, digital art is forever linked to a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). This special type of Ethereum token has the property of being as unique as the artwork itself.

Revenue Distribution

At SuperRare the original creator receives 85% of the commission while the gallery receives 15%. For any sales after that, creators receive a 3% commission. To date, SuperRare has earned artists over $2 million since its launch^[8]^[9].

Currently, SupeRrare is one of the leading digital art marketplaces^[10].

Payment Methods

SuperRare doesn’t allow withdrawals or deposits through credit/debit cards or PayPal. In addition, one needs to have a previous holding of Ethereum (ETH) in order to be able to interact on SuperRare.

SuperRare is considered to be a pioneering decentralized social network alongside being an NFT marketplace. Defined by a very clean gallery-like UI, SuperRare is a simple decentralized application (DApp) to use, both for artists and collectors, each of which generates their own pages as they respectively upload and sell art, and collect and trade art. The graphical user interface (GUI) features a list of different options on the platform. These include:

Activities - The ‘Activities’ page displays a personalized news feed of non-fungible token (NFT) artists and collectors on the platform which users can follow. Additionally, the trending top collectors and artists on SuperRare are available to view on the right-hand side of the page.

Features - The ‘Features’ page is an exciting space for collaboratives, artists, and communities alike to host projects, exhibitions, and more. Each ‘Feature’ is an opportunity for NFT token artists to showcase their work. This includes the opportunity to present images, videos, and text for reference and context for potential NFT art investors.

Market - The ‘Market’ is where the majority of the activity happens on SuperRare. Here, a user can discover all the unique NFT art available on the platform. The Market offers users the ability to filter their searches by the creator, and whether the item has a reserve or list price, or an open offer. Also, users can sort their searches in preference of price, age of the NFT, and auction end date.

Community - The ‘Community’ tab displays a list of SuperRare’s social media platforms, in addition to its Medium blog and ‘SuperRare Editorial’. The Medium blog hosts a SuperRare weekly news update for readers, plus the occasional industry announcements. However, SuperRare Editorial features daily updates and activities about the different NFT artists on SuperRare^[11].

Partnerships

On Feb. 16, 2021, Christie's announced it would put a fully digital artwork backed by a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) up for auction -the first time for such work at a major auction house. The announcement caused many in the contemporary art world to take note of Mike Winkelmann (Beeple) (the artist), digital art, and the rapidly growing NFT community for the first time. Two weeks later, SuperRare and Verisart announced a collaboration that bridged fine art and NFTs: 10x10, a series of 10 auctions for 10 artists, conducted over 10 weeks. Participating artists were AES+F, Neïl Beloufa, Petra Cortright, Shepard Fairey, Michael Joo, Rob Pruitt, Random International, Mark Titchner, Universal Everything, and Jonathan Yeo^[12].

SuperRare Features

Artists receive a commission on any further future sale of their NFT artwork. The SuperRare smart contract system allows the original creator of the art to collect a fee from resale prices–similar to royalty.
SuperRare is considered to be a pioneering decentralized social network alongside being an NFT marketplace. SuperRare offers a simple graphical user interface (GUI) featuring a list of different options on the platform, such as Activities, Features, Communities, and Market.
With SuperRare, a customer can be assured that they are the only purchasing one available copy of digital artwork. Moreover, the natural characteristics of blockchain can offer increased reassurance for online investors. This includes transparency of ownership on the blockchain, which can also be a way of verifying the authenticity of an art piece^[13].

Executive Team

John Crain - Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Chase DuBois - Chief Financial Officer
Jonathan Perkins - Co-Founder, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Product Officer
Charles Crain - Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer
Emilio Cazares - Chief Legal Officer
Zack Yanger - Chief Marketing Officer^[14]

Funding

On March 30, 2021, SuperRare announced their $9 million Series A lead by Velvet Sea Ventures and 1confirmation and with the participation of a number of high-profile angels and funds, including Collaborative Fund, Shrug Capital, Third Kind, SamsungNext, Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary's Sound Ventures, Naval Ravikant, Mark Cuban, Chamath Palihapitiya, and Marc Benioff^[15].