SuperRare Drops Token Amid Series of Moves to Empower Artists

SuperRare, the influential NFT art platform, is taking a big step forward in its plan to progressively decentralize with the launch of its RARE token on Aug. 17. As part of a slew of changes, SuperRare is poised to bestow more control to artists.

The new token rocketed more than 235% on Tuesday and Wednesday before bouncing around in the $1.30 to $1.40 range in early-afternoon trading New York time on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data. SuperRare is airdropping 15% of the 1B RARE supply to artists and collectors. At the token’s current price, that’s a distribution worth approximately $200M. There are already more than 4,500 RARE holders, according to Etherscan.

Along with the token, SuperRare announced a new DAO that will enable RARE holders to govern by voting on improvement proposals. These can range from addressing platform parameters like fee structure to allocating funds from the growing Community Treasury.

The treasury collects fees from primary sales by artists, secondary sales by collectors, and primary sales in the newly established Spaces. A council on a four-of-seven multisig will ultimately carry out the will of RARE voters.

SuperRare Spaces

The DAO will also have to approve SuperRare Spaces, a new product that allows independent operators to run something akin to an art gallery. The operators will be in charge of curating art and artists, running auctions, and collecting commissions.

The SuperRare team sees Space’s operators as taking on some of the business development responsibilities for the artist, too. “The services offered by these groups extend far further than just showcasing the art; a gallery might act as a networking tool, PR agency and promoter,” said the Spaces’ doc.

Spaces will provide another avenue for artists to join the SuperRare platform. Artists currently need to receive an invite from SuperRare’s curation team. The setup has frustrated artists. “Anything more demoralizing than sending a SuperRare application for the 4th time,” tweeted one.

Artists will be able to join the platform after the launch of Spaces launch in the “near future,” according to the Spaces’ doc.

SuperRare rounded out the product announcements with a so-called Sovereign Smart Contracts which will allow artists to mint NFTs with their own customizable ticker symbol.

The array of announcements are a big move towards ceding control of the platform to RARE holders after a highly controlled 1.0 version. “This is insane!! What a great time to be an artist,” said NFT creator Jonathan Wolfe on Twitter.