# The Artist-Owned Marketplace

Source: https://x.com/mr_merge/status/2044739508130709662

## Summary

The author argues that artists will soon be able to build their own marketplaces to control the collecting experience, regain royalty control, and see who their true fans are. The post says NFT communities are fragmented across minting platforms, social channels, marketplaces and custom sites, and that recent X algorithm changes and marketplace closures show the space's fragility. It presents Hyperliquid's planned HIP-4 launch, which will add prediction market and options products, as a parallel for bringing fragmented trading into one application.

## Article

It's coming...

The fact that Artificial's by @hanrgb can ONLY be sold or transferred through https://artificial.han.io/ is a feature, not a bug.

@redbeardnft posted yesterday that "people are buying and selling art like it's used cars". In many cases... this is true. But the opportunity to change this is upon us.

We are heading into a world where non-technical artists will soon be able to build their own marketplaces and control the collecting experience.

THIS will change things in a profound way... This will allow artists to not only control the collecting experience, but also regain control of royalties and enhance the visibility as to who their true fans really are.

This is something that @muratpak started with burn.art... but never finished before they disappeared. Now is the time for NFTs/Digital Artists to take this space to the next level.

Right now, everything is too fragmented.

Mint on platforms like @TransientLabs / @manifoldxyz / @verse_works...

Community on X / Discord

Transact on @opensea / @raster_art /@gondixyz...

Experience/Interact with artwork on custom websites

The network effect that can be built by pulling all this together into a single experience should not be under appreciated. This will not only make the artist communities stronger, it will make the entire space more anti-fragile.

The fact that the NFT communities are suffering from changes to the X algorithm, and certain marketplaces closing down should be a big enough signal. The UX is far from optimal. The fragility is clear to see.

There will still be a big, important role for a consolidated marketplace like @opensea in this world.. and all of the other platforms mentioned above. But I for one, look forward to transacting and engaging with artists through their own platforms.

The Hyperliquid Example

I think the best fractal for this will be what is about to happen to @HyperliquidX when HIP-4 goes live in the next few weeks.

Adding Prediction Markets/Options style products to their platform will not be accretive... it will be exponential imho. We have a fragmented trading experience in crypto currently with CEX's, DEX's, Prediction Markets, Perp Exchanges, Options Platforms....

My sense is... bringing everything under one single application is about to unlock much more than the sum of its parts. It literally unlocks trading opportunities that don't exist within a fragmented system.

The Artist-Owned Marketplace

The first cohort of artists who take full control over their collecting experience will, imho, be massive beneficiaries of this shift. There are many artists who have been innovating in this space for some time. I think I would put @SamSpratt at the top of that list.

The ability to Mint, Transact, Borrow, Communicate, Interact and Experience artwork in a single application will unlock new and novel forms of performance art and engagement that will take many artists to another level.

Now is the time.