What is RMRK?

Imagine a world where digital art, virtual worlds, and online gaming blend seamlessly together, creating a vibrant ecosystem of creativity and interaction. This is the world that RMRK (pronounced "remark") is helping to build.

RMRK is a groundbreaking protocol that enables the creation of "Modular NFTs" – advanced non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with new capabilities that go beyond what traditional NFTs can do. The term RMRK also refers to the team behind this innovative technology and the $RMRK token. This guide is focused on RMRK the protocol.

How RMRK Works

At its core, the RMRK protocol consists of a system of independent "legos" or building blocks, which can be combined in various ways to create new NFT projects. These legos include:

1. Nestable: This block enables NFTs to own other NFTs, creating a hierarchy. Think of it like a family tree, where you have parents, children, and grandchildren. Similarly, a "parent" NFT can have "child" NFTs, and those child NFTs can have their own children, and so on. This helps organize and manage complex relationships between digital assets.

2. Equippable: This block allows NFTs to "wear" or "equip" other NFTs. Imagine a digital character in a video game that can wear different outfits, accessories, or carry items. The equippable block lets you create NFTs that can be attached to other NFTs, providing additional features or enhancing their appearance.

3. Multi-asset: This block enables NFTs to have more than one resource or asset. For example, an NFT representing a digital book can have multiple formats, like an audiobook, PDF, and a cover image. This is similar to having a physical book that can transform into an audiobook or an e-book when needed, depending on the situation.

4. Soulbound: This block makes certain aspects of an NFT non-transferable. Imagine owning a special membership card that gives you access to exclusive benefits, but you can't share or sell those benefits to others. Soulbound ensures that specific features or perks stay with the original NFT and can't be transferred to other NFTs or users.

5. Emotes: This block allows NFTs to receive and display emotions or reactions, adding more interactivity between users and digital assets. Think of it like social media reactions, where you can "like" or "react" to a post. Emotes let users express their feelings or opinions towards an NFT, making the NFT experience more engaging and dynamic.

RMRK's building blocks offer a versatile and powerful foundation for developing various NFT projects, from games and marketplaces to intricate NFT collections, empowering creators to explore new opportunities in the digital asset space.

RMRK is also chain-agnostic, meaning it can be implemented on different blockchain networks. There are currently implementations on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and the Kusama network.

Advantages of Building on RMRK

Using RMRK and Modular NFTs offers numerous benefits for creators, developers, businesses, brands, and collectors. Some of the key advantages include:

1. Enhanced user experiences: RMRK enables NFTs to have more dynamic and interactive features, such as equipping items or receiving emotes, which can lead to richer experiences and more engaging digital assets.

2. Improved organization: Nested NFTs enable better management of large NFT collections or ecosystems, making it easier to handle and navigate complex relationships between digital assets.

3. Versatility and adaptability: Multi-resource NFTs offer greater flexibility in how NFTs are displayed or used across different environments, expanding their potential applications and use cases.

4. Modular and composable: RMRK's lego-like building blocks provide a flexible and modular approach to creating NFT projects, allowing users to combine different features as needed to build unique and innovative digital assets.

5. Blockchain-agnostic: RMRK is not tied to a specific blockchain network, giving creators and developers more freedom in choosing where their projects will live, and enabling cross-chain compatibility and potential for wider adoption.

6. Increased collaboration: The ability for NFTs to become Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) facilitates greater collaboration and decision-making among NFT holders, fostering community-driven projects and empowering users.

7. Enhanced storage options: With multi-resource support, NFTs can be stored on different storage networks and protocols, ensuring redundancy and reducing the risk of digital asset loss or unavailability.

8. Unleashing creative potential: RMRK's powerful toolkit empowers artists and developers to explore new frontiers in NFT creation, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of digital assets.

Who Should Use RMRK?

RMRK is an ideal solution for various groups of people, businesses, and organizations. Some examples include:

1. Digital creators and content producers: Artists, writers, musicians, and other content creators can use RMRK to add interactivity, complexity, and engagement to their digital art, games, or multimedia content while ensuring redundancy and resilience.

2. Metaverse and gaming developers: RMRK enables the creation and management of immersive virtual worlds and gaming experiences, offering more organized and meaningful economies with rich interactions and relationships between in-game assets.

3. Non-profit organizations and social initiatives: NGOs can leverage RMRK's features to raise awareness or funds through engaging NFT projects, using innovative methods to support social and environmental causes.

4. Businesses, brands, and decentralized communities: Companies and DAOs can harness RMRK to create promotional NFTs, rewards programs, NFT-based DAOs, or even launch their own NFT marketplaces, enhancing community-driven projects and customer engagement.

5. NFT collectors, enthusiasts, and innovators: RMRK offers a platform for more engaging, interactive, and valuable NFT collections that adapt and evolve over time, opening new possibilities for collectors and developers to push the boundaries of the NFT space.

What is the history of RMRK?

RMRK (pronounced "remark") was founded in 2020 by Bruno Škvorc, Web3 Foundation's technical educator at the time. Originally a hobby project, RMRK evolved into a team of more than 20 people. Learn more about some of the team on the website.

The RMRK team is the custodian and main developer of the set of open-source Modular NFT standards known as RMRK standards and of the Skybreach metaverse, and a for-profit company building products on top of this infrastructure.

Put bluntly, the RMRK team wanted to build cool products, but the infrastructure to build them on did not exist yet so they chose to build the infrastructure first. This infrastructure is now available to everyone.

How do I use RMRK?

As a creator (artist, musician, author, etc.), you can mint on the Singular UI. A self-help knowledge base is set up HERE, and our YouTube channel has various tutorials on how to use the app.

As a developer who wants to build their own wallet or UI for RMRK, you probably want to learn the concepts first, then refer to the individual tech stack you are interested in (Kusama, EVM, pallets [Rust]).

Discover the future of NFTs on Singular - the Modular NFT marketplace. Create, trade, and experience advanced NFTs with unique capabilities. Join the revolution now!