PartyBid V2 Unlocks Community Control of NFTs

After kicking off with a bang during last year’s NFT bull run, PartyDAO has launched the second iteration of its flagship PartyBid product.

The first version of PartyBid enabled group purchases of NFTs — the new one unlocks the utility of the co-owned assets, so their owners, called “parties,” can use them to interact with any smart contract in the same way an individual owner of an NFT can.

“Parties can now do anything together as a group, coordinated completely on-chain,” Danny Aranda, a founding member of PartyDAO, told The Defiant. “The functionality of NFTs is constantly evolving, so it’s cool that Parties can take advantage of that.”

PartyBid first launched in Aug. 2021 and was immediately used to crowdfund the purchase of a $3.2M CryptoPunk.

PartyDAO, the “decentralized software organization,” as the outfit bills itself — lists minting derivatives of NFTs, claiming airdrops, or casting a collective vote as new features of PartyBid V2.

Projects like Nouns use their NFTs to vote on proposals, which often deploy some of the DAO’s $37.8M treasury. Nouns are expensive, though — the cheapest one goes for 38 ETH, or almost $50,000 at Dec. 14 prices — PartyBid V2 allows the co-owners of a Noun to, somewhat confusingly, vote on such proposals.

As anyone who has been following the NFT space knows — it’s been a tough year. Weekly trading volume has dwindled to less than 5% of what it was at all-time highs, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard.

With projects like PartyDAO enabling the co-ownership of NFTs, the raging debate surrounding royalties, and experiments around lending against the asset class, the foundations of a more mature ecosystem NFT may be emerging.

PartyCards

PartyBid issues NFTs, called PartyCards, which represent co-ownership of a given NFT. As such, fractional shares of an NFT bought with PartyBid can be traded in the form of PartyCards.

PartyCards

The project employs a distinct visual style which includes a function which allows users to customize their cursors.

Cursor Selection on partybid.app

$16M Raise

PartyDAO raised $16.4M in June in a round led by a16z Crypto, with contributions from Dragonfly Capital, Uniswap Labs’ venture arm, and angel investors like the pseudonymous 4156, a co-creator of Nouns.

PartyDAO started without any full-time employees, John Palmer, the app’s project lead, told The Defiant last year. The flexible working style was crucial to attracting top talent, he said.

“I think this style of work is going to be a big part of the future,” he said at the time. “I’m glad I’ve gotten to learn through experience how to bring a product to market in this fashion.”

With the raise, PartyDAO looks to have moved on from its scrappy roots — the project is looking to fill five full-time positions.