Interview with Milo from Tokenblogs: Decentralized NFT marketplace for content
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have a wide range of applications. However, the utility attributed to overwhelming majority of popular NFTs out there is lacking to say the least. Holding an NFT will get you some special perk, access to some exclusive space (digital or otherwise) but that’s pretty much it.
Of course, there are projects that are aiming to take what NFTs can do to a whole new level. Milo Simpson-Pedler is attempting to do just that with its latest project, Tokeblogs.
Tokenblogs is a decentralized marketplace for content built on Algorand. Here, users can mint NFTs by writing content that they can then set the price for in order to provide the right to use the content on his website. Today, we sat down with Milo, founder of Tokenblogs, to learn more about this NFT project, how it works, and what the future holds this decentralized content NFT marketplace.
Q: What is Tokenblogs
A: Tokenblogs is a decentralized marketplace for news outlets and startups to acquire the publishing rights for blog content they need with zero hassle. We tokenize blog posts to open up the writer to an array of income opportunities such as selling the blog to those who want to use its contents. We make it super easy for onboarding writers, they can connect with email and don’t need any crypto or wallet to start, ( using magic.link – https://magic.link/ .)
Q: How does it work?
A: Writers get full markdown support for writing in the app. The images, the text, the tags and the format of the post are uploaded to IPFS and minted 1/1 Algorand NFT as an arc3 metadata standard. We are changing it to arc19 which is a mutable metadata standard allowing for writers to change images and edit text.
Q: Is there a royalty system for original content creators?
A: We have a fixed 10% creator royalty paid out via our in-house smart contracts to compensate the writer if a post is resold back on our platform.
Q: What stops people from “stealing” the content
A: We are still an early-stage startup and have been lucky enough to not have this issue yet but we will be having an in-app plagiarism check to see how similar two articles are, to not only warn the writer, but also to warn potential buyers. We will be able to do an internet plagiarism check to see how similar an article to another article via SEO searches. We can also limit the price paid for an article or close the listing completely if it is a clear rip-off piece. This will be all code run and not human admin run to maintain the decentralisation aspect of the site.
Q: You chose to use Algorand for this project. Can you tell us why?
A: I have a background building in Algorand and am very impressed by the technology and reliability Algorand has to offer over its competitors. Moreover, the consensus protocol isf Pure Proof of Stake is looked upon favorably due to it’s carbon neutral element which helps attract writers.’
Q: What’s next for Tokenblogs
A: Tokenblogs is all about providing income opportunities to writers so we will be adding different types of listings such as auctions, fractionalised NFT listings along with tips. We will also be moving to be running the site on USDC to provide a stable currency for both parties involved in the transaction.
Moreover we want to further solve the problems around the ambiguity finding work for writers and the income struggles they go through. As a result we will launch our job platform to help freelancers find writing tasks in seconds and get paid instantly. This also gives content buyers more choice over the blogs they need.
We’ll also be adding an export feature for multiple languages and increased licensing choices for writers.
