... as transparent as GLASS.
New website: https://glass.xyz (Ethereum version https://eth.glass.xyz/) Twitter https://twitter.com/glassprotocol (12.8K followers as of 10.10.22), joined October 2020 Discord: http://discord.gg/FdBj6ZBuuJ (2206 members as of 10.10.22)
Mirror: https://glass.mirror.xyz/ Manifesto: https://glass-manifesto.super.site
Glass is a decentralized video platform/protocol with transparent monetization, which allows users to create NFTs from their videos and sell them. According to Crunchbase, the organization was founded in 2021. It is headquartered in the USA (Lewes, DE).
Technology
Blockchain: previously Ethereum, moved to Solana in September 2022. (They found that the main issues were cost, speed and the user experience (UX) on Web3. By their move into the Solana network, they have addressed these issues en-masse. link) According to their finding posted on Twitter, buying an NFT on Glass while still on the Ethereum network cost the buyer $2.50-$50, while utilising the Solana network means that that is reduced to just 0.04731 cents. As for the content creators, creating a video now costs $2-3 compared to the previous $25-200 that they would have to spend on Ethereum gas fees. Purchasing a video NFT on a Solana-based Glass means that the transaction now finalises in just a few seconds. Ethereum transactions on the other hand can take much longer (minutes-hours).
File storage: Arweave, which means videos can’t be deleted once uploaded. They will be there forever, even if Glass shuts down their support altogether. Transcoding: Transcoding is done via Livepeer
More information about technology can be found here.
Glass has partnered with Zora (the announcement), which allows it to use Zora’s Auction House. The process is the following:
Audience and scale
From the very beginning, they’ve been focused on music videos. Their first ever Glass NFT was a music video (link). According to this article, Glass currently works with around 120 creators. I could actually find only 8 on their site, so I don’t know where this number came from. Probably it is related to their previous Ethereum platform. They’ve just started on the new website and Solana network (moved here in the end of September). According to their Twitter, they gained 100 collectors in the first week - rather good start! They will continue to host eth glass. In the future they hope to bridge these communities. Let’s look at some statistics of their new Solana platform. The numbers for the last week, according to the cofounder’s Tweet:
TOTAL VOLUME: 294.04 SOL (⬆ 196%) TOTAL SALES: 460 (⬆ 191%) COLLECTORS: 124 (⬆ 24%) You can also see the daily statistics on the main page of glass.xyz. Here, at the very top of the page, you’ll see 24H volume, total volume, 24H sales, total sales, creators, collectors and videos for the day. For example, today’s statistics (10.10.2022): 24H VOLUME:0.00 SOL TOTAL VOLUME:294.04 SOL 24H SALES:0 TOTAL SALES:460 CREATORS:8 COLLECTORS:124 VIDEOS:9
As you can see, the scale is not impressive yet. There are only 8 creators. The platform is actually just starting its journey. Currently, Glass.xyz is very selective with what is being released on the platform. According to this article, this is due to the fact it’s a relatively new platform, and the Glass team wants to ensure the platform is optimized before the creator function is released to the general public.
How to become a creator/collector
To be a Creator or Collector, you must connect to a browser extension called Phantom. Phantom is an electronic wallet that lets you purchase, store, and engage in transactions using the native Solana cryptocurrency, SOL. All transactions on the Platform are in the native Solana cryptocurrency, SOL. As of today, video creators need an invitation to become a creator on the platform. If you want to apply to be a creator on Glass, join their discord, dm one of the core members, and fill out the “create” form on the website’s homepage (Typeform application).
Terms and conditions for creators
Glass offers a marketplace for videos, and the platform allows users to collect videos, but they do not buy, sell, or ever take custody or possession of any video.