Glad you found us. This intends to be a short primer to the introduction of blockchain into the fabric of the Internet. We will cover:

1. The development of the Internet

2. Understanding blockchain

3. What this means for artists

4. Choices to make as you onboard your art and audience onto the blockchain

5. Recommended artist profiles on X

6. Connecting with the Iriseum

(1) The Development of the Internet

You may have heard the terms web1, web2 and web3. They all refer to the same Internet, and are a way to mark significant watershed moments in the development of the Internet and the ways it is widely used.

web1: “a global and large database where information can be retrieved, e.g. the encyclopedia Britannica”

web2: “everyone can contribute and create on the Internet, e.g. Blogger, Youtube, Wikipedia, Substack, Patreon”

web3: “everyone can create and transfer financial value and ownership directly via the Internet, e.g. NFT marketplaces, dApps”

Soon, web3 will simply be known as the new reality of the Internet. Are you ready to partake in its opportunities?

(2) Understanding Blockchain

“What is blockchain but code, and code is law. What code says, code executes.” - kardonY, a network engineer and owner of WoW7823 NFT, the Iriseum‘s logo

Blockchain is a technology that enables transfer of value, rather than the transfer of information, over the Internet.

Cryptocurrency is money, fungible and used as a medium of exchange to buy, sell, store, and invest value, e.g. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), various altcoins.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are non- fungible digital assets that are valued as property and ownership in themselves, and may also represent or link to other real-life assets or rights.

Note: Cryptocurrency and NFTs are both built on blockchain networks.

(3) What This Means For Artists

Artists now have new platforms and opportunities to:

• Establish their artist identity to a global audience very quickly,

• Connect with artists and collectors from all over the world,

• Be spotted by brands, especially those looking to tap into new wealth and communities formed on the blockchain,

• Create “worlds“ from their art, including in the metaverse, and/or

• Build visibility and develop merch and labels from their art.

There is an emerging economy on the blockchain; people who wish to transact only in cryptocurrency, and people who need artists to create art for their NFTs.

(4) Choices to make as you onboard your art and audience onto the blockchain

A. Wallet

You need a self-custody wallet to transact on the blockchain. There are many options available, such as Metamask, Phantom, Rabby. We recommend Metamask as the most widely used, though we also use Rabby, which is only for ETH and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chains.

It’s important to have 3 types of wallets:

i) a hot wallet for transactions,
ii) a cold wallet as an intermediary between your hot wallet and vault, and
iii) a vault (i.e. a cold wallet) that only transacts with your other cold wallet.

What is a cold wallet? A cold wallet is a crypto wallet that stores private keys offline and doesn't connect to smart contracts. Take a look at Ledger and Trezor for the hardware that defines cold wallets.

B. Blockchain

The Iriseum is an ETH maxi, which means we use layer 1 ETH exclusively, though there are also robust and high transaction artist marketplaces operating on other chains like BTC, SOL and TEZ, and as well as several layer 2 ETH like BASE and ZORA.

For pure artists, we believe there is no need to limit yourself to one chain only. Different chains offer you access to new audiences, that you may benefit to explore and enlarge your own collector pool.

Many marketplaces also support cross- chain transactions now, especially if they are built on the same layer 1 chain, e.g. ETH.

C. Marketplace

As an artist, you’ll likely have to do some marketing on your own, though it can be great to partner a marketplace that supports and highlights your work.

Other considerations when choosing a marketplace to list your work include:

• Does the marketplace offer royalties to artists on secondary sales?Does the marketplace charge fees for free mints?

• What other artists or projects do the marketplace highlight or partner with?

• You may also wish to explore other mint site possibilities beyond marketplaces, such as Manifold Studio that helps you execute your own contract, or curator-led platforms like Worlds on Foundation and Joyn.

D. Community

This is one of the hardest, but most fulfilling things to build. The most successful artists have found a way to build their audience, and some even become a community.

Even if an artist does not go about building a community, the artist will still need community to help to amplify his/her art.

Think about where/which platform you’d like to grow your community in, and also the places in which you may insert yourself into and grow within a community. Some examples of platforms you can consider are Discord, Telegram, X and Farcaster.

The Iriseum lives on Telegram while our founders have strong roots in the World of Women Discord. Join here: https://discord.gg/worldofwomen.

(5) Recommended artist profiles on X

For parents looking to support their children onboarding onto web3 as artists, you may be interested in these X profiles:

@teresamelvinart
@nylacollection
@valeria_draws
@cayden_and_nico
@rainbowmosho
@artedeemilio

These are individual artists aged 8-17 years old as of 2024, with accounts that may or may not be moderated and/or managed by older adults.

You may also like to set up an artist profile on HUG at https://thehug.xyz/, which is a great place to participate in open calls, competitions, and other opportunities that most artists love.

(6) Connecting with the Iriseum

A little more about the Iriseum. We stand for a healthier, more connected and person-centered approach to the Internet.

Healthier = less hustle culture, more remote work options, less falling into the rabbit hole, more intentionality, less burnout, more balance and enjoyment.

More Connected = emphasis on relevance to the real world and relating with humans, nature and real world concerns.

Person-centred Approach = you, your identity, your expression and your purpose matters on how you engage and navigate the Internet, and how the Internet should cater to you.

You may reach us at sg@theiriseum.com. We are also on IG and X as @theiriseum.

We hope this primer helped!

We are on a mission to reach and accumulate members on the blockchain via our tokens. We hope to activate rewards for members holding these tokens via the blockchain as we grow.

Our tokens may be found on: https://zora.co/@theiriseum. We look forward to your support and participation!