Rent out your NFTs with Darkblock

NFT ownership can sometimes be very pricey, especially if we’re talking about the peak of a bull run. But what if there was a different way of getting your (digital) hands on an NFT without paying the high premium?

Well, there is!

Renting NFTs has never been easier thanks to Darkblock. Let’s have a look at how creators, owners and marketplaces can benefit from Access NFTs by Darkblock.

Access NFTs

If you are not already familiar with it, the Darkblock protocol allows for content to be locked into an NFT and viewed only by the owner of that NFT. The NFT itself acts as the key to the hidden/locked-up content. The hidden content is contained within what is called a “darkblock”. All content within the darkblock is stored on the Arweave Permaweb, so there is no risk of it ever getting lost.

Taking that concept one step further, Darkblock now allows users to rent out their NFTs – a.k.a. the keys to the hidden content – without compromising the hidden content beforehand. The cost and duration of the rental period are defined by the user and can be as long as they want (hours, weeks, months, years). Darkblock calls these time-limited NFTs “Access NFTs”.

In one of their end-of-year videos, Joey from Darkblock shows how this is possible. In order to demonstrate how the process works, Darkblock set up a demo rental website (marketplace) called Darkblockster.

The demo marketplace features three rentable Access NFTs which give you limited-time access to the BUDDY NFT – created by Joey himself. In turn, the BUDDY NFT has its own darkblock attached, which contains hidden content, in this instance:

• A short film
• A metaverse-ready 3-D model
• A comic book
• And various conceptual art

(At this point, it’s worth noting that you can have all sorts of media types within a darkblock.)

After renting an NFT, it appears in your wallet with a timer, counting down to the expiry date/time. You can see Joey’s full rental demonstration of the BUDDY NFT here.

But why do we need Acces NFTs?

Monetisation

NFTs (amongst other things) are seen as a way to give creators back their distributional freedom, while also allowing them to benefit from better monetisation methods than those that the Web2 world offers. The monetisation flow for Access NFTs allows for three separate revenue, streams which can benefit creators, but also marketplaces and owners.

The NFT creator sets the rules of how their NFT can be monetised by themselves and third parties. When creating the Access NFT, the creator will need to define basic information such as the minimum price the NFT can be rented-out at, the maximum period it can be rented for, and the royalties they will receive from other owners renting out the NFT. Owners cannot bypass the rules set by the creator when renting out the NFT.

Marketplaces have the ability to build on top of the Darkblock protocol and create their own rental platforms. To do so, they can take advantage of the Darkblock protocol API feature called Publisher Address, which allows rentable Darkblock Access NFTs on their platform.

Lastly, owners can create Access NFTs themselves, while following the rules set by the creator. They can do so by using tools such as “thirdweb” (as seen in the video demo).

The creation process of an Access NFT can get a little technical, so the best way to create the end product is probably to follow along with Joey in his video here. Furthermore, why not join the Darkblock community chat in their Discord server, where you are sure to get all the help needed to create your very first Access NFT.

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