A number of NFT collectors have grown impressive followings on Twitter, where they discuss their buying and selling activities and offer trading advice. Many of these collectors have also started to use their sizable audiences to launch new projects. That’s exactly what NFT insider Punk6529 did.
They recently went to Twitter to announce that their entire NFT collection is now available for viewing in a metaverse museum district. Who’s invited? Everybody.
Visitors to the sprawling district will have the opportunity to virtually take in some of the most expensive NFTs in the world. From Bored Apes, to CryptoPunks, to ArtBlocks – this high-profile virtual museum district is slated to be a launching point for a massive virtual city dubbed “OM.” At full capacity, OM is planned to support a virtual population of 100 million users in total.
The first district of many
OM, powered by Web3 world-building engine OnCyber, is just one part of a greater plan from Punk6529. Ultimately, the idea is to create an ‘Open Metaverse’ free for anyone to access and take part in building. The launch of the 6529 Museum District marks the project officially entering its alpha phase.
True to its name, Punk6529 and the rest of the team affiliated with the project intend to make this pilot launch indicative of what OM will hopefully grow into: an open, inclusive, community-built space on the Metaverse. As part of their announcement on Twitter, Punk6529 stated, “I collect in public, I invest in public and we are going to build OM in public together.”
This open building process will include the pieces featured in the 6529 Museum District. While part of the initial draw for visitors would be to see some of the most expensive NFTs in the world on display, it’s also set to be a place where guests can put up NFTs from their own collections for everyone else to see.
Currently, there are about 2000 NFTs on display belonging to either Punk6529 or the project’s other team members. With the planned open structure of the museum district, this number should only continue to trend upward as more guests flock to the virtual space.
A purposeful space
As it stands, OM is slated to be a massive online experiment. The goal? To see if it would be feasible for a functional, self-sustaining, community-built space can exist on the Metaverse and thrive.
During its alpha phase, Punk6529 and the rest of the team will have to answer a seemingly innocuous, but nevertheless important question: would this be a fun and interesting place to hang out?
If that answer is ‘yes’ for a sizable enough number of people, then the development of the digital city can extend, and the next questions become centered on how it will be governed and how it can sustain itself economically. However, when it comes to funding, at least one thing about the project is already clear. Despite its massive potential for revenue generation, Punk6529 has adamantly stated online that they intend for OM to be a brand-neutral space free of corporate interference.
No single entity, not even OM’s creators, will have complete control or ownership of what could end up being a virtual city of 100 million people. Thus, the alpha and beta phases will be crucial in figuring out, as a community, how the virtual space would be able to achieve its lofty goals and sustain itself for years to come.
Once everything is in place, Punk6529 hopes OM can represent the ideals of Web3 to the fullest. Here’s to hoping they pull it off.
