Zora is a decentralized protocol that empowers creators to mint, sell, and buy NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) without intermediaries. In addition to the marketplace, Zora recently deployed a Layer 2 solution called the Zora Network, which offers fast, scalable, and cost-efficient media on-chain. The Zora Network operates as a decentralized blockchain, with its governance rights encapsulated in an NFT, allowing for community-driven protocol governance.
The ecosystem consists of two main components: the Zora marketplace and the Zora Network. The marketplace enables creators to register media provenance while setting and negotiating NFT values, fostering a decentralized market dynamic. Unlike traditional media-sharing platforms, Zora empowers its community to determine the value of digital art by offering an open-sourced, admin-free ‘Auction House,’ where anyone can run their own curated auctions for any NFTs.
In contrast to other NFT platforms that are moving away from mandatory collection of resale fees, Zora has a creator-centric approach, focusing on royalty payments. Its goal is to enable artists and designers to capture a share of the resale value of their work, through fees collected when the NFT is resold.
Furthermore, Zora has partnered with COLORSxSTUDIOS, a music platform featuring emerging talents on YouTube with almost 7 million subscribers, to launch a digital collectible platform called COLORS COLLECT. Proceeds from each collectible are divided between the artist and COLORS, enabling artists while building out the platform.
Zora’s operational model comprises six pillars, including smart contracts for NFT creation, ownership, and trading, a decentralized marketplace, a revenue model rewarding users for creating and curating dApps, and a collect fee for secondary purchases of NFTs.
The Zora protocol is helping digital art find its rightful place in the data-driven landscape while retaining the principles of openness and decentralization. Zora is poised to have a significant impact on the NFT sector by paving the way for a more equitable digital art ecosystem and reaffirming its role as a catalyst for the development of digital innovation.
