Floor, which lets users track their NFT holdings, is about to try something pretty novel: sell exclusive NFT artwork solely through its iOS and Android apps.
On Wednesday, July 26, Floor will debut the first of 10 planned NFT drops in Icons: Series One with a new work by Vinnie Hager, an artist known for his doodle-centric art style showcased in Letters, a 2021 NFT project that has generated $10 million worth of trading to date.
Hager’s new Icons piece, titled “Ground Level Garden” will sell for $29.99 via the app using typical mobile payment methods, and it will be an open edition drop—so there’s no limit on how many can be minted during the set timeframe. After purchase, the Ethereum NFT will be airdropped to the user’s specified wallet, so buyers won’t need to pay for network gas fees.
Floor co-founder and CEO Chris Maddern wouldn’t reveal the additional artists lined up for the ten successive weekly art drops, but said that they all have a “pretty strong following in Web3 today.” Each will be priced between $19.99 and $49.99. It’s not yet confirmed whether all will be open edition drops.
“Mobile is a platform where we've gotten very used to discovering, exploring, and transacting in bite-sized snacks,” Maddern told Decrypt. “This concept of bite-sized discovery, along with an affordable price point with payment rails that customers are familiar with, makes our phones the perfect place to browse, explore, and take the first small jump into collecting in Web3.”
App and game developers can sell NFTs via their iOS and Android apps, but there’s a hitch: they have to pay Apple or Google a cut of any in-app purchase on the App Store or Play Store, respectively, which is as much as a 30% fee on the sale price.
That fee may be limiting the adoption of NFTs on mobile platforms thus far, in part because they are incompatible with the decentralized ideals of the Web3 world, including the ability for users to sell their assets via secondary marketplaces. Most marketplaces charge a single-digit percentage fee on peer-to-peer NFT trades; 30% is a massive upcharge.
However, some app developers are choosing to soak up the fee to enable mobile NFT sales. Dapper Labs launched a beta version of NBA Top Shot on mobile earlier this year, with plans to sell packs of NFT collectibles. And the move-to-earn game Stepn on iOS has a secondary marketplace, albeit with NFT prices boosted to cover Apple’s cut of each sale.
Maddern confirmed that Floor will also pay a cut to Apple and Google with each NFT sale, and Floor says it worked closely with both tech giants, “leveraging their evolving policies” in this new mobile NFT initiative. Just last week, Google said that it will change its policies later this year to enable increased NFT integration in Android apps and games on the Play Store.
“Our experience over the past several months has been extremely positive as we've worked to both understand the rules and collaborate actively with Apple and Google on making the best possible experience, while ensuring it's compliant in every way,” Maddern told Decrypt.
“We found very progressive thinking while acknowledging the precedents they're setting, and the caution that needs to be shown when introducing hundreds of millions of users to new dynamics, as well as the effects on their broader developer ecosystems,” he added. “It's left us hopeful that there will be a strong future for Web3 on both mobile platforms.”
Floor is selling Ethereum-based artwork, but the Icons pieces also have utility within the app. Owners will be able to customize the look of both the app itself and the home screen icon based on each Icons NFT in their wallet, adding extra perks to the purchase.
The startup, which raised $8 million in June 2022 and pulled in former Robinhood Crypto COO Christine Hall as co-founder and CEO, was built around mobile. Floor’s founders believe that’s the place where widespread Web3 adoption will eventually come from.
“Mobile has the users, tools, time spent, and importantly the mindset of ‘This is a place I go and explore,’” said Maddern. “Almost everything important starts by simply being fun and interesting, and the next wave of growth in Web3 has to embrace that, lower the barriers, and meet people where they are—on their phone.”
Editor's note: This article was updated after publication to update the name of the artwork, which had changed since the information was originally provided to Decrypt.