As we approach the launch of our Metablox NFT Reservation period (starting with the Whitelist neighbors from our Discord with a 48 hours head start), it’s useful to explore the economical dynamics that could happen when we enter our NFT minting phase in March.
As described in the Metablox NFT White Paper, mint prices for Metablox NFT scales by 50% every 10% a city is being owned/minted.
Example: If a city has 5,000 Blox:
- Phase 1 = the initial phase.
- Phase 2 = triggered when 500 homes are purchased in total.
- Phase 3 = triggered when 1,000 homes are purchased in total.
- Phase 4 = triggered when 1,500 homes are purchased in total.
- And so on…
Upon reaching the next phase, the base price of unclaimed properties will increase by 1.5x compared to the previous phase, with a non-stacked 24 hour grace period for the each new phase.
A Tier 1 Blox in San Francisco would cost $100 to mint in Phase 1, but in Phase 10 where over 90% of San Francisco is minted, mint prices become $3844.
Similarly, a Tier 5 Blox in San Francisco would cost $500 to mint in Phase 1, but in Phase 10, the minting price would be $19,222.
Of course, we fully expect some Blox to be sold for much higher than the minting prices in the second market after they are minted due to higher reputation and meaning surrounding that Blox.
It is important to note that, if a Blox is purchased from a Reservation during the Reservation period (mid Feb – early March), it will remain Phase 1 prices.
If the reservations are very popular and immediately 80% of the Metablox NFTs are reserved and purchased (there is a 48 hour window where reservations can be converted before it gets released back to the public), all 80% of the Blox will be minted at the base Phase 1 price such as $100 for Tier 1 Blox.
However, the rest of the unminted Blox would immediately move to the next phase (Phase 2) prices with a 24 hour grace period, before it moves to Phase 3, and then 24 hours to Phase 4.
If you reserved Blox, it would be important to make sure you purchase the Blox during the 48 hours exclusive period for the Blox you picked, or else you might end up paying multiple times higher for the same Blox.
Since the founding principle of Metablox is solid growth and lasting value – instead of exuberant speculation and hype – the goal is not to quickly sell out all properties within a city.
Rather, the Phase of that city will reflect the organic demand, which could reach full saturation over an extended period of time.
We want to make buying an NFT owned by someone else more appealing than a newly minted one – until the market demand is high enough to open a new phase with a new set of unminted properties that is much higher than the previous phase.
This ensures that Metablox owners will have steady rising values for their NFTs as floor prices increase while community interest in Metablox remains healthy.
If an early Metablox owner buys an NFT for $100 – besides being a more sought after Blox to begin with – the Metablox owner will likely level the Blox up with memories, which allows the Blox to generate more MetaRent.
After a certain time if the base price of other unclaimed NFTs becomes $225 (Phase 3), the Metablox owner should at least be able to sell their NFT for $225, considering any random unclaimed and Level 1 Blox is at $225.
If the Metablox owner wants to sell quickly and lowers the price to $200, not only is the Blox higher level than unclaimed Blox, it would also be cheaper. It would be a reasonable assumption to believe that people who care about the Metablox ecosystem would want to purchase it rather quickly.
If everyone wants to trade at below the current phase mint price, then the mint price will not move to the next phase. But if everyone is starting to trade at above the current mint price, then it makes more sense to mint new ones, which would eventually raise the mint price to a new phase.
We are very dedicated to making sure people not only have growing value in their NFT assets, but they have liquidity that corresponds to market demand.
So what would happen to the Minting Phase in March?
There are three scenarios that could happen once the Metablox Minting Phase starts.
Here we analyze them from highest demand to lowest demand.
Scenario 1: Metablox NFTs in San Francisco sell out during the reservation phase
The scenario with the most demand is that during the one month period where reservations are possible, all ~5000 Blox in San Francisco are all reserved and minted.
That means, that all Blox would have been minted in the Phase 1 pricing ($100-$500), and there would be no unclaimed Blox in San Francisco.
This means that if anyone else wants to buy more Blox, they need to buy it from someone who already owns a minted Blox, at whatever the price the owner deems desirable.
Needless to say, this is a great situation for the Metablox community as a whole. People who reserved got the best possible deal, and the entire ecosystem has a great deal of social proof.
The Metablox company would collect less revenue due to no City Scaling Mechanics activating (which is fine), and it would bring great confidence to new and existing owners for future cities. Everyone wins in this situation.
Scenario 2: San Francisco Metablox NFTs sold between 10%-90% during reservation phase
This scenario indicates the situation where the Metablox NFTs are in strong demand during the reservations periods, but have not yet completely sold out during that period.
In this scenario, a tangible amount of Blox are owned by people, who can set their selling price to whatever they want. The good news for them is that others who wish to buy new Metablox NFTs wouldn’t be able to just buy an unminted Blox for a lower price.
Due to the City Scaling Mechanics, unminted Blox would be significantly more expensive, up to $12,814.
This would control the available supply pool of NFT inventory to just the ones that are minted – until everyone wants to buy above the new mint prices.
Blox owners in this situation can either set their sell prices at below the new mint prices, which should maximize their liquidity.
If the Blox owners set their prices at above the new mint prices, then unless the Blox has some special interest value (celebrity home etc.), it would encourage people to first buy the unminted prices until San Francisco is fully owned.
In this scenario, people who own Blox during the reservation phase would greatly benefit, and later comers might immediately see dramatically higher prices. In this case, indecisively watching how things go before committing could be an expensive endeavor.
Scenario 3: Less than 10% of San Francisco Metablox NFTs owned during the reservation period
This is the scenario where Metablox NFTs have less than 500 of the Blox purchased within the one month reservation period.
This of course is not ideal for the platform, but as the foundational strategy of Metablox is to build lasting value over time, it is also not detrimental.
Frenzies are volatile and sometimes distracts from the ultimate mission of preserving humanities most precious memories.
Since below 10% of San Francisco Metablox NFTs are owned, mint prices will remain at the base structure. This means that during the next few months, Blox owners would be able to concentrate on rooting memories, collecting MetaRent, and leveling up their Blox.
Overtime, the blox platform becomes more and more meaningful, which could garner increased interest from the general public. People may notice that Metablox NFTs are not about pump and dump but, like historical landmarks, the more time that is elapsed the more meaningful and valuable it becomes.
At that point, the early 10% owners would have the highest Level Blox with the best memories, significantly beating out other Blox.
Early owners will also have significantly more MetaRent, which would allow them to have a substantial advantage to bid for Landmarks.
Metablox NFTs – prepared for all outcomes
As you can see, even though there are a variety of possible ways the Metablox launch could play out (depending on how many of your friends you are inviting to this exciting project), we are prepared for every scenario and will make sure everything works out positively for our longterm vision, while making sure Blox owners that are part of our journey gets rewarded handsomely on the way.