Magic Eden and Nifty Gateway Unveil Reward Programs. Here’s the 101.

NFT marketplaces Magic Eden and Nifty Gateway are leveling up. Both platforms recently announced new reward systems to incentivize trading activities and enhance the overall user experience. With Nifty Gateway introducing its Collector Appreciation Month and Magic Eden launching its Chapter II program, these platforms are leveraging incentives to attract and retain users in an increasingly competitive landscape.

These moves are similar to OpenSea’s recent decision to launch OpenSea Pro, which many believe was motivated by Blur’s commanding influence and success in the market. As a strategic response, OpenSea decided to incentivize its user base by introducing a rewards system and amending creator royalties percentages.

Now, it seems that other NFT marketplaces are following OpenSea’s lead.

Magic Eden Chapter II program

In a move aimed at renewing interest in — and engagement on — its platform, Magic Eden has launched an initiative that rewards traders with Solana’s native cryptocurrency, $SOL, for their trading activities. By temporarily reducing its maker fee to -0.25%, Magic Eden provides traders with the opportunity to earn $SOL on each transaction.

Sellers will now receive 100.25% of the listing price when they sell an NFT, and buyers will receive a 0.25% $SOL rebate upon purchase.

However, this incentive system is just a part of a much larger strategic shift for Magic Eden.

Welcome to Chapter II. It’s time to make some changes.

Starting today we are:
✅ Launching NFT aggregation on Solana
✅ Embracing composability
✅ Offering -0.25% maker fee on ME for a limited time. Now you can earn SOL when your offers are accepted & listings are sold! 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/3b0QXal4re

— Magic Eden 🪄 (@MagicEden) May 24, 2023

In addition to offering rewards, the platform has unveiled an aggregation feature aimed at providing users with a one-stop shop for purchasing Solana NFTs across various marketplaces. It is also rolling back a feature that prevented Magic Eden listings from being aggregated by other NFT marketplaces. The platform has also committed to open-sourcing its smart contract code.

Ultimately, these moves come as a response to both longstanding criticism and growing competition. The platform has long been censored by members of the NFT community for being closed-sourced and for limiting composability opportunities across platforms, and it faces increasing threats to its market share — particularly from Tensor, a newer entrant in the Solana market.

Nifty Gateway Collector Appreciation Month

Meanwhile, Nifty Gateway is launching its own reward program, dubbed Collector Appreciation Month, set to begin in June. The program is designed to reward collectors based on their lifetime spend on Nifty Gateway. The platform has structured the reward system into six levels, with rewards increasing with each level of investment. At the highest level, users can earn a primary rewards percentage of ten percent and a secondary rewards percentage of five percent.

Nifty Gateway’s reward program applies to all NFTs minted on its platform, spanning both primary and secondary marketplaces. The rewards, which will be credited in USD to collectors’ Nifty Gateway balances following each eligible transaction, offer a direct and immediate return for collectors’ activities on the platform.

These innovative reward systems signal a shift in the NFT marketplaces’ approach to user engagement, marking a significant step towards fostering a more dynamic and rewarding ecosystem. As competition heats up in the NFT space, the move by Magic Eden and Nifty Gateway not only promotes active participation but also sets a new standard for other marketplaces to follow.

Editor’s note: This article was written by an nft now staff member in collaboration with OpenAI’s GPT-4.