We took some time to interview the Stargaze team to get an inside scoop into what they have been working on and how they are building the blockchain for NFT creators.
What is Stargaze, and what does it hope to accomplish for Web3?
Stargaze is a community-owned NFT app chain within the Cosmos ecosystem. NFTs are at the core of its design. It enables creators to launch permissionless collections with no code solutions.
Launchpad opened in March 2022, Marketplace in May 2022, and Stargaze Names in December 2022. It is the center of NFT liquidity in the Cosmos and ranks in the top 15 blockchains by NFT volume. Stargaze is building an Interchain NFT Marketplace with bridges to other Cosmos IBC chains, Ethereum, Solana, and beyond.
What are the differentiating features of Stargaze, and how does it differ from other NFT projects with a similar mission?
Stargaze respects creator royalties. Stargaze was built on its blockchain with its token. That means much more freedom in what can be done without depending on any other external influence. Stargaze is a decentralized platform that is community-owned and part of the Cosmos blockchain. It boasts zero gas fees and is carbon neutral. Contracts are vetted through governance, reducing the risk of malicious activity. This process also requires community voting to waive creator royalties.
For non-crypto natives, what does Stargaze plan to bring to the user experience of crypto, and what will be its main applications?
Allow NFTs to be easy and fun for everyone. We give artists a home where they can stand out and create a brand for themselves. Each STARS holder has a say in the direction of the platform. NFTs are the center of Stargaze, and the platform’s top priority is to enable NFT projects to build their dream, whatever that may be. The main applications are currently Launchpad, Marketplace, and Names.
Can you introduce your team to the readers? What relevant experience do they have, and what projects have inspired them in their designs?
Stargaze is co-founded by Shane Vitarana, Jorge Herandez, and Jake Hartnell. The team has grown over the last year and consists of people from Web2 and Web3 backgrounds. Shane and Jorge have been instrumental in the Cosmos ecosystem for several years and are key contributors to it.
Shane has extensive consumer product experience, building some of the most successful iPhone music apps, and Jorge has extensive backend and SDK experience. The team looks to other successful crypto and traditional marketplaces for inspiration. For example, the renewal mechanic for Stargaze Names was inspired by Vitalik’s post on demand-based recurring fees.
How did you achieve your funding requirements? Was it from an exclusive token sale or private funding? When was it?
Seed Investors received 16% of the genesis supply in return for early funding in 2021, which amounted to 160 million STARS at the time. Stargaze obtained price discovery by becoming the first liquidity bootstrapping pool on Osmosis.
Which part of the Stargaze roadmap is the team most excited about?
- DAOs: For community governance and building.
- AMM – Easier onboarding to Stargaze.
- Outposts – Expand Stargaze utility to other chains.
- Supercooling NFT staking – Ability to secure the network and earn yield through NFTs.
Where do you see Stargaze in 5 years? What does it look like when Stargaze is adopted by the mass market?
Stargaze will be a crucial center of commerce for all things related to NFsT in Cosmos and other ecosystems. Bridges will connect it to other NFT communities and chains. Many teams will build on Stargaze and there will be an abundance of decentralized apps. It will provide the best user experience for creators and collectors.
NFTs are the perfect entry point for the mass market. As more people come to Stargaze, the depth and breadth of the artist community will expand, as will the utility of NFTs. People will organize themselves into NFT DAOs and govern themselves. If a tool is desired by a project or user, it is available for use.
How does the Stargaze architecture differ from other blockchains? Why was this approach chosen?
The main differentiator is that Stargaze is a blockchain designed for NFTs, whereas NFTs are not the primary focus when developing other blockchains. This difference allows for prioritized changes based on what the NFT community wants.
What are the primary use cases of the STARS token?
As a governance token, a staking token, and a fee token to launch collections and list NFTs for sale. It can also be used for liquid staking. It is integrated into Cosmos Pay to purchase real-world items and used to purchase NFTs on the Stargaze blockchain.
Why should users stake STARS, and what benefits should they expect outside of standard staking rewards?
Staking STARS grants access for users to vote on community-featured projects in our Discord and allows for participation in governance. STARS includes a token burn mechanism that can drastically increase the amount of tokens burned with higher trading volume.
Why did Stargaze decide to deploy on Cosmos, and what new possibilities does that create in the NFT space?
Stargaze was always going to be a Cosmos chain. The founders had experience from a previous Cosmos venture and contributed to the SDK and Cosmwasm codebase. Cosmos allows the idea of an app chain to become a reality. Building on Cosmos has a level of included interoperability and modularity not seen anywhere else. This opens up faster development and a large community of developers
Are there any exciting updates, announcements, or partnerships coming up in the immediate future that you can disclose today?
Stargaze was released in December 2022 and stars.page went live recently, the first social bookmarking site in the Cosmos tied to a Name Service. Our AMM will be live shortly and will allow easier on-ramping to Stargaze.
Where is the best place for the community to interact with you?
On Discord, Telegram, Twitter, Reddit, and Stargaze.zone.
- (https://discord.gg/stargaze)
- (https://t.me/stargazezone)
- (https://twitter.com/StargazeZone)
- (https://www.reddit.com/r/stargaze)
- (https://www.stargaze.zone/)
Why is Staking Rewards the best partner for your project?
Staking Rewards uses multiple communication channels to reach users and can provide valuable visibility and data to new and current communities alike.
Conclusion
You can take part in the Stargaze Network by locking your STARS temporarily to support the network. As a reward, you’ll earn both block rewards and protocol fees. Refer to our Step-by-step staking tutorial and review the asset profile for real-time staking data and frequently asked questions!