NFT Marketplace Development for Selling Digital Collectibles

About the Client

The client is a private company that offers a convenient way to sell unique digital collectibles (YouTube videos, 2D and 3D digital arts, sound loops, and other listings) from individual creators. They decided to invest in developing the NFT marketplace where users could mint and sell digital collectibles and turned to Geomotiv to complete the task.

Goal

The client planned to build a custom NFT platform with built-in bidding capabilities. The idea was to allow users to mint their piece of artwork and list it for sale. The envisioned platform should have provided secure data storage and payment processing methods as well. Furthermore, the platform was expected to support digital wallets (e.g. MyEtherWallet, Coinbase Wallet) and monetize creations through the Ethereum blockchain. 

Work Description

The initial task was to procure business requirements and determine an appropriate tech stack for the project. After a detailed analysis of customer requirements, our team chose React.js for front-end development, Node.js + Express.js for back-end development, and a PostgreSQL database and AWS solutions to set up hosting services.

As our next step, we proceeded with the NFT platform prototyping and design, which was a non-trivial task. We couldn’t apply standard rules of back-end logic just as we usually did with custom software. Instead, we had to pick an entirely different approach to facilitate transactions in a decentralized platform, where most of the data is verified using blockchain. 

Afterward, we selected the appropriate NFT standard and opted for ERC-721, which enabled a safe data transfer function. Our team chose a Pinata storage platform, which uses IPFS protocol to store media content in a decentralized way. 

The next step was the development of the smart contract protocol, which is a special transaction protocol regulating the relations of the buyer and the seller on the marketplace. Eventually, we worked on the front-end part and plugged in smart contracts using the Ethereum CLI tool.

Work Stages

1. Business Analysis
2. Tech stack definition
3. NFT marketplace prototyping and design
4. Development of the smart-contract protocol
5. Front-end development
6. Testing and QA
7. Marketplace release and maintenance

Results

The developed solution allowed our client to generate extra revenue when selling digital assets. Having launched a successful marketing campaign, the company managed to attract around 10.000 registered users in 3 months. It plans to reach maximum ROI in 9 months.