If you’ve been in the NFT space, chances are you’ve seen the fun pixel art images of Nouns with signature bright colors and simple blocky designs. As time goes by, you will definitely see these unique characters more and more often. Unlike most NFT projects that have a set number of supplies before minting, Nouns is an infinite work of art. An NFT Noun is generated every day “forever”.
As a community driven brand, Nouns aims to use its open source IP to empower holders to fund their wildest dreams and business ideas with their NFTs as the face of projects. Nouns are already making their mark as brand ambassadors at innovative companies, representing everything from clothing brands to chocolate bars to extreme sports clubs.
Here’s what you need to know about the Nouns project, the ecosystem, and its community.
What are NFT nouns?
Nouns is a non-fungible generative token project on the Ethereum blockchain. Each Noun is a 32×32 pixel character made up of nearly endless combinations of bodies and accessories, including 242 heads, 140 accessories, 30 bodies, 23 glasses, and two backgrounds.
He first-ever Noun It was auctioned on August 8, 2021 and features a fox for a head and two-tone pink and purple glasses.
Nouns operate under a CC0 license, which places the artwork in the public domain and grants users unrestricted access and use rights.
Every day, Nouns DAO generates and mints a new Noun, adding to the ever-growing collection. The noun is then auctioned off to the highest bidder. This process ensures that the Nouns ecosystem remains dynamic and constantly evolving, while also providing a means for community members to acquire and trade unique NFTs.
One hundred percent of the money from sales goes directly to the community treasury of the project. Ownership of an NFT Noun also grants membership to DAO Nouns, allowing the holder to participate in the governance and decision-making process. Each noun represents a vote.
How many nouns are there?
Nouns will spawn forever, resulting in an endless supply. At the time of writing, there are 646 NFT Nouns on the Ethereum blockchain. At the moment, 390 owners have at least one noun in your wallet.
How can I buy a noun?
Anyone can participate in name auctions on nouns.wtf, a website created and maintained by the founders of the project. Fans can also create their own noun and play around with the traits in the playground nouns. All nouns created so far can be viewed and purchased in high school at Open sea.
Who created the nouns?
The original founders of Nouns, affectionately called ‘Nounders’, are a group of 10 NFT builders, creators and thought leaders who first pioneered the concept of Nouns and NounsDAO. This includes the founder of CrypToadz gremplinco-founder of Vine dom hofmannfounder chimpanzee timersand punk4156. Additional nouns include lastpunk9999, devcarrot, cryptoseneca, eboyarts, punk4464and _solimander.
To ensure that all proceeds from Noun auctions support the DAO ecosystem of Nouns, Nounders have chosen to receive compensation in the form of Nouns. Specifically, every tenth Noun generated during the first five years of the project will automatically be sent to Nounder’s multisig wallet, where they will be awarded and distributed among the founding members of the project.
In particular, the distribution of Nouns to Nouns does not interrupt the regular cadence of the 24-hour Noun auctions. Once a Noun is generated, it is sent directly to Nounder’s multisig, and the next available Noun ID is made available for auction as scheduled. This approach helps ensure that the Nouns ecosystem remains fair and accessible to all participants, while also providing a means of compensation and support for founding members of the project.
What is the Noun DAO?
Owning a Noun allows holders the ability to participate in the governance of DAO Nouns. This includes the ability to propose new initiatives and vote on proposals submitted by other members. If a proposal is approved, it will be automatically executed as a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain.
Nouns can vote on proposals or delegate their vote to a third party. A minimum of two nouns is required to submit proposals. Nouns DAO has funded countless creative ideas, including fashion collections, Super Bowl commercials, and more. The active list of proposals that DAO Nouns vote on you can see it here.
Featured Proposals
NOUNS x Fitz Frames
NOUNS × Fitz Frames Prescription Subscription partners with detection and testing partners to provide kids with glasses whether they lose them, break them, outgrow them, or just want a new pair to complement their style. So far, Nouns DAO has funded over 3,000 children’s prescription glasses and a specialized exam van. delivered in December 2022.
Bud Light Super Bowl commercial
In January 2022, the brewing giant acquired Noun #179 for 127 ETH. After submitting and receiving approval of a proposal, Bud Light featured the Nouns ecosystem’s iconic glasses (known as “Noggles”) in a commercial that aired during Super Bowl LVI. This demonstrated the growing mainstream appeal of NFTs and the Nouns ecosystem, as large corporations are beginning to recognize the unique value of these digital assets.
Additionally, the brand also temporarily changed its Twitter avatar to introduce Noun glasses. He proposal states that Bud Light “intends to allow the brand’s own NFT holders to vote collectively with their Noun on future governance proposals.” In the future, Bud Light may even produce a limited run of cans with custom Noun packaging for Noun holders.
The birth of ‘Lil Nouns’
Nouns, a project created within Nouns DAO, presents a collection of adorable and whimsical Nouns at a more affordable price. It was founded by 0xsvg and adelaide.
These Nouns are smaller than traditional Nouns, measuring just 16×16 pixels, and feature fun and unique designs meant to evoke a sense of cuteness and charm. They spawn every 15 minutes, but anyone can make a lil noun here.
Similar to traditional Nouns, Lil Nouns are represented on the Ethereum blockchain. However, artists create Lil Nouns by submitting their designs to Nouns DAO. This process differs from the generation of traditional Nouns, which are randomly generated through a unique algorithm. Once a design is approved, Nouns DAO coins the new Lil Noun and adds it to the collection.
For those interested in joining the DAO Nouns community but unable to afford a traditional Noun, Lil Nouns provides an accessible entry point.
The future of the ecosystem of nouns
Nouns has come a long way since its release in 2021, but the team behind the project still has more in store. At ETH Denver 2023, Nouns DAO Developers david brailovski and Elad Mallel announced that the team plans implement new features such as private voting, enhanced security measures, and a more dynamic user experience to further strengthen the Nouns ecosystem. Examples include dynamic quorum, ragequit design space, a conditional objection period, and more.
Every day, as new nouns are created, the DAO forges partnerships with brands and creators to fund new and innovative projects. The growing community of members who submit and approve proposals will continue to expand the influence of the Nouns ecosystem.
