The NFT market has seen a sharp decline in daily sales, dropping from 40,000 in August 2022 to 3,000–4,000 in July 2023, according to NonFungible.com. Against this backdrop, Manifold.xyz aims to reignite interest by lowering barriers and prioritizing creator ownership.
Backstory and Funding
Founded by Web3 developers Eric Diep, Richerd Chan, and Wilkins Chung, Manifold secured $7.9 million in seed funding in August 2021. The platform emphasizes true ownership of digital assets, attracting high-profile users such as Jay-Z, Steve Aoki, Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa, Tectonics, and the American Heart Association.
Manifold Creator Contract: On-Chain Attribution
Unlike traditional NFT minting that relies on third-party marketplace contracts, the Manifold Creator Contract lets artists deploy their own smart contracts. This ensures that each NFT is directly attributed to the creator, preserving chain provenance and enabling buyers to verify authenticity.
Manifold Studio: No-Code Minting
Manifold Studio offers a coding-free interface for minting NFTs, supporting high-resolution video and images (unlimited file size), custom attributes, video thumbnails, and compatibility with major marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, Foundation, Nifty Gateway, SuperRare, and Zora. Creators maintain full control over their smart contracts after deploying on mainnet, minting ERC721 or ERC1155 tokens.
Getting started is straightforward: connect a wallet, fill in profile details (pseudonyms allowed), then create a new contract in the Studio dashboard. Name the contract, choose token type, enter a symbol and ASCII text for branding. Deploy first on Goerli testnet using 0.2 Goerli ETH from a faucet, then click "Deploy on Mainnet" to go live. Minting happens via the Tokens tab.
Revenue Model: Minimal Buyer Fees
Manifold charges no percentage fees to creators. Instead, buyers pay a small fixed "gas fee" when collecting items through Manifold apps. This fee remains constant regardless of item value, allowing creators to keep 100% of sales revenue. Smart contract deployment, minting via Studio, and airdrops are free.
Additional Features and Value
Other offerings include Open Editions via the Claims tool, a zero-fee Manifold Gallery marketplace, ranked auctions, and Burn to Redeem (burn an NFT for a new artwork). The platform's user-friendly design makes minting as easy as listing an item on an e-commerce site. Whether it's worth using depends on individual needs, but Manifold gives creators more autonomy.