Digital Membership Cards: The New Generation of Communities
Bank failures, crypto price increase, AI hype… Many things have happened recently, and the crypto world seems to react.
Where are we in 2023 on the NFT field? How will they affect the future of Galaxis’ platform?
András Kristóf:
I think the so-called crypto world is showing quite a bit of strength lately, which is encouraging for the future. But don’t base your decisions on my advice; I am a terrible trader :)
Regarding Web3 trends, I can only express my desires.
I would like to see more utilities and fewer speculative projects. If we want Web3 to be adopted by the masses, then it needs to show how it can add value to any project, and it has to grow out of the gambling phase. As the Internet itself can add value to any project, Web3 needs to be able to do that. If it can’t do it, then it is useless.
The Internet enabled limitless connections and seamless interactions. It broke down borders and distances. Web3 can build upon it and allow seamless transfer of value.
This is what we are working on.
Has the market changed dramatically since 2021, and has your goal and vision changed as a result?
András Kristóf:
The things I was involved in are still relevant today.
In fact, they are more relevant than anytime earlier before. People’s data has now become the most important “asset”. Tons of companies build their business model on their users’ data. When mentioning data, I think about people’s habits, interests, values, and basically everything available digitally. In return for the data, the companies offer “free” services.
If you want to keep your privacy safe and not be invaded, it has a cost, and you have to pay for it today. For example, it is not easy to buy a phone where your privacy is safe. It has a price tag to prevent unauthorized people from listening in and analyzing your activities. It cost me 500 euros to make my phone only for making calls because I wanted the telltale sensors to get removed.
In comparison, how does Galaxis.xyz fit into the current situation?
András Kristóf:
The platform we are working on is a safe space for creators, business people, and those ready to focus on LifeTime Commitment (LTC) instead of LifeTime Value (LTV), so they want to give fans real, ownable value.
Galaxis is an all-in-one platform where people can release visually stunning, dynamic digital membership cards enhanced with perks to provide access and benefit their community members, keeping their data safe. Using Galaxis technology, members can monetize their art, products and services and create sustainable businesses/communities.
We develop our platform on-chain, so transparency is a default from the very beginning. The modules are structured to efficiently adapt to business challenges and solve business needs.
It is a daily practice that our social media activity and private conversations have an impact on the ads we receive. There is no privacy when tech providers know our buying habits and browser history. It would be nice to move away from this intrusive environment.
How is this possible in the age of global internet companies? How does Galaxis.xyz relate to this?
András Kristóf:
My plan with Galaxis.xyz has always been to build a way for anyone to run a community they can own 100%, and no one can take away from them.
Communities can be organized around any topic, and togetherness is essential to their operation. In effect, we are implementing the essence of loyalty schemes without taking away anyone’s data.
This way, the system creates functioning communities that are independent of internet service providers or other companies that build business revenue based on exploiting users’ data. To enter such a community, members need to get a membership card. At this point, anyone can be behind a membership card; in this case, the card just gives the service. Privacy remains one hundred per cent.
Humans are social beings. Everyone needs a mark to show that they are part of a community. We love to have a tribe to identify with.
Galaxis is now developing a tool to express such togetherness.
Today, almost all communities operate on platforms that can be terminated at anytime. They all depend on their service providers, and if your service provider decides that, for some reason, the community can no longer function, there is nothing you can do about it.
For example, maybe you can see what happened to the World of Warcraft fans in China. In one fell swoop, they lost their community and, with it, their digital assets.
That would not happen with a tokenized community; we build that kind of community.
Here, you don’t have to sacrifice your freedom, privacy and security for convenience.
What about NFTs? The hype is gone, and the market is clearing. How does Galaxis.xyz relate to these circumstances?
András Kristóf:
We have been working since the beginning to provide NFTs with valuable features.
I believe in bringing NFT technology into the world of utilities and stopping the trend of speculation. In the case of the speculative market, you can speculate on things that are ultimately only of theoretical value. It’s a niche market, definitely not sustainable in the long term.
For example, Mona Liza or a crypto punk is just as much a theoretical value; it can’t really be used for anything.
At Galaxis, we believe that the practical value is in functionality. That is our goal. We are past the peak of NFT hype; we will move beyond speculation. Features of value, useful to many, take longer to bring a return for speculators, so they look for opportunities elsewhere. This works in our favour because there are more valuable projects.
You often say these days that we have entered the era of “post-hype” NFT. How does this affect the present and future of technology? Will it cause any changes in the vision of Galaxis.xyz?
András Kristóf:
The vision of Galaxis IS post-hype NFTs. This won’t change.
The “hype” phase of the NFT era is when most projects launch with speculative goals — eg. I want to issue NFTs because I want their price to go up. And the only reason people buy these NFTs is that they think their value will go up, so it’s a purely speculative market. There is nothing wrong with this, as long as everyone understands that speculation is (almost) the only utility here. This is a legit market, and it exists outside of NFTs as well. There are other items too that don’t do much, but people speculate with them, like luxury watches or Bitcoin.
But remember, speculation is a niche market.
To make the technology useful for the masses, it needs to do something useful other than “number go up” (or down…).
It needs to have UTILITY.
Once an item has actual utility, then two things will happen:
- It will be priced by the value of that utility. Like your cell phone — more memory, faster processor, bigger bandwidth will command a higher price, but nobody will buy a cell phone because they think its price will increase.
- It will be useful for MANY more people, like, again, your cell phone.
This is what Galaxis is set out to achieve — to provide utility to NFTs and make them actually beneficial for everyone.
Interview with András Kristóf, Founder of Galaxis
Made by Tamas Peter Turcsan
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Disclaimer
For legal purposes, we have to include this disclaimer. This of course doesn’t mean that we won’t do our absolute best to make every feature possible, but since this is new technology and new legal territory, we need to make sure that the terms and conditions are in order.
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