Get to Know Quartz: Unique’s Versatile, Untamed Cousin

Quartz gives the Kusama community the essential and advanced NFT tools to unleash innovation.

Every family has one, and with Quartz—we’ll give you the tools to take your NFT dreams (and creator family) to the next level.

Let us clarify for everyone who didn’t pay so much attention to geology studies: what exactly is Quartz? And why have we named our new NFT chain after this versatile member of the gem family?

Quartz is the most versatile of all the gems—and the same goes for Quartz on NFT chains. Built on Substrate, the chain we utilized to release our Substrapunks NFTs, Quartz gives you the most shape-shifting set of options for increasing your levels of experimentation, discovery, and new models of creation.

At Unique Network, we want to nurture a space that everyone has the power and tools to become a part of building. Quartz offers new, more accessible models to the NFT ecosystem and marketplaces—with extremely low barriers for entry. Accessibility, affordability, and efficiency are all part of the Quartz experience. We want you to worry less about technical limitations or high costs and spend more time fearlessly innovating.

Our Features = Innovative NFT Solutions

Creators and collectors alike loved the levels of innovation behind our marketplace when we first powered NFTs on Substrate and Polkadot via Chelobricks and Substrapunks. As those NFT drops did to demonstrate the power of Substrate, Quartz continues with the Kusama parachain community via our user-friendly platform and set of features. We like to think our activity here will stand the test of time, just as Chelobricks and Substrapunks have retained and grown their value since launch. All-in-One, Customizable Marketplace Bundle: Essential Tools to launch your marketplace

**Minting**: On Unique, creating NFT collections is easy, free, and secure, without ever needing to write a single line of code! We give you the option to mint any digital asset, and both owners and administrators can manage collections (with owners allowed to restrict token sales via whitelist mode). 

**Marketplace**: You don’t need to have deep blockchain knowledge to understand, build and enjoy our Marketplace, which allows for the safe and trustless exchange of non-fungible or re-fungible assets, sponsored transaction fees, subscriptions, and scheduled transactions.

**Gallery**: Whether you’re showcasing past drops or highlighting your newest NFTs, the customization options and new tech integrations give you the option to choose how your visitors will view your work. 

**Wallet**: Our easy-to-use wallet is perfect for non-technical audiences who are storing assets, as well as dApp and wallet developers, who love our white-label solution and open-source code. It’s also MetaMask wallet compatible, with additional networks coming on board soon. 

We want you to think beyond! Use advanced features, create your own UX/UI for your fans and customers, and build for the next-gen use cases

**Flexible Economic Models**: Build your own economic models or  ‘hide gas fees under the hood’. Unique grants applications and creators the ability for freemium-based economic models. 

**Re-fungibility**: Mint a token and then partially transfer to multiple owners! Or build a community of friends and own a small share of an expensive Cryptopunk! 

**Scheduling**: Use the  scheduler module to allow scheduling any transactions in the future, as well as the ability to release these transactions multiple times automatically. Imagine creating multiple schedules for your game avatar upgrades!

**Nested NFTs**. Combine multiple NFTs under one and operate them jointly! A bundle is one of the most practical structures for nested NFTS.

….and there is more!

***“Our mission is to give life to NFTs and help artists unleash their full creativity.”***

Alexander Mitrovich Sustainable NFTs

Quartz flexes the sustainability known to Substrate and Polkadot—a proof-of-stake network with a much lower carbon footprint than Ethereum. You can mint NFTs without worrying about impacting the environment, and focus more on your finished product. Unleash your creativity, build the next-gen NFT ecosystems in a way that are climate friendly! The Proof is in the Pudding

We’ve already seen some exciting case studies for how our Unique tools can power action in the NFT and greater blockchain community. Here are a couple of case studies:

The ongoing Digital Art for Climate initiative, a Designathon and Art Competition geared towards amplifying climate action, flexed the power of Unique Network’s infrastructure and creator network. Through this project, we’re helping to level the playing field for young artists from across the globe. The DigitalArt4Climate program gave participants an opportunity to get involved in the burgeoning NFT art movement without having to have deep blockchain knowledge. As a result, they were a key part of an official United Nations Climate initiative to build a better future. Watch a video on the program here. 

As we outlined in our advanced features above, Substrapunks or Chelobricks were both also early signifiers of the power and potential of composable, forever-liquid, multi-resource NFTs— a snapshot of how Quartz can be a free form catalyst for experimentation and the evolution of digital art. You can expect more from Quartz along this route of exciting, exclusive NFT drops. Stay tuned.

**Test it out on Opal **

Welcome to Unique’s latest and great testnet. Opal is designed to ignite new concepts that will eventually build on Quartz and Unique with its fiery colors and properties. If you’re keen to be an early part of building the future of our product and community, find more info here—and try Opal for yourself. . We’re excited to see what Opal can bring to builders on Unique Network.

Say hello to the Quartz Token ($QTZ)

With Quartz comes the Quartz token. You can expect minimal gas fees from $QTZ along with a ton of utility that will power your NFT experimentations. Head to the Quartz Tokenomics page to learn more about utility offering.

Quartz is the latest and greatest step in our mission to empower artists and builders on the blockchain. Like the diverse gems from which they take their name, we hope Quartz on Unique will inspire awe and creativity throughout the growing NFT community.

Quartz Roadmap

The next step for solidifying Quartz is to participate in Kusama’s parachain auction, where we aim to lease a slot on the Kusama network. Unique Network’s independent chain has been live and functioning since August 2020, and has attracted tons of exciting engagement via Chelobricks and Substrapunks NFT drops. A Kusama parachain slot will allow us to test and optimize, in the hope of preparing for a slot on the broader Polkadot network. It will also bring us another step closer towards decentralized funding and governance models.

We will soon announce more details about our launch and crowdloan strategy!

In the meantime, keep up to date with all things Unique Network via our Twitter and Telegram.