Imagine if museums could improve interactions with their audiences and expand their community. By creating digital collectables, not only are you raising funds for your institution, but you’re also giving people all across the globe a way to connect to their favourite artwork and artifacts.
Using this technology is one way for museums and art galleries to stay relevant and help them continue to educate and inform people who otherwise they wouldn’t be able to connect with.
As more businesses integrate Web3 technology into their daily operations, digital collectables will be more popular and more museums, especially will see them as an immense opportunity.
So, let's take a closer look at the top platforms and marketplaces where a museum could launch its digital collections:
Momentable
If you want a personalized touch with curated artists, then this is the platform for you. (Full disclosure: this is our own platform, created by Next Decentrum.) It is also one of the few platforms that is created with the needs of museums in mind.
The team at Momentable works closely with approved creators only to craft their digital collectables so collectors know each and every piece of artwork has been thoughtfully constructed and presented.
Unlike the other platforms on the list, you get the expertise of an entire team, from photogrammetry experts to growth markets, to help you create and market your collectables. With Momentable, you don’t need to fully understand the nuances of how blockchain works to be able to launch a collection. The team will help you and guide you, no matter where you’re starting at.
OpenSea
This decentralized marketplace is ideal for museums looking to host auctions and sale events. Its intuitive interface makes it easy to list items and set up bids. This platform attracts a wide range of buyers, making it especially attractive to museums.
As the leading platform in digital collectables sales, a museum that seeks to maximize sales of its minted digital collectables should set up shop on OpenSea. One example is The Museum of Extinction's display of 10 artworks that showcase the world's endangered marine species.
Editor's note: OpeanSea has gone back and forth about whether they will continue to honour royalties (percentage of secondary sales) to creators. At the time of this writing, they are upholding their commitment but have said they will continue to review the issue.
Rarible
Rarible is a "can't miss" opportunity for museums that seek to host regular sales of digital art. Its large community of buyers and sellers makes it an ideal platform to reach an international audience.
This platform looks and feels like OpenSea, albeit with two significant differences. Rarible doesn't cover mining costs, so museums intending to foray into digital collectables should count on additional budgeting to cover these costs. Two, buying or selling digital collectables here means you automatically obtain RARI tokens.
SuperRare
This is an exclusive marketplace where digital art thrives. It's a place to find rare, one-of-a-kind digital collectables and features some of the most high-profile creators in the industry.
Museums seeking to get their collections into the limelight and insist on preserving their artworks' exclusivity should consider SuperRare. Its features include creating subcategories, making it easier to organize works into collections - something that could benefit a museum's cataloguing system.
Like most platforms, SuperRare allows a "buy now" and "auction" listing system and a free marketplace that allows collectors to trade digital collectables.
MakersPlace
This interesting mix between OpenSea and Super Rare has become increasingly popular over the years. Advertising itself as a rare digital art marketplace, it welcomes both experienced creators as well as newbies who are looking to establish themselves in the digital art world. That said, museums can launch their digital collectables here and make sure their collections get noticed.
Foundation
Is this platform a good place for launching a museum's newly minted digital collectables? The answer's a resounding YES! Foundation is specially designed for digital collectables art, and to join the platform, you must be invited by one of its current creators. This ensures that only a select group of artists are part of this exclusive network.
Foundation's success is rooted in its ever-growing community. With Foundation, museums can launch their digital collectables with ease and tap into this community for greater reach while preserving the value of their collections. By limiting the auctions to a single sale, Foundation provides an ideal platform for museums that have yet to explore the potential of blockchain technology or have limited resources to do so.
AtomicHub
Embedded within the WAX Network, AtomicHub already has over nine million digital collectables. As a result, this is an incredibly popular platform among buyers and sellers. It may not be as established as OpenSea and Rarible, but its advantage comes from a native token called WAX. This token is already integrated into the platform and can be used to buy, sell, or trade digital collectables.
Museums can launch their minted collections on AtomicHub with relative ease. They'll also have access to a vast inventory of digital collectables for sale and trading - it's not just limited to visual art either, as buyers and sellers can also find cards, gaming items, and digital collectibles.
NiftyGateway
The single most important advantage of this platform over others is that just about anyone can wet their feet with digital art here. It has a quick onboarding process, meaning museums can instantly launch their digital collectables collections without hassle.
In return, the digital collectables are readily accessible to anyone, even those unfamiliar with anything related to crypto. It's an advantage for museums because it expands their reach beyond the crypto community.
The platform is also quite straightforward, making it easy for museums to introduce a donor program or create an auction system for their collections. It even allows partial bidding on digital collectables and has an in-app messaging feature for buyers and sellers.
Digital Replicas or Something More?
We now know that there's no shortage of platforms from where museums can launch their digital collectables. But the real question is, what type of digital collectables should museums offer? The answer is anything from a digital artwork replica to something more creative and unique.
For instance, a museum could offer a digital collectable that allows the owner to unlock exclusive access to a virtual tour of the museum's galleries or provide special discounts on tickets for its events. If it wants to go all out, it could offer one-of-a-kind experiences, like collaborating with its curators to create a unique artwork or experience.
Museums should also explore creating digital collectables that go beyond representing their existing collections. For instance, they can develop holographic experiences or audio-visual creations that showcase their museum's glory. Another way is to use digital collectables to document the progress of a project or highlight an exhibition—something that lets museums take their collections beyond the physical realm and into the digital world.
Last Thoughts
There's no denying that digital collectables presents a fascinating new way for museums to monetize their collections. However, launching a digital collection is not without its challenges—from the technical know-how required to create these digital assets to the sheer overhead costs associated with minting them.
Given this, it pays to do your due diligence before launching a digital collectables collection. For instance, museums should consider the type of marketplace they choose to launch their collections on and the platform's features that can help them reach potential buyers.
Additionally, they must be aware of any legal implications surrounding introducing a digital asset in the form of digital collectables —particularly regarding copyright infringement that really haven't been ironed out or tested in court.
Museums should also plan their marketing strategy to promote collections, as the digital collectables market is extremely competitive. Finally, they must be prepared to keep up with the ever-evolving landscape of digital art and its associated technologies.
That being said, there's no denying that every digital collectables platform discussed here will allow a museum to bring its collections to a relatively untapped market and tap into a new revenue stream.
