The pixelated characters that make up the Nouns NFT collection took the adage, “Every day a star is born,” and put an NFT spin on it. Since August 8, 2021, the collection has delivered its own take on that promise by minting a unique and new NFT daily through daily auctions.

The endlessly growing collection is now 1,433 pieces strong, at time of publishing. Nouners, as the collection’s group of 10 original co-founders are known, established the daily release cadence as one of the collection’s unique features. Nouns stand out as a unique Ethereum NFT project due to its daily auctions and community-driven governance. The Nouns universe is also special thanks to its use of the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain dedication and its ties to Nouns DAO.

Read on for more about these colorful pixelated characters.

Introduction to Nouns

Nouns is a pioneering NFT collection that has revolutionized the way digital art is created, distributed, and governed. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, the Nouns project has garnered significant attention for its unique approach to open-source intellectual property (IP) and community governance. At its core, the project aims to create a thriving ecosystem where creativity and collaboration thrive. By leveraging the power of blockchain technology, Nouns has introduced a new paradigm in the digital art world, where ownership and participation are decentralized and democratized. The Nouns project stands out not only for its innovative use of technology but also for its commitment to fostering a community-driven environment where every member has a voice.

Understanding NFTs

Before jumping into the world of Nouns, it’s essential to understand what NFTs are and how they work. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital items that represent ownership or proof of authenticity for a specific item. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis, NFTs are unique and cannot be exchanged on a like-for-like basis. They are often used to represent digital art, music, or virtual real estate and are minted on blockchain technology. In the context of Nouns, NFTs are used to represent the unique digital characters that are generated and auctioned off every 24 hours. Each Noun NFT is a one-of-a-kind piece of digital art, making the Nouns collection a fascinating and ever-evolving project in the NFT space.

Noun holders can help create the Nouns DAO universe

Each Noun is a 32 x 32-pixel character with a mix of traits that have become signature to the Nouns collection — from their trademark two-tone glasses (known as ‘Noggles’ by the Noun community) to their pixelated features and embrace of dynamic colors.

Nouns’ rarity varies based on traits like a profile picture’s head, added accessories, or even body shapes. But, regardless of rarity, a PFP NFT owner has access to Nouns’ Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and can vote on governance issues. As a noun holder, they have the right to participate in voting on proposals, shaping the project's future, and managing the treasury, which funds community-driven initiatives. The DAO is where all funds from Nouns daily minting are funneled and kept. It’s also where a Nouns member can submit a proposal or an idea for how Nouns’ brand can be used in projects across web2 and web3.

Each Nouns owner can vote on a proposal, but a Nouns community member must own at least two NFTs to submit a proposal. If a proposal garners enough votes, the Nouns DAO treasury then uses its funds to back different projects, like coffee brands and SuperBowl commercials.

While the DAO treasury funds Nouns’ projects, the project’s brand can also be freely used by anyone for commercial purposes since it operates under a Creative Commons Zero (CC0) public domain dedication.

Nouns DAO and the treasury

Nouns DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that serves as the governing body of the Nouns project. It is a community-driven organization that allows Noun holders to participate in its governance and decision-making processes. The DAO is responsible for managing the Nouns treasury, which is funded by the daily auctions of new Nouns. This treasury is a crucial component of the Nouns ecosystem, as it supports various community-driven initiatives and projects. The management of the treasury is overseen by the Nouns Foundation, ensuring that the funds are allocated in a way that promotes the long-term growth and prosperity of the Nouns project. By empowering the community to have a say in how the project evolves, the Nouns DAO exemplifies the principles of decentralization and collective ownership.

The Noun founders earn staggered compensation from the Nouns project

Upon releasing the collection, the collection’s founders agreed to a staggered compensation model. Instead of receiving upfront compensation for creating the Nouns collection, every tenth Noun in the collection would funnel into a shared crypto wallet. The founders would then divide the NFTs amongst themselves.

So now, the Noun.wtf ticker that shows the Noun of the day, any current bid made on it, and a time for how long until the auction closes will every few days also show a note from the founding team itself.

The note explains:

“All Noun auction proceeds are sent to the Nouns DAO. For this reason, we, the project’s founders (‘Nounders’) have chosen to compensate ourselves with Nouns. Every 10th Noun for the first 5 years of the project will be sent to our multisig (5/10), where it will be vested and distributed to individual Nounders.”

Nouns NFTs in your coffee and more

In the past, Noun members have voted for and passed different types of proposals.

For instance, ahead of the Super Bowl in 2022, the Nouns DAO community voted on a proposal that would gift a brand or company a Nouns NFT in exchange for including the Nouns glasses in a commercial and potentially doing a limited run of a Nouns branded product. The proposal was greenlit, and with it, Bud Light became the winner. The commercial features the iconic Nouns glasses in an art gallery scene where the paintings are wearing them.

The signature Nouns glasses were also once the driving force behind Nouns Coffee, the online coffee brand that sold everything from whole bean coffee to tote bags with its signature character, a coffee bean in sneakers wearing the signature Nouns glasses.

When the Noun founders released the NFT collection, they did so in hopes that others would use Nouns as inspiration for their own creations, just like Nouns Coffee did.

On the Nouns DAO website today, the founders continue to highlight the importance of this mission:

“This treasury exists for Nouns DAO participants to allocate resources for the long-term growth and prosperity of the Nouns project.”

With over 1,000 NFTs already minted, the Nouns community and its adjacent projects still have a lifetime of creating to go.