On-Chain Orbiters: On-Chain Whitepaper
Foreword
On February 22nd, we made history in the Sei ecosystem by launching the first fully-on-chain NFT collection. Our free mint of 1101 On-Chain Orbiters completed public mint in less than five minutes. Since that day, we have dedicated ourselves to building upon and expanding our project.
This whitepaper is an introduction to our project, an explanation of what we hope to achieve and in true Orbiter fashion, it is itself a fully-on-chain NFT. Not only the first fully-on-chain whitepaper for Sei, but also the first CW-1155 NFT that has been airdropped to our loyal Orbiters for free.
Please note this article is short, think of it as "Volume 1". We've limited the data size to under 5KB to facilitate efficient querying via public RPC endpoints without risking a denial-of-service (DOS) perception.
What's the big deal with fully-on-chain?
As highlighted on our website, fully-on-chain NFTs are unique in that the entirety of the collection's data is stored within the token itself. This contrasts with other methods where assets might be hosted on third-party platforms like IPFS or Arweave. The primary challenge with fully-on-chain NFTs usually lies in the presentation layer, ensuring all metadata is stored in a format that can be rendered by clients upon request.
Our approach involved creating Orbiter artwork as simple SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics). SVGs enable a text-based, human-readable method for defining detailed graphic elements. However this strategy isn't the only pathway to fully-on-chain content; for instance, this whitepaper is crafted in markdown (.md) format, allowing it to be displayed as a formatted document on any supporting platform.
You may be thinking, why tho? Why does anyone do anything? Our goal is to push the boundaries of what is possible for Sei NFTs. We believe it helps move the Sei ecosystem forward. For example, ERC-1155 tokens are a huge component of blockchain gaming projects, so advancing standards like CW-1155 is part of our contribution to this progress.
Can I make a fully-on-chain NFT myself?
For those interested in creating a fully-on-chain NFT collection within the Sei ecosystem, we recommend using a CW-2981 contract. The code for this protocol is open-source and accessible on the CosmWasm GitHub. Setting up a factory contract to instantiate your CW-2981 on-chain collection is also necessary. We modified this template for our Orbiters factory.
These steps are relatively straightforward. However, the creation of your artwork, especially while maintaining a minimal contract size, may present more of a challenge.
Will you help me make an on-chain collection?
Yes! We're building a platform that will make it easier for projects to launch on-chain. I know it seems obvious to call this a launchpad, especially with the theme of our project, but our real goal is to build a platform that facilitates the full life-cycle of Sei NFTs. Beyond a minting experience, we want to provide and curate tools for Sei collections that facilitate their growth and adoption, some of the features we've already built for this include:
- A Collection Indexer
- A Rarity Explorer
- A Snapshot Tool
- A Verification Tool
We're committed to ensuring our platform does not become a walled garden. That's why we've independently named it Frensei. Our vision is for it to transcend its association as merely "the Orbiters platform" and instead serve as a community platform for all Sei collections.
Above all, our primary focus is on our holders. We are dedicated to constantly exploring opportunities to add value and utility for Orbiters. We believe that by improving tooling for the wider Sei ecosystem, we can drive new faces to Sei and our project, driving organic growth and ultimately serving our holders' best interests.