Revolutionary projects continuously emerge in the crypto space, transforming the face of the industry as a whole, and Nouns is no different.
Nouns has minted over 1,300 NFTs, and its current treasury holding of 4185 ETH is valued at over $10.5 million as of November 01, 2024. All the Nouns treasury-based data is available to the public on Etherscan for verification.
With its innovative open-source IP model, effective DAO activities, and daily NFT auctions, Nouns succeeded in building a strong community around its ecosystem. It boasts over 82,000 followers on X and an impressive 2,200% surge in its global reach.
However, the Nouns project we see today is only the tip of the iceberg, with lots of untapped potential, innovative ideas, and community-driven initiatives beneath the surface. Nouns at first seem similar to the successful Crypto Punks NFT project, but there’s a lot more than that.
The major differentiator that Nouns brings to the table include:
- Decentralized Governance: Implementing an organizational structure like its DAO infrastructure, along with strong involvement from the Nouners community, establishes a foundation for decentralized decision-making and collective governance. This structure not only empowers community members to propose and vote on initiatives but also aligns incentives for collaborative development and shared vision.
- Fair Distribution Mechanism: Introducing the revolutionary concept of a distribution mechanism to add fairness for the community from day one to the end of time. This distribution mechanism provides the possibility for equal participation for all, offering more credible neutrality without any scope for discrimination.
- Open and Collaborative Culture: The permissionless and open nature of the token that represents the avatar, while putting all intellectual property into the public domain and making it Creative Commons Zero (CC0), empowers the community and other creators to freely create derivative works or use the content for any purpose, promoting a collaborative, open culture.
Next, we’ll dig deeper to find more gold!
Exploring Nouns: Digging Deeper
Nouns are emerging as a benchmark in the decentralized digital art and community governance space with the innovative combination of NFTs and the DAO model. Each Nouners (Nouns’ holders) is part of their DAO, where they have the power to vote on governance proposals.
The Nouns DAO mints one pixelated NFT every day, which is auctioned off. The funds received are transferred to its treasury. The available funds are used after holders approve proposals to spend them on various community-driven projects, such as funding public goods, cultural initiatives, and collaborations within the Web3 space.
The beauty of the Nouns project was first introduced to the world by one of its Nounders (Nouns’ founders), 4156, through the X thread. Nouns is 4156's brainchild, and this thread can be considered the Nouns’ whitepaper.
We’ll decode this thread or whitepaper for an in-depth understanding of Nouns:
- Zero Initial Supply: Unlike other projects that mint thousands of NFTs at launch, Nouns start from zero.
- Daily Noun Minting: One random Noun or avatar is created and auctioned daily forever.
- Trustless Auction: Nouns’ auction process is trustless and is conducted daily, with proceeds donated to the Nouns DAO as a way of providing the community with perpetual capital from new Nouners’ funds.
- Membership: Each Nouner is offered membership in the Nouns DAO.
- 200 Gender-Neutral Noun Types: Each minted Noun will be gender-neutral and feature playful and unique characteristics such as a horse, toothbrush, pizza, fire hydrant, and more.
- 10 Subtypes: These Nouns have 10 subtypes, including "center of attention," "glasses," and others like smiles and plain.
- Project Structure: The initial Nounders DAO consists of 10 members, with 5 being technical and the remaining 5 being artistic members.
- Compensation: The first 10 minted Nouns will be randomly assigned to the Nounders DAO members, and the proceeds from the Noun auctions between days 365 and 730 will also be allocated to the Nounders DAO.
This thread ends with an important note mentioning that all the above is subject to change. Post this thread, the other 9 Nounders interested in this project joined along with 4156 to build the Nouns that we see today.
What Shapes the Nounish Identity?
The Nounish identity, central to the Nouns project, involves creative art, community support, and a shared vision for a decentralized and vibrant ecosystem. Here are some core elements that have evolved to form the current Nounish identity:
Distinctive Art and Design
Each Noun consists of five core attributes: backgrounds, bodies, accessories, heads, and glasses, all combined to create endless creative possibilities. With 2 backgrounds, 30 bodies, 137 accessories, 234 heads, and 21 glasses options, each Noun generated is entirely distinct and random, showcasing a vibrant and imaginative appearance.
Playfulness and Cultural Experimentation
The Nounish identity is fun and inclusive, with quirky designs and a friendly community that makes everyone feel welcome. Nouns use familiar symbols and memes to connect blockchain culture with the mainstream, making the project relatable and appealing to both crypto fans and newcomers. This light-hearted and culturally relevant approach keeps Nouns fresh, accessible, and engaging for a wide audience.
Long-Term Vision and Sustainability
New Nouns are created and auctioned every day, providing steady funding that supports the Nouns DAO’s long-term growth and innovation. The community is dedicated to building a lasting legacy, focusing on expanding the ecosystem in ways that go beyond quick gains and make a lasting impact.
How Do Nouns Transform Traditional Brand Building?
Nouns glasses, or Noggles, have the potential to represent the brand value similar to that of Nike’s iconic swoosh. Just as the swoosh embodies athleticism, performance, and a strong sense of identity, Noggles can become a recognizable symbol of creativity, community, and the playful spirit of the Nouns project.
The virtuous cycle between Nouns culture and treasury begins with daily Noun auctions, where new NFTs are minted and sold to new Nouners. These auctions not only generate revenue for the DAO treasury but also contribute to overall brand awareness and community engagement.
The funds generated from these auctions are then allocated towards various initiatives, including on-chain proposals, Prop House, and grants. These initiatives further strengthen the Nouns ecosystem by supporting community-driven projects, fostering innovation, and attracting new members.
Open-source brands are gaining demand over traditional branding methods such as branded house and house of brands. This shift is largely driven by the desire for transparency, community involvement, and the unique value proposition that open brands offer.
Nouns exemplify this transformation by allowing members to directly influence brand decisions and initiatives, fostering a sense of ownership and commitment within the community.
Nouns demonstrate how open brands can disrupt traditional branding paradigms by promoting community involvement, transparency, and shared ownership. This model not only enhances brand loyalty but also creates a vibrant ecosystem where innovation thrives, setting a precedent for future brand-building efforts in a rapidly changing market landscape.
Nouns DAO: Revolutionizing Decentralized Communities
All the funds received from auctioning are allocated towards the benefit of the Nouns ecosystem based on its governance mechanism. Nouns have a unique angle towards governance where one NFT equals one membership with one vote.
This mechanism ensures that every Nouner has equal rights and that each vote is valuable for the proper function of the DAO. Here, each Nouner acts as the identity of the voter, allowing tracking of each member’s participation in governance activities since becoming a Nouner.
Nouners can also submit proposals, and other members vote to decide whether to accept or execute them. As of the beginning of November 2024, 677 proposals had been made by the members, and 398 had been executed to date.
Nouns DAO has successfully spent over 32,200 ETH, worth around $61.7 million, on all its executed proposals, with an average proposal value of approximately $82,000.
Nounders set a good example to its community with the Nouns’ first proposal in October 2021, which involved donating 5 ETH each to six charities. This proposal aimed to demonstrate how the Nouns community works in its ecosystem.
The Nouns DAO also helps fund public goods initiatives with valid causes. For example, 4156 posted on X highlights the importance of the coexistence of Nouns and public goods for achieving the greater good for the Nouns ecosystem in the long run.
An excellent example of a public goods initiative is Proposal 12, which funded the distribution of eyeglasses to children in need. Approved in December 2021, this proposal allocated $30,000 from the Nouns treasury to provide approximately 300 children with perpetual glasses, enhancing their access to vision care and educational opportunities.
Nounishness doesn’t have a fixed set of criteria, and it’s an emerging quality that Nouners will define in the years to come. It will play a crucial role in shaping the DAO and the identity of the Nouns ecosystem as a whole.
Nouns: Fueling Innovation Through Funding and Support
Nouns don’t follow a single fixed path but continue exploring further possibilities to extend and empower community-driven initiatives around their ecosystem. The three main impressive avenues that support creative and impactful projects include the following:
Small Grants
The idea of funding and offering a small grants pool was introduced in Nouns Proposal 13, which received 100% votes supporting this initiative. Small Grants are useful for kickstarting and supporting innovative projects that require funding between 0.1 and 10 ETH.
Interested individuals can post on Nouns’ Discourse with project details and the required information to simplify the fundraising process. Small Grants have funded numerous causes, including the creation of the Nouns iOS widget, creator contests, the Nouns fair, and more.
Prop House
Prop House aims to fund projects between 2 and 10 ETH from the submitted proposals through competitive weekly funding rounds. The community votes to decide the winner of each funding round.
This Nouns’ weekly funding round involved over 25,000 community votes, and more than 8,000 proposals were submitted at the end of October 2024. From over 300 executed rounds, the total funding value has surpassed $3 million.
Projects
Nouns DAO ecosystem is growing at a rapid pace with over 155 projects, and all details are updated on a weekly basis. All the projects funded through Small Grants, Proposals, Prop House, and other avenues are listed here under a single dashboard.
Lil Nouns is a good example of one such successful Nouns project that has minted over 8,000 NFTs. These NFTs are minted every 15 minutes, and their prices typically range between 0.03 ETH and 0.30 ETH.
Nouns as The Face of Crypto: A Positive Disruption
The Nounish model allows for the proliferation of many more things than minting and selling NFTs. Nouns can be bundled with protocols, products, or even particular missions, allowing for extended customization.
A small group of friends or family owners can collectively pay to buy a Noun so that they can vote on proposals based on the majority’s preference. For example, they can auction a Noun on a particular date, like New Year, to represent their unique Noun as their identity or symbol that can be used across varied social media platforms.
Brands can buy Nouns, such as the one minted on a special occasion like a product launch or anniversary, to serve as a virtual brand ambassador. Creative Commons Zero (CC0) nature of Nouns also allows these brands to use the avatars as stickers or in gift cards for their valuable customers as a token of gratitude.
Gaming companies can buy a limited number of Nouns to integrate into their video games, which gamers can customize according to the gameplay. The Nouns can also be used to reward top players for their performance to reward and engage the gaming community.
Cross-platform collaboration is another massive potential that Nouns can tap into for their sustained growth in the crypto space. For example, Nouns can partner with various gaming platforms, NFT marketplaces, and social media channels, allowing users to interact with Nouns across multiple ecosystems while fostering a sense of community and engagement.
Conclusion
It’s totally unimaginable to foresee where Nouns will stand five years from now as the project continues to evolve and adapt within the ever-changing crypto landscape. Over time, the increasing number of Nouners strengthens the treasury and its DAO, helping to make more impactful and strategic decisions on proposals.
The increased collaboration, brand recognition, and community growth will undoubtedly help Nouns become a household name in the near future. Overall, Nouns' growth and development will inspire more projects to build innovative models that will shape the crypto ecosystem and increase user adoption like never before.