**From crowdloan rewards and bonuses to MintFest winners, find out what’s coming up following our team’s monumental win!**

Nearly a week after Unique Network’s win of the 14th Polkadot parachain auction, which will lead to our full deployment on slot #14 of their network with a lease from 4th June 2022 to 8th April 2023, we are back on our blog to share some timely updates on what’s happening next for our community and crowdloan contributors

Officially becoming a Polkadot parachain will allow us to tap into the interoperability, scalability, and security of the Polkadot Network to continue enabling composable and advanced features for NFT creators and marketplaces, and platforms. We are now one step closer to building unlimited potential and technical capabilities for the fast-growing NFT ecosystem!

Thanks again to the nearly 5,000 crowdloan contributors who contributed 822,942 $DOT to our crowdloan through our leading channels, Gate.io, Equilibrium, Bifrost Finance, MEXC Global, Kraken Exchange, and Parallel Finance. Our Polkadot parachain win wouldn't be possible without your support.

**Know Your Rewards!**
We have created a new rewards calculator for you to check out your total UNQ tokens based on your crowdloan contributions and rewards eligibility! After connecting your wallet address, you’ll be able to view which reward bonuses you qualify for, which include base rewards, whitelist, MintFest participation bonus, referral bonus, referee bonus, and the Super Supporters program. The calculator will also provide rewards details for contributions done through the Unique Network website, Parallel Finance, Bifrost, and Equilibrium. If you contributed to the crowdloan through another channel, please reach out to them directly for information on your exact rewards.

Check out your rewards using the Unique [Rewards Calculator](https://unique.network/token/crowdloan/calculation/).

Up to 150,000,000 UNQ tokens were allocated for UNQ Rewards for the Crowdloan contributors. The first DOT contribution earned supporters 20 UNQ, and the last DOT contribution was rewarded with 5.28 UNQ.

For more info on rewards, bonuses, and eligibility, please head to our full [blog post](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-crowdloan-rewards-and-bonuses-explained/) on the matter.

**What is Unique?**
Unique is built for the next-generation future of blockchain made possible by Polkadot and Kusama and the entire NFT sector. As Polkadot’s first NFT parachain with advanced features, we provide marketplaces, games, and dApps with advanced features and limitless potential—from flexible economic models for developers and customers to a focus on sustainability and speed. Following our win of a Kusama parachain in December of 2021, our Polkadot crowdloan win is a culmination of our intimate journey with the blockchain, wh ere we have been an official Polkadot Ambassador since 2019 and are responsible for creating and releasing the first NFTs on Polkadot: Subtrapunks and CheloBricks. We also are proud to have numerous Polkadot ecosystem integrations, including [Karura](https://unique.network/blog/quartz-launches-on-karura-swap/), [Subsocial](https://unique.network/blog/substrate-based-decentralized-social-network-subsocial-integrates-with-unique-s-marketplace/), Parallel Finance, Equilibrium, and [Bifrost](https://medium.com/bifrost-finance/bifrost-salp-now-supports-polkadot-crowdloans-for-unique-network-1f9bee398a7d).

**What Happens Next?**
After securing the parachain from Polkadot, Unique will formally launch our governance and [utility token](https://unique.network/token/), UNQ. The native token will power our platform through payment transactions for NFTs and smart contract transactions and facilitate staking mechanisms like voting and reputation management. We will update the community on the formal date of deployment.

**MintFest**
[MintFest](https://unique.network/blog/get-ready-for-mintfest/) was our debut NFT festival launched at the start of our Polkadot crowdloan to energise the Unique community and NFT creators—plus offer additional rewards to contributors who submit collections on [UniqueMinter](https://minter-quartz.unique.network/#/), our native minting platform. All eligible MintFest addresses will receive a 5% extra on their crowdloan contribution.

Our panel of art and NFT experts, including Anna Dart from Exquisite Workers and Lianna Adams from the Dream Conduit, are currently addressing the tokens and will announce the winner soon. The winning MintFest tokens will then be listed on the [Marketplace](http://unqnft.io/).

The entire team at Unique Network would like to extend gratitude to our community, investors, developers, and everyone who played a part in our Polkadot parachain win. There is so much on the horizon to be excited about and we can't wait to share more with you soon.



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UNIQUE WINS THE 14TH PARACHAIN AUCTION ON THE POLKADOT NETWORK

**Polkadot parachain win, Quartz x Karura, Unique Ambassadors & lots more!**

What a month April was. So many exciting things happened for our platform and community, including the massive win of the 14th Polkadot auction, which will enable us to be a fully-functioning parachain on the next-generation blockchain. Read on to find out more about the last month and what’s ahead! 

**Unique Wins the 14th Parachain Auction on the Polkadot Network**

We will soon fully deploy on slot #15 on Polkadot’s parachain network, with a 96 week lease. The Unique team would like to thank the nearly 5,000 crowdloan contributors who contributed 822,942 $DOT to our crowdloan through our leading channels, Gate.io, Equilibrium, Bifrost Finance, MEXC Global, Kraken Exchange, and Parallel Finance. The success of our Polkadot parachain win wouldn't be possible without you.

For in-depth details of rewards, MintFest results, and next steps regarding the UNQ token, please reference our [wrap-up blog post](https://unique.network/blog/14th-parachain-auction/).

**Quartz Launches on Karura Swap**

Karura Swap, an AMM-style decentralised exchange on Kusama, has joined forces with Unique Network to introduce its latest trading combo QTZ/aUSD and QTZ/KAR! The pairs went live on Bootstrap mode on 13th April, 2022 with trustless trading scheduled to go live following 168 hours of one-or two-sided bootstrap provisioning on Karura. You can continue to provide liquidity to both the pairs on the Karura App Check out the latest bootstrap details [here](https://apps.karura.network/swap/bootstrap). You can learn more about our work with Karura and Acala in this [recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYt7f2SUauo) fr om when Unique CEO Alex Mitrovich joined their recent Community Call, as well as in our [full blog post](https://unique.network/blog/quartz-launches-on-karura-swap/).

**DigitalArt4Climate COP26 collection traveled to Seattle NFT Museum**

In a very special IRL meeting of the Metaverse, the DigitalArt4Climate COP26 NFT collection traveled to the first-of-its-kind Seattle NFT museum on 16th April, wh ere various winning works from the competition and campaign were exhibited in physical form across screens. Read more about “The Climate Conversation” [here](https://t.co/IlvLDzn6uz) and watch a [video recap](https://t.co/IlvLDzn6uz) from NFT artist Anna Dart of Exquisite Workers.

**Greg Zaitsev Spoke on Blockchain Sustainability at NFC Lisbon**

Our CTO gave a detailed presentation at Non-Fungible Conference in Lisbon on sustainability in NFTs and how Unique Network and Polkadot are building eco-conscious solutions for the future of the blockchain. Greg will be bringing his Web3 wisdom to [Blockdown Festival](https://blockdownconf.com/) in Croatia (the world’s first NFT-enabled festival) on 11-13 May and Polkadot India’s dotFriday on 27th May, for a presentation on Advanced NFTs ([register here](https://t.co/TsKCpkAit0)).

![](https://app.subsocial.network/ipfs/ipfs/QmTAKwvEzWcYqStvShJZmsWhz3LKcH82DMY78dzwBCbJcS?type=.png)

**Unique Ambassadors (Applications are Open!)**

We’re still accepting early applicants for our official Unique Ambassador Program. This is an opportunity for you to get deeply integrated into the DNA of the Unique Network at a very exciting and pivotal time in our platfform’s growth. In February, we conducted two ambassador calls and onboarded applicants as Ambassador candidates. Stay tuned for more info on upcoming Ambassador calls, and apply below.

[Become an ambassador](https://unique.network/ambassador-application/?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Monthly+Newsletter) and help shape the future of the NFT world!

**Alex Mitrovich Joined a Polkadot Web3 Talk**

Our CEO Alex Mitrovich joined a deep-dive Web3 talk presented by Polkadot with some other leaders from the ecosystem, including Ray Lu from Bitcountry and Bruno Skvorc from RMRK, for a conversation on the metaverse and what it really means, now and in the future. Watch the recording [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qALl6ikjLHs&t=136s). Alex was also in [CoinDesk](https://t.co/9CCWeT7Rwa) as part of their Payments week, to shed some light on stablecoins, and how a unique form of bundling NFTs and stablecoins might potentially change the crypto landscape.

Additionally, Alex was also on Cryptowise’s [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I72qQutnPNk) and Jay Chrawnna’s Space Monkeys [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQu7NpqyIRQ) to talk about Unique, Quartz, the Polkadot crowdloan, and making it seamless for users by hiding the blockchain.

Our Head of Metaverse Growth, Irina Karagyaur, was in the pages of CoinTelegraph magazine alongside other industry leaders and founders to share some insider tips and wisdom on how to navigate the growing Web3 industry. Read [here](https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/2022/04/01/how-to-make-a-metaverse-secrets-of-the-founders).

Irina also led a three-hour Twitter Spaces this month on the topic of “Art and Utility”, with digital art pioneer, VESA, and a group of other builders and movers from the NFT, fine art, and crypto communities. Check out a recap of the conversation [here](https://twitter.com/Unique_NFTchain/status/1520036481532055552), and listen to the recording [here](https://twitter.com/Unique_NFTchain/status/1518602116658610177).

Thanks for reading and sharing your support during this exciting and eventful month. There’s lots more to come for Unique Network in May. We’ll see you soon!

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Unique Network April Recap & What's Coming in May 

Following the use of Unique’s low-carbon NFT infrastructure during the [Sovereign Nature Initiative’s](https://sovereignnature.com/) (SNI) [Winter 2022 Hackathon Challenge](https://sovereignnature.com/winter-2022-hackathon-challenge) in February 2022, we’re excited up to share news of the sustainability-focused blockchain nonprofit’s upcoming event, [Experimental Zone #1](https://sovereignnature.com/experimental-zone-event-1), happening on May 21 in Amsterdam.

This Web3 For Nature Summit, held at Amsterdam’s city playground for sustainability [De Ceuvel](https://deceuvel.nl/en/), will serve as a unique in-person celebration of ecology, art, theory, and emerging technologies.

If you caught our [blog post](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-sovereign-nature-initiative-partnership/) back in December 2021, you read about Unique’s blossoming partnership with Sovereign Nature Initiative. Utilizing our white-label, sustainable NFT infrastructure, SNI is rolling out a digital asset beta environment to sell NFTs generated by ongoing technical and artistic projects.

SNI’s recent hackathon challenged technology teams to develop ideas that “enable the representation of non-human life, establish governance models, and empower ecosystems to act in their own interests and to produce and capture value in their own right.” Seven top teams fr om the hackathon – focused on web3 technologies, apps, and data platforms – are now SNI’s [Germinators](https://sovereignnature.com/programs/germinators-program), participating in a new 10-week incubation program helping teams further develop and deploy their innovative ideas. These technologies will soon roll out at SNI’s Experimental Zone #1 on May 21 in Amsterdam, wh ere attendees will be able to test the technologies and see how they apply to location-specific sustainability projects.

Unique is proud to provide the Germinators teams with NFT solutions that enable them to develop their projects in the most eco-conscious way possible. The teams plan on using Unique’s NFT capabilities for several applications that reward positive ecological projects and volunteerism. Possible applications include generating value for De Ceuvel by selling NFTs expressing nature-based data collected at the site, using NFTs to record volunteers regenerative efforts and experimenting with NFTs to represent local animal and plant species.

"At SNI, we rely on nurturing a diverse community and building strong partnerships to help us explore novel ways to value, balance, and relate to the natural world we are an integral part of," said Alessandro Mazzi, SNI's Head of Partnerships. “As our partner, Unique Network helped us build our digital assets marketplace and, to support the participants in our new Germinators Program, has offered a generous bounty allocation. This sponsorship will help teams further develop their radical ideas.”

Kicking off on Saturday, May 21 in Amsterdam, SNI's launch event, [Experimental Zone #1](https://sovereignnature.com/experimental-zone-event-1), will bring together world-class thinkers, innovators and artists alongside local musicians, dancers, performance artists, and the Germinator teams to showcase and discuss new technologies and approaches for valuing nature. The participating Germinators teams will showcase their solutions and have the chance to meet with potential future users interested in engaging with Web3 tools and investors who may be willing to support their idea. Secure your tickets [here](https://ceuvel.stager.nl/web/tickets) and find more details, including the full day's program of events and speakers, [here](https://sovereignnature.com/experimental-zone-event-1).

— Unique Network

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Unique Network Scales Sustainable NFTs through Sovereign Nature Initiative’s new Germinators Program

A day and a half’s worth of energy consumption in a typical household.

Operating a refrigerator for one month.

Riding an average car for 192 km.

A single NFT transfer on Ethereum.

What do all of these actions (and one transaction) have in common? They all equate to around 48 kg of CO2 emitted.

As NFTs have barreled into the mainstream over the past two years, the lion's share of conversation, and unfortunately, criticism, has revolved around the excessive amount of energy it takes to mint, transfer, and trade NFTs—of which there are millions of transactions happening each day. The conversation stems fr om the fact that blockchain in itself, fr om the core principles of Bitcoin to NFTs, all require mining and the transfer of "blocks," which use energy. As Ethereum first emerged as the breeding ground of the NFT explosion, analysts, media, and curious consumers have discussed and debated what a more sustainable future looks like for NFTs.

**Eth 2 Proof of Stake—What Relief Really Looks Like**

Many look to Ethereum 2.0, the long-awaited upgrade that aims to improve the network's scalability and security through a transition to a Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, as a potential solution for the negative energy output of the NFT ecosystem. Proof of Stake rewards network validators with transaction fees for providing security and availability to a network, versus Proof of Work, which rewards miners for adding blocks and solving cryptographic puzzles (hence requiring much more hardware and energy output). If you need a bit of a refresher or definition, a blockchain validator is someone (a computer node) who is responsible for verifying transactions on a blockchain; they maintain the blockchain's integrity by constantly computing the linkage from the first block to the last. Once transactions are verified, they are added to the distributed ledger, i.e., the blockchain.

While we believe Eth 2.0 and Proof of Stake will certainly be a step forward for Ethereum, annual energy consumption doesn't paint the greatest picture when you look closely at the data. This observation is especially true when you compare Ethereum 2.0 to other blockchains which use a Proof of Stake Consensus model. In fact, according [to an article on Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/video/proof-stake-ethereum-2-0-153221744.html), it still ranks last, while in piece on [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-02/polkadot-has-smallest-carbon-footprint-crypto-researcher-says), Polkadot comes in as the blockchain with the smallest carbon footprint. If you need more proof, take a look at the [CCRI 2022 report](https://www.carbon-ratings.com/dl/pos-report-2022) on carbon ratings in blockchain.

Due to our data analysis of NFT energy consumption across three major blockchains, annual consumption on Ethereum 2.0 is at 70 GWh, with an output of around 45g of CO2 for a single NFT mint. That's equivalent to 9 full smartphone charges. On Tezos, another next-generation blockchain, annual consumption through Proof of Stake runs at 2.5 GWh, with a per-NFT mint of 1.1g, equivalent to an hour of recorded video.

At the moment, with the way Eth 2 is being designed, the network will run at up to a million block validators, an exponential rise from wh ere it currently sits, a much more conservative (and environmentally hopeful) 385,000, roughly 1/3 of the way to a total of one million validators. So it would help if you kept in mind that the 45g of CO2 we mentioned above will look a lot higher when the great 2.0 merge finally happens. So what are some solutions to the above problems, and how exactly are we a part of shaping them?

**Growing an Eco-Conscious Ecosystem**

Enter Polkadot, the blockchain of our Unique Network's own parchain, wh ere we are currently building the future of next-generation NFTs, which until now have been virtually nonexistent and unknown to this dynamic platform. At an annual consumption of 2 GWh, NFTs on Polkadot burn a mere .05 g of CO2, equivalent to breathing…for four short seconds, making it the most eco-conscious blockchain, and more specifically, of all the Proof-of-Stake chains. In comparison to Eth 2.0's standard Proof of Stake consensus mechanism, which allows anyone to be a validator if they have 32 Ethereum (a considerable but rather approachable amount of money) – a process that, in the end, really awards validator for availability, and not for power to the network's security and stability.

Polkadot, however, uses NPoS (nominated proof-of-stake) as its election mechanism, designed with the respective roles of validators and nominators. Stakers who are willing and available to maintain the network can run a validator node, while other Polkadot stakers act as "nominators," who can choose up to 16 validators to produce and provide stability to parachain blocks.

Ultimately, Polkadot NPos mechanism makes it possible for the blockchain to reduce the total number of validators on the network to only 1,000, a drastically lower number than the one million nodes that Ethereum 2.0 will contain. This reduced energy output is far more eco-conscious and even more secure, decentralized, and accessible, as securing the ability to nominate a validator equates to having only one $DOT—Polkadot's native currency, which is around $10 at the time of writing.

**Solving the Scalability Dilemma & the Power of the Parachain**

While Eth 2.0 promises to drastically reduce CO2 emissions to a more attractive yet not groundbreaking 45 grams per NFT mint, vast network congestion will still remain, which increases the reality that more people than ever are straying away fr om minting NFTs on Ethereum because it's simply so expensive, and even primitive, to operate NFTs there. On a parachain like Unique Network, however, a minuscule 1.3 micrograms of CO2 emissions per transfer is an ultimate efficiency that's not just possible but probable. The scalable nature of parachains, which offer interoperable features like XCM cross-messaging, forkless upgrades, and a far more sustainable validator infrastructure, create a future wh ere more dynamic use cases, like advanced blockchain games, are within our reach.

As a complex chain that's still in its infancy, we still have a lot of hard work ahead on Polkadot, especially as the first NFT project in the ecosystem. We undoubtedly need more skilled developers who are devoted to the dynamic and sustainable power that Polkadot holds and all that it can offer the blockchain. We need more simplified education and discussion. This challenge (and opportunity) is why at Unique Network, we're building accessible tools that bring that unlimited power of Polkadot to the masses for a greater, greener and more advanced future in NFTs for us all.

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THE POWER OF POLKADOT: Inside Unique’s Sustainable NFT Technology

### **Something big is coming to Unique and Polkadot. Want to be a part of a historic new story? List your spunk now for 100 KSM, and get ready for a special vote by our community.**

In the beginning, there was mainly darkness. In the years after came an interconnected land of ideas, unconventional minds, and pioneering ideas actualized by limitless technologies full of potential. This land was built by renegades, punks, and outcasts, who dreamed of a better framework for technology that would push society forward while refusing to submit to the powers that be who had held on to control for too long.

This land is the Pluriverse, an expanse of multiple, parallel blockchains, built on the idea of interoperability, interconnected wavelengths and communities of opportunity. As the years went on, however, the hopeful, revolutionary innovation of the early Pluriverse fell back into darkness. In the midst of all the excitement of chaos of building a new world, what started as a dream of utopia quickly turned into a congested and expensive ecosystem of competing metaverses that has started to limit the very progress, growth, and unity it once promised.

What was built in the past to shape a new future, has resulted in a present that was never meant to be.

But our present does not need to be our end. It is still only the beginning. A hero is amongst us, one who would rise to the challenge of breaking free from the stifling congestion and competition of our present world and free us to build in a new world.

We want YOU to put forth your Substrapunk nominees on who should rise to this challenge. List your [**Substrapunk on our portal of discovery**](https://unqnft.io/market) for the bounty of 100 KSM, and our community will vote on who should be our hero in this forthcoming epic quest. He, or she, will embark on an adventure of a lifetime alongside a mysterious fellow wanderer.

This is only the beginning. List your Substrapunk for 100 KSM on the Unique Marketplace, and behold the chronicles about to unfold before your eyes.

## [**List your Substrapunk Now!**](https://unqnft.io/market)

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Unique Network is buying a Substrapunk to star in a new epic quest

MintFest, our debut NFT competition and festival for the Quartz community, came to a close last month following our recent [win of a parachain on Polkadot](https://unique.network/blog/14th-parachain-auction/). Now, we’re thrilled to announce the winning tokens from the event, which were judged and selected by NFT artist and curator [Anna Dart](https://twitter.com/annadart_artist) ([Exquisite Workers](https://www.twitter.com/ew_corpse)) and Lianna Adams from our partners, the [Dream Conduit](https://unique.network/blog/the-dream-conduit-partnership/). Two winners, Substrapunk Swag and Dumb Astronauts, were selected by the Unique Network team based on their vision of utility to the core community.

The one-month competition resulted in over 1,000 tokens generated, resulting in 184 total collections created on [UniqueMinter](https://minter-quartz.unique.network/#/), our native NFT minting platform that was recently migrated over from Opal (our testnet) to Quartz. MintFest contributors were also made eligible for a variety of special crowdloan bonuses to reward their participation, which you can find more details on in our [announcement blog](https://unique.network/blog/get-ready-for-mintfest/).

## Mintfest Winners

Without further ado, we’re finally ready to share the winning MintFest tokens below, which you can view on UniqueScan, our new blockchain database scanner.

## ![](https://app.subsocial.network/ipfs/ipfs/QmRdw2FvhSUezYnmuYeHMFV4ynxwVLXkRgETr74frZg7fo)  
  
**What is next?**

Following the winning token announcement listed above, MintFest NFTs can be listed for trading on our official marketplace, [unqnft.io](http://unqnft.io) in mid-June. For more information on MintFest and how to use UniqueMinter, please visit this [tutorial](https://github.com/FFilipUnique/MintFest-Tutorial). Another big round of gratitude to our community and all the creators who submitted a token.

Thanks for reading,  
—Unique Network

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Winner of Mintfest: Unique's Debut NFT Competition!

### **Following our crowdloan win back in April, it’s finally time to share next steps for our token generation event and full deployment on Polkadot.**

2022 has already seen significant achievements for our blockchain and community—most notably, a crowdloan auction win for a parachain on Polkadot and “[Diamonds in the Rough](https://unique.network/blog/the-unique-network-token-sale-recap/),” our token event for the community. In April, we published a crowdloan [recap blog](https://unique.network/blog/14th-parachain-auction/https://unique.network/blog/14th-parachain-auction/), which outlined the next steps following the win, which will lead to our full deployment on slot #14 of their network with a lease from 4th June 2022 to 8th April 2023. See below for the full schedule of events!

## **Week 1 June, 2022. Polkadot Parachain Onboarding**

In the first week of June, we will proceed with Polkadot parachain onboarding, joining other winners of the third batch from the ecosystem. During this time, every parachain that won the slot in this batch (between April and the current day) is onboarded, which means they are given the right to produce blocks.

## **Week 2 June, 2022. Forkless Upgrade**

A forkless upgrade, one of the unique (no pun intended) benefits of Polkadot infrastructure, are for adding or removing features and fixing bugs. This is like a software update, but in most cases it saves previous features/updates because of the permanent nature of the blockchain.

This particular update will add the feature set v921000 that is currently available in Quartz. This includes pivotal features such as:

* Update from polkadot v0.9.21 from v0.9.17

* Sponsoring improvements for EVM

* Support of ERC-165

## **Week 2-3 June, 2022. Reserve Collection IDs 1, 2, 3**

Unique will reserve three collection IDs so that we can bridge NFTs back and forth between Quartz and Unique in the future. These collections include:

1 = Substrapunks

2 = Chelobricks

3 = Ambassadors

## **Week 1 July 2022. TGE (Token Generating Event)**

During the first week of July, we will proceed with our long-awaited Token Generating Event. We will be enabling Unique Wallet, Minter, Scanner, and Marketplace to support Unique around the TGE time. Tokens will be locked as per your investment contract or agreement.

## **TBD July 2022**

After our TGE we will:

* Fully deploy UniqueWallet + Minter, Scanner, Marketplace. NFTs can now be bought and sold by DOT and UNQ.

* Update Documentation (new endpoints, new features)

* Distribute / lock UNQ

* Announce marketing and website updates.

## **Week 1 October, 2022**

During this time, we will deploy a Substrate <> Unique Bridge POC. This bridge will be solely designed to trustlessly transfer NFTs and other valuables between two networks: Unique and Quartz.

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Launch Plan: Unique Network is Going Live on Polkadot!

### **Polkadot launch, MintFest results, Consensus Austin, and a new epic quest for the future of NFTs.**

May has come and gone and summer is just about here at Unique Network! Here’s what happened in May—and what’s happening in June! Read on for more.

## **Unique is Going Live on Polkadot — Launch Plan Released**

**![image3.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/06b/2s7qalwe77xp0mfldp8bvckh9pfrdg4f/image3.jpg)**

At long last, Unique Network is officially [live](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fpolkadot.api.onfinality.io%2Fpublic-ws#/parachains) on Polkadot! Following a big month for Polkadot, including the long-awaited launch of XCM cross-chain messaging, we couldn’t be more excited to enter this next stage of our journey. Earlier in the week, we outlined a rollout launch plan for our full deployment on Pokadot—fr om parachain onboarding to a forkless upgrade and Token Generating Event. Find the full weekly rollout [here](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-live-on-polkadot/).

## **Introducing a New Epic Tale for the Future of NFTs**

**![image4.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/f07/yg0y9pyq21ydaq58rajx75g64m9sjs9v/image4.jpg)**

We’ve kicked off the first chapter of an epic new quest to bring together the congested and increasingly disparate blockchain of the early Pluriverse, an expanse of multiple, parallel blockchains built on the idea of interoperability, interconnected wavelengths, and communities of opportunity. To help identify our hero, who will help us bring the blockchain together as it once was and was always meant to be, we’ve asked our community to list their faithful Substrapunks for 100 KSM on the [Unique Marketplace](https://unqnft.io/market). Check out the [first chapter](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-is-buying-a-substrapunk/) of the Unique Chronicles to learn more and become a part of the story. We’ll be sharing more soon.

**Unique is Going on the Road!**

**![image6.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/92c/vi2il0m2njdhrb044cxddexv34gctcnv/image6.jpg)**

This month, the Unique team will be making global moves with appearances and talks at three key crypto events!

9-12 June: Consensus 2022, Austin — Catch our CMO Charu Sethi for an official panel at one of the world’s most important crypto conferences, Consensus Austin!

20 - 23 June: NFT. NYC — In addition to some special Unique pop-ups at everyone’s favorite NFT conference in the Big Apple, our CEO [Alex Mitrovich](https://twitter.com/AleksandaMitro1) will be speaking at NFT. NYC for his second year in a row! If you missed Alex’s talk last year, head to [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWfAlyfx0Zg) to rewatch.

29 - 30 June: Polkadot Decoded — We are proud to have multiple team members sharing knowledge at the Polkadot ecosystem’s marquee event: Polkadot Decoded. Following talks last year, we’ll have Evelyn Ke on “Next-Generation NFTs,” Alex Mitrovich on Leveraging the Power & Flexibility of Substrate to build Advanced NFT Infrastructure,” and Unique Senior Ambassador Mario Maldonado on “Advancing NFTs Beyond Collectibles with Unique Network.” Our CTO Greg Zaitsec will also do another essentia talk on the “Sponsoring Palette - The Gateway to Mass Adoption.” We look forward to seeing you there and online!

## **Unique in the Press**

**![image1.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/6b0/mlp6vg9nusbvctpb2r5fna7zub1mgiyc/image1.jpg)**

**Our team made waves in Web3 press and events last month. See below for some highlights.**

* Charu Sethi in [Hackernoon](https://hackernoon.com/marketing-in-web3-is-akin-to-being-in-a-foreign-country-with-different-rules) with some tips for marketing in Web3.

* Irina Karagyaur on how an “[open metaverse preempts bad business models](https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/metaverseweek/2022/05/25/the-new-ways-of-making-money-in-the-metaverse/)” in CoinDesk’s Metaverse week.

* Alex Mitrovich in a Harvard Tech Webinar on NFTs and the Metaverse. Watch on [YouTube](https://youtu.be/Ecx8VOQBKpw).

* Greg Zaitsev spoke at Polkadot India about advanced NFTs and climate change. Watch on [YouTube](https://twitter.com/AleksandaMitro1).

* Irina Karagyaur at the debut edition of CoinBureau Con! Watch Irina’s talk on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX37h-4cuis) and read the [recap](https://www.coinbureau.com/review/coin-bureau-conference-2022-recap/).

## **Hakusama Nested NFT Workshop and Challenge**

Make sure also not to miss an ongoing Hakusama Nested NFT workshop and challenge, running until 20th June. Up to $18,000 in prizes are available for participants who can create a moderately complex nested structure of image or audio NFTs (not more than 4 levels of nesting). Participants are also asked to devise a mechanism to reorganise the elements (NFTs) of this structure by relocating the nested elements within the nesting tree, and implement a browser page which displays an interactive interface for the restructuring of the nested NFTs and display the changes as they are executed. Read full instructions, rules, prizes, and more [here](https://angelhack.notion.site/Unique-Network-71ca5c19e565400abb5531205dda7df2). Good luck!

## **A Unique Ambassador-Hosted Meetup and Blockchain Education Session in Uganda**

**![image2.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/9a6/oq8u051l7175clzftwlowrmix2cb2c5h/image2.jpg)**

We were so proud to see one of our Unique Ambassadors and DigitalArt4Climate participants, Kamala Immaculate, host a meetup in Uganda wh ere university students from different blockchain communities, faculties and backgrounds got to mingle and learn more from their shared passion of Web3. So cool!

## **Unique x Sovereign Nature Initiative’s Germinator Program + Event!**

**![image5.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/b1e/swmj0sx0co13nncx8s0e5lcc58oklvi3/image5.jpg)**

We were excited to support our partners at Sovereign Nature Initiative during their debut Experimental Zone #1 program in Amsterdam last month. On 21st May, at the De Ceuvel park, SNI’S Germinators teams, a selection of participants from the Unique-powered winter Hackathon, joined a group of innovators and artists to showcase and discuss new technologies and approaches for valuing nature using blockchain technology. Check out [SNI](https://twitter.com/sovereignnature/status/1529016932648865794) on Twitter to see some photos and videos from the event.

Additionally, on the sustainability front, our friends and partners at [DigitalArt4Cimate](https://twitter.com/DigitalArt4Clim) were nominated for Best Environmental Initiative at this year's [NFT.NYC](http://NFT.NYC) awards!

## **MintFest Winners**

MintFest, our debut NFT competition and festival for the Quartz community, wrapped last month after a ton of great submissions from the community and beyond! We just announced the winning tokens from the event, which were judged and selected by NFT artist and curator Anna Dart ([Exquisite Workers](https://www.twitter.com/ew_corpse)) and Lianna Adams from our partners, the Dream Conduit. Two winners, Substrapunk Swag and Dumb Astronauts, were also selected by the Unique Network team based on their vision of utility to the core community. Check out the [blog post](https://unique.network/blog/mintfest-winners/) to see some of the winning art. Big thanks to everyone who joined us and got creative!

## **Unique Product Updates**

May was a busy month for key updates to our product suite. Updates included a new Unique Marketplace design, a new auction, filter, and trade feature, and new integrations with UniqueScan. We also deployed updates to UniqueMinter, including improved transactional speed, advanced settings, and a Wallet upgrade to allow users to purchase Kusama directly via the RAMP payment gateway.

Thanks for catching up with us!  
— Unique Network

bafyreihgwnix7ecf6gopkghyy4qunps72riwb3xd7575rmmrn55tiegtr4

UNIQUE NETWORK: May Recap & What’s Happening in June

The last time we spoke, we were entering the [first chapter](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-is-buying-a-substrapunk/) of an epic quest across a new era of the Pluriverse. We have asked our community members to offer their faithful Substrapunk for a bounty of 100 KSM to help identify the hero of a new story to unite the blockchains and embark on an adventure of a lifetime alongside a mysterious fellow wanderer. After over 300 listings, we are closer to identifying our heroes who will guide their counterparts toward a better and more equitable blockchain.

So who is this mysterious wanderer? Tune into the Unique Chronicles to find out.

A hero’s journey has always been thought to be a lonely one, but it doesn’t have to be. Unique Network has secured Cryptopunk #3042 to star alongside your nominated substrapunk in an epic quest.

Cryptopunk #3042, better known as Monique, will be migrated to our native Quartz chain on Polkadot, fractionalised into thousands of pieces and given away to you - our community.

Cryptopunks, the original pfp project that brought billions to the NFT market, have held their status as the ‘genesis’ crypto art of blockchain technology, which proved the utility of NFTs to the global economy. Yet, along with their meteoric rise in popularity came inaccessibility and unsustainability that began to plague Ethereum. Unique Network and our punk heroes are here to demonstrate to those fleeing Ethereum that an interoperable, sustainable, and lower cost solution for NFTs exists.

We now ask you, our community, to join our legion for an early opportunity to become a part of our story. In return, you will receive a piece of this story—of history—a share of our Unique Cryptopunk and Substrapunk.

A marvelous tale is about to unfold, register to be a part of the Unique Chronicles and find out how to claim your piece of this story.

## [**Join the quest NOW!**](https://unique.network/punk/)

bafyreidumeb6dpg4qraltuhaoi4uvepi4xezoyvmxevflv7wqdbqfhkkxu

GOODBYE ETHEREUM CryptoPunk #3042 is Coming to Quartz in the Polkadot Ecosystem

---

### Long ago in a universe far, far away. No, we’re not talking about that story, but another one, the story of Cryptopunk #3042, better known as Monique, and the Ethereum universe.

Monique (also known as Cryptopunk #3024) was born on Ethereum, a once idyllic ecosystem built on the ethos of innovation and a refusal to bend to the status quo. Monique’s decentralized community consisted of rebels, punks, and the black sheep who refused to follow the herd but lead instead.

Monique and her community helped build a utopia in the Pluriverse, a place meant to be an interconnected world of dreamers and creators. For years, their corner of Ethereum showed great promise, profit, and pride. But what was once the future began to exhibit traces of the past that they worked tirelessly to change. The years went on…and things only got worse. Tribes of Punks started to fall into darkness and despair, fueled by the rising cost of traveling the roads of Ethereum and its neighboring chains, where simple goods and exchanges grew to heights that could only be afforded by the elite, the very people the Punks of Ethereum set out to avoid.

“How did we get here?” Monique asked one of her fellow Punks. “Where is the freedom? What happened to the speed and innovation of our early builders and community?”

Monique and her community watched helplessly as local resources were once again taken over by the rich and unmerciful; she watched as her once beautiful land and its resources were destroyed by pollution and peril.

Monique worried that all hope was lost. At night, she stared up into the sky, its shifting sections traversing the blockchain at light speed-and she dreamed. She dreamed of a better world of freedom, accessibility for all, safe cross-chain passage, and sustainability for her land.

As she slipped into downtime, Monique believed that salvation was slipping out of her and her Ethereum native’s reach. Little did she know, an uprising was brewing…and a hero was on the horizon.

**Join the quest to see what happens next to Monique in Part Two of the Unique Chronicles.**  
  
**happens next to Monique in Part Two of the Unique Chronicles.**

[**Join the quest NOW!**](https://unique.network/punk/)

---

bafyreidwisvorgnfjyl64h63y2azojoe2sxasa4jqc4jnqxfr5mq6cbube

Unique Chronicles Pt.1: Monique & the Ethereum Universe

### **As our "Punks for the People" campaign to free a CryptoPunk fr om Ethereum begins, read a deep dive into the unique power of refungible tokens and how they reimagine NFTs and the blockchain**

For generations, value has been defined by fiat currency, fungible assets, and an unwillingness to think outside the box when exploring the opportunities of collective ownership. But no longer does our past need to define our present, and especially our future. As NFTs have reimagined ownership, investing, and access to wealth, a new technology being pioneered by Unique Network, refungiblitity (or RFT) will breathe new life into a world that’s ready for more.

Aninnovative spin onfractionalization for the Polkadot ecosystem, [RFT](https://unique.network/blog/re-fungible-nfts/) powers our “[Punks for the People](https://unique.network/punk/)” campaign, wh ere weare demonstrating the power ofRFT technology through the shattering ofCryptoPunk #3042. Just like wewill break upthis classic punk into tens ofthousands ofpieces togive toour community, RFT will break barriers inhow wedefine value, community ownership, and the concept ofcollateral. Let’s find out how—and why.

Fr om publicly traded companies toancient frameworks like hereditary succession, fractional ownership has existed indifferent ways throughout history. AtUnique Network, wh ere our mission istopromote advanced features and next-generation use cases for blockchain and NFTs, wesee fractional ownership and our own RFT technology asasolution fit toenable NFTs for dynamic trade and commerce. RFT technology also speaks toamindset ofopenness and accessibility, themes that over time have been oft-abandoned fr om the early days when blockchain thrived onopen-source technology and apunk mindset. Asearly NFTs like Cryptopunks sell for millions ofdollars, newer blue-chip collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club have come torepresent anelitist “boys club,” shared ownership, and the liberation ofNFTs across multiple blockchains has become more ofararity. Weare dedicated tochanging that.

Why should NFTs (and their utility) beconfined toasingle ownership model orblockchain, for that matter? Blockchain was built toflex the power ofopen-source technology, wh ere innovation isshared, not gatekept. NFTs have caught the world’s attention because they open doors for artists, communities, and novel opportunities for profit. Wecan’t let innovation live inavacuum orbecontrolled bysingle, powerful entities. Both re-fungibility and cross-chain NFTs give power back tothe people, asthe blockchain was always meant todo. Let’s look atafew use cases which demonstrate the power ofre-fungibility.

* **NFT Fractionalization:** Our Punks for the People campaign demonstrates how re-fungibility allows for multiple custom ownership models, like timeshares and co-ownership. RFT tokens can beminted and then transferred tomultiple owners, allowing individual RFT tokens tobepurchased byafund and shared asadividend amongst owners. Split pieces can then beused asfungible tokens and traded onexchanges for price discovery.

* **Fractional ownership inthe Metaverse:** Ifusers hold enough plots ofland, they can combine them tocreate asingle estate. One example ofthat is“The Secrets ofSatoshi’s Tea Garden”— anestate onDecentraland made upof64separate plots ofland. Itsold for 1.3 million MANA in2019 (about $80,000) because ofits size and location. The “land” iscompletely surrounded bydigital roads, making itconvenient toaccess. Like NFTs and assets collectively owned byDAO, fractional ownership inthe Metaverse disrupts typical real estate models, allowing groups ofpeople tocollectively invest inparcels and gain control ofonce untouchable value. Decentralized communities attheir finest.

* **Real Estate:** Last year in[CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2021/12/14/get-ready-for-the-2022-metaverse-real-estate-boom/), Unique’s Irina Karagyaur penned anop-ed onthe future ofreal estate inthe Metaverse, with aspecific nod tothe potential offractionalization, especially inamulti-chain environment. “Inthis multi-chain future, wewill see vast opportunities and diverse use cases made possible byalternative chains like Solana, Tezos, Polkadot, Kusama, Cardano, and many others,” she said. "These chains bring answers for scalability, network congestion and the ability totruly fractionalize ownership, allowing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) tobecome usable and transferable inthe Metaverse— breaking out ofthe confines oftraditional digital collectibles— perhaps into the real world.

* **Domain names:** Shared ownership ofaURL? Anarticle in[CodyTechs](https://codytechs.com/the-case-for-nft-based-fractional-ownership-of-domain-names/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-case-for-nft-based-fractional-ownership-of-domain-names) broke down this curious opportunity, noting that while the trade ofweb domains appears simple atthe surface, when you pool funds fr om alarger community, the chance for buying out-of-reach domains becomes areality, leading tothe opportunity for much higher returns and equity.

* **DAOs:** Popular DAOs like PleasrDAO and the short-lived yet well publicized ConstitutionDAO have demonstrated the potential ofwhat large communities can dowhen they pool funds and own expensive assets collectively. Weare seeing agrowing trend ofinvestors utilizing this community-focused web3 framework tobreak down barriers and increase access tothings that were previously only available tothe wealthy and powerful.

Even with the immense potential ofre-fungibility, it’s important tounderstand the risks involved and the need for careful consideration, from legal nuances around custody tothe importance ofknowledge sharing. Wealso must beopen about the array oftechnical challenges that will take years ofhard work and education tosolve and improve. Regardless, webelieve that RFT and the promotion ofcross-chain NFTs continue the work and dedication ofblockchain’s early builders who were devoted toexperimentation, accessibility, and open-source innovation. Aswecontinue tomove forward with our “Punks for the People” campaign, wh ere wewill free Monique (aka Cryptopunk #3042) from the lonely captivity ofasingle blockchain (Ethereum), wewill stay true tothe ethos ofre-fungibility and how itbrings community ideals and ownership back tocrypto. Wehope you will joinus insharing apiece ofthe future.

bafyreidzxd36ci6fa3rli6v2rnkrhrk7p576knqy4egda3veyhr35pykym

RFT & Cross-Chain NFTs: Bringing Freedom and Innovation Back to the Blockchain

### **As our "Punks for the People" campaign to free a CryptoPunk fr om Ethereum begins, read a deep dive into the unique power of refungible tokens and how they reimagine NFTs and the blockchain**

For generations, value has been defined by fiat currency, fungible assets, and an unwillingness to think outside the box when exploring the opportunities of collective ownership. But no longer does our past need to define our present, and especially our future. As NFTs have reimagined ownership, investing, and access to wealth, a new technology being pioneered by Unique Network, refungiblitity (or RFT) will breathe new life into a world that’s ready for more.

Aninnovative spin onfractionalization for the Polkadot ecosystem, [RFT](https://unique.network/blog/re-fungible-nfts/) powers our “[Punks for the People](https://unique.network/punk/)” campaign, wh ere weare demonstrating the power ofRFT technology through the shattering ofCryptoPunk #3042. Just like wewill break upthis classic punk into tens ofthousands ofpieces togive toour community, RFT will break barriers inhow wedefine value, community ownership, and the concept ofcollateral. Let’s find out how—and why.

Fr om publicly traded companies toancient frameworks like hereditary succession, fractional ownership has existed indifferent ways throughout history. AtUnique Network, wh ere our mission istopromote advanced features and next-generation use cases for blockchain and NFTs, wesee fractional ownership and our own RFT technology asasolution fit toenable NFTs for dynamic trade and commerce. RFT technology also speaks toamindset ofopenness and accessibility, themes that over time have been oft-abandoned fr om the early days when blockchain thrived onopen-source technology and apunk mindset. Asearly NFTs like Cryptopunks sell for millions ofdollars, newer blue-chip collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club have come torepresent anelitist “boys club,” shared ownership, and the liberation ofNFTs across multiple blockchains has become more ofararity. Weare dedicated tochanging that.

Why should NFTs (and their utility) beconfined toasingle ownership model orblockchain, for that matter? Blockchain was built toflex the power ofopen-source technology, wh ere innovation isshared, not gatekept. NFTs have caught the world’s attention because they open doors for artists, communities, and novel opportunities for profit. Wecan’t let innovation live inavacuum orbecontrolled bysingle, powerful entities. Both re-fungibility and cross-chain NFTs give power back tothe people, asthe blockchain was always meant todo. Let’s look atafew use cases which demonstrate the power ofre-fungibility.

* **NFT Fractionalization:** Our Punks for the People campaign demonstrates how re-fungibility allows for multiple custom ownership models, like timeshares and co-ownership. RFT tokens can beminted and then transferred tomultiple owners, allowing individual RFT tokens tobepurchased byafund and shared asadividend amongst owners. Split pieces can then beused asfungible tokens and traded onexchanges for price discovery.

* **Fractional ownership inthe Metaverse:** Ifusers hold enough plots ofland, they can combine them tocreate asingle estate. One example ofthat is“The Secrets ofSatoshi’s Tea Garden”— anestate onDecentraland made upof64separate plots ofland. Itsold for 1.3 million MANA in2019 (about $80,000) because ofits size and location. The “land” iscompletely surrounded bydigital roads, making itconvenient toaccess. Like NFTs and assets collectively owned byDAO, fractional ownership inthe Metaverse disrupts typical real estate models, allowing groups ofpeople tocollectively invest inparcels and gain control ofonce untouchable value. Decentralized communities attheir finest.

* **Real Estate:** Last year in [**CoinDesk**](https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/2021/12/14/get-ready-for-the-2022-metaverse-real-estate-boom/), Unique’s Irina Karagyaur penned anop-ed onthe future ofreal estate inthe Metaverse, with aspecific nod tothe potential offractionalization, especially inamulti-chain environment. “Inthis multi-chain future, wewill see vast opportunities and diverse use cases made possible byalternative chains like Solana, Tezos, Polkadot, Kusama, Cardano, and many others,” she said. "These chains bring answers for scalability, network congestion and the ability totruly fractionalize ownership, allowing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) tobecome usable and transferable inthe Metaverse— breaking out ofthe confines oftraditional digital collectibles— perhaps into the real world.

* **Domain names:** Shared ownership ofaURL? Anarticle in [**CodyTechs**](https://codytechs.com/the-case-for-nft-based-fractional-ownership-of-domain-names/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-case-for-nft-based-fractional-ownership-of-domain-names) broke down this curious opportunity, noting that while the trade ofweb domains appears simple atthe surface, when you pool funds fr om alarger community, the chance for buying out-of-reach domains becomes areality, leading tothe opportunity for much higher returns and equity.

* **DAOs:** Popular DAOs like PleasrDAO and the short-lived yet well publicized ConstitutionDAO have demonstrated the potential ofwhat large communities can dowhen they pool funds and own expensive assets collectively. Weare seeing agrowing trend ofinvestors utilizing this community-focused web3 framework tobreak down barriers and increase access to things that were previously only available tothe wealthy and powerful.

Even with the immense potential ofre-fungibility, it’s important tounderstand the risks involved and the need for careful consideration, from legal nuances around custody tothe importance ofknowledge sharing. Wealso must beopen about the array oftechnical challenges that will take years ofhard work and education tosolve and improve. Regardless, webelieve that RFT and the promotion ofcross-chain NFTs continue the work and dedication ofblockchain’s early builders who were devoted toexperimentation, accessibility, and open-source innovation. Aswecontinue tomove forward with our “Punks for the People” campaign, wh ere wewill free Monique (aka Cryptopunk #3042) from the lonely captivity ofasingle blockchain (Ethereum), wewill stay true tothe ethos ofre-fungibility and how itbrings community ideals and ownership back tocrypto. Wehope you will joinus insharing apiece of the future.

bafyreieahwd57ejtwfsgfprrwyobrlagqikznznpmjqngsqfkyobzybbua

### **We are introducing a new home for bundling your refungible (RFT) tokens, which you can trade as an NFT. Register for “Punks for the People” to claim a free Chest!**

Ahoy, frens. We know that for many of us, our NFT and crypto tokens are like little pieces of treasure that we hold near and dear to our hearts (and wallets). Today, we’re excited to announce a new Unique product for our community: an NFT chest!

The concept is simple: using your Unique wallet, you can add RFT fractions (like the SubstraPunk and CryptoPunk fractions you’ll receive for [**joining our Punks for the People quest**](https://unique.network/punk/)) into your Chest, which then will become an NFT that you can trade, or hold, as you wish.

Outside your Chest, the fractions are [**RFT**](https://unique.network/blog/re-fungible-nfts/) tokens; once inside the Chest, the entire thing becomes an NFT. Magic? Nope! Just another example of the next-generation use cases we’re building for NFTs at Unique Network. So how do you get a shiny new Chest of your own?

[**Register for Punks for the People to get airdropped a FREE Chest**](https://unique.network/punk/)**!**

That’s it, for now! Stay tuned for more updates on our NFT Chest rollout. We can’t wait for you to claim one!

**— Unique Network**

bafyreifnk5meba37hnpa2ojjvvx2vqv5ayqgtk76zf47bfw6xccqasm7zq

A BRAND NEW NFT DROP - A CHEST Unique Network announces a NFT to mark Polkadot Decoded 2022

### Get to know our sponsored transaction staking model, which will help financially support a new generation of developers (and community investors).

Everyone loves staking rewards with big yields. But aren’t steady gains just a bit sweeter when holding directly enables developers to build incredible things and benefit the growth of a platform and industry you support? At Unique, we want to reward community members and investors devoted to helping us build our vision—and that of the blockchain community we are innovating.

Our App Promotion Staking program does just that while rewarding holders at an APR of 20% (generally falling between 10% and infinity) and creating opportunities across several corners of the blockchain.

Unique Network’s mission in building next-generation NFTs is to make web3 onboarding of mass web2 audiences with limited blockchain knowledge as painless and seamless as possible. Through our most recent product launches and updates, like [Unique Minter](https://unique.network/blog/meet-uniquescan-uniqueminter/) and a campaign around [RFT](https://unique.network/punk/) (re-fungible tokens), we’re putting plans into action for a future where utility and potential for blockchain and NFTs are as unlimited and innovative as the minds of those who make up the ecosystem itself.

We’re realistic about the hurdles many users and developers need to navigate when looking to create NFT experiences, one of them being cost. As markets fluctuate and certain blockchains remain congested and expensive to operate, we are building tech and infrastructure to democratize access to technology so that more people can enter and engage with this industry. One form of innovative tech we are currently looking to expand from our original [techpaper](https://github.com/UniqueNetwork/techpaper) revolves around transaction sponsoring, which helps create painless transitions to acquire and migrate more users into web3 and our platform.

While sponsored transactions allow many users and developers to get their projects off the ground, we realize that some may still struggle to produce the funds required to get their dApps off the ground. We have designed a solution, App Staking Promotion, to provide even more accessibility to developers and incentives to QTZ/UNQ stakers willing to provide funds for sponsoring (and locking) in exchange for lifetime rewards. The reward comprises a share of application fees produced by the promoted app, which we will explain in more detail below.

## App Promotion: How It Works

App promotion is an application for transaction sponsoring, which is financially powered by inflation and staking. Users stake their funds in exchange for rewards. Afterward, immediate rewards are generated by inflation and put into the Treasury, which in turn sponsors transactions for dApps. Later, dApps pay off their sponsored fees as they produce network fees.

![image.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/ec1/tgbfrfurngtolph1vcq6rkv8dgk3ncwg/image.png)

Short-term rewards are the guaranteed portion determined by the curve that depends on the network activity. It starts at 10% APR for the low network activity and saturates at 20% for the highest network activity.

The long-term reward consists of network fees produced by the applications that graduated from the App Promotion program. 50% of the fees are divided between stakers proportionally to their staked amounts and the number of days they’ve been staked. APR for the long-term reward can go up infinitely. This simple yet innovative process produces a flywheel effect. It brings in more developers to our ecosystem and helps them build their dApps while ultimately generating more fees for the network, which then go back to the Treasury.

## Roadmap: What’s Next

Our App Promotion Staking Roadmap will be deployed in three phases:

1. Absolutely-MVP (0.1): Absolute minimum of functionality satisfying in order to begin staking. Potential deployment in 6-10 weeks. \*Initial MVP 0.1 will have APR of 20%.

2. Version 1.0: More granular control of rewards and sponsorship. Potential deployment within ~6 months.

3. Version 2.0: Supporting specific applications and additional features.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Unique App Promotion staking program and how to get involved. Thanks for reading!

— Unique Network

bafyreidg2i6e2jvjv7p2l7m7klljxeysyjsw5lcvxrbdkoeijdoay7cd2i

App Promotion Staking: A Uniquely Accessible Pathway for Developers

### The info you've all been waiting to hear! Following the official Quartz distribution and the UNQ token sale in January, it's time to announce the distribution of UNQ tokens to those who participated in the crowdloan and the Diamond in the rough event.

We are excited to share that today is the day! The distribution process is done natively on-chain and will last approximately 140 hours.

Please note: you should get your allocation between today and Sunday. Here's more key info to know:

* Tokens from the Unique crowdloan will vest for 20 months.

* Tokens from the Diamond in the rough event will vest for three months.

* Vesting is linear at every block. That means a part of the token will be claimable at every block produced by the Unique chain.

* Token vesting started on the 11th of July.

## How does it work?

We are using the Vesting pallet for UNQ token distribution. It allows us to send some UNQ tokens to the recipient and lock them on the recipient’s address until they are vested.

The vesting is divided into two stages: Lock and actual Vesting. During the lock stage UNQ tokens are just locked and nothing can happen with them. During the Vesting stage, your UNQ tokens are vested in equal small portions on every relay block (i.e. 6 seconds) until they are fully vested.

For Unique crowdloan rewards, the Lock stage duration is zero (no locking, tokens start to vest immediately starting at distribution block, that is block 11,118,000 block in Polkadot) and Vesting duration is 20 months (8’640’000 blocks).

For Unique public sale rewards, the Lock stage duration is zero (no locking, tokens start to vest immediately starting at distribution block, that is block 11,118,000 block in Polkadot) and Vesting duration is 3 months (1’296’000 blocks).

At any time during the Vesting stage the vested portion of tokens may be unlocked by the user (see details below). Unlocking is a paid transaction and you will need some unlocked UNQ in order to run it. This is why we will send you 1 UNQ unlocked when we distribute UNQ.

Example 1: 8000 UNQ Reward for public sale, current Polkadot block is 11,332,260 (~end of July 2022)

1. The unlocked portion on every block is 8000 / 1296000 = 0.0061728395 UNQ / block

2. Number of blocks since distribution is 11332260 - 11118000 = 214,260 blocks

3. Total vested balance is 214,260 \* 0.0061728395 = 1322.59259127 UNQ

Example 2: 100 UNQ Reward for crowdloan, current Polkadot block is 15,438,000 (~mid-April 2024)

1. The number of blocks passed since distribution is 20,190,000 - 11,118,000 = 19758000, so balance is fully vested

2. Total vested balance is 100 UNQ

## How to check my balance?

Open Accounts page on Polkadot UI:

[https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/accounts](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/accounts)

and find your address. Click on the down arrow next to it like shown on the screenshot below. You will see your free balance (available to transfer or be used to pay network fees) and locked balance.

![image1.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/6d9/r2yqcqtiyjkysfnebsleu2yw50jol3zl/image1.png)

## How to see and understand my vesting transfer transaction?

Open the Polkadot UI block explorer: [https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/explorer](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/explorer)

and copy the block hash into the block hash search field.

The window like the following will open. It contains recipient (your) address, as well as all vesting parameters like distribution block (11’118’000) in field start, vesting amount per one block in field perPeriod, and number of blocks until the balance fully vests (1’296’000 blocks) in the field periodCount.

![image5.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/866/f3f8jiqtx1u8uaal7jh1wa6mxq2d1vqr/image5.png)

## What is the distribution start block?

Polkadot block 11’118’000, July 11, 2022.

This block is used to calculate all lockup and vesting schedules.

## How to unlock vested UNQ?

Even if the vesting stage did not fully finish, you can unlock a portion of your UNQ that has vested up to the current date.

Unlocking is a paid transaction and you will need some unlocked UNQ in order to run it, but don’t worry, we will send you 1 unlocked UNQ when we distribute UNQ.

In order to unlock:

1. Open this URL: [https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/extrinsics](https://polkadot.js.org/apps/?rpc=wss%3A%2F%2Fus-ws.unique.network%2F#/extrinsics)

2. Sel ect your account, vesting — claim()

   ![image3.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/ad0/i39blw80e1egmxc2d490jr5hq3ble341/image3.png)

3. Click Submit Transaction, and follow the instructions in order to sign and send the transaction. Once the transaction is finished, you will see green notification bar in the right top corner like this one:

   ![image4.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/8c9/305fdp2t7r1aveyq1sbqiihb44xfdq3q/image4.png)

4. Your UNQ is unlocked and can be transferred away or used to mint a collection!

## How to convert my Polkadot address into a Unique address?

You can use the Subscan ss58 address converter. Open this URL:

[https://kusama.subscan.io/tools/ss58\_transform](https://kusama.subscan.io/tools/ss58_transform)

and enter your address in the Input Address field. Also, select Unique in the Output Type field and click “Transform” like on the screenshot below.

BTW, you can also convert addresses fr om Substrate, Polkadot, and many others into Unique format this way.

![image2.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/e21/eta99vtf8mhozbhxp0lqzvmvw6zaleuo/image2.png)

bafyreih7vf6pe4a6ixs6rydhrzrp47a2pqlya23oy75j4pybq5o2ntcbci

Distribution of UNQ Explained

### Hello, Unique Network!

### So many exciting things have happened lately, so we are back on the blog to share some reflections and updates! Read on to see what we’ve been up to! Thanks for reading and, as always, for your support.

## Punks for the People Updates

We kicked off our [epic quest](https://unique.network/punk/) for the future of NFTs, where we are fractionalizing and giving away pieces of CryptoPunk and SubstraPunk NFT through shared ownership powered by Re-Fungibile Token (RFT) technology.

Our community was invited to list their faithful SubPunks to the Unique marketplace and will soon start voting on our Substrapunk’s identity, to find out who will be the Substrapunk hero of our epic quest once and for all!

We bought CryptoPunk #3024 to migrate it to Quartz—and give away fractions for free to our community through the power of refungibility (RFT)! Get ready to vote on which Substrapunk will join the Cryptopunk on this epic quest, and end up in your wallet!

Catch up on Punks for the People:

* We bought CryptoPunk #3024 to migrate it to Quartz—and give away fractions for free to our community through the power of refungibility (RFT).

  * Read more: [CryptoPunk #3042 is Coming to Quartz in the Polkadot Ecosystem](https://unique.network/blog/cryptopunk-3042-coming-to-quartz/)

* Learn about “Monique” (aka Cryptopunk #3024) and why we are bringing a Punk to Quartz and Polkadot.

  * Read more: [Unique Chronicles PT.1:Monique & the Ethereum Universe](https://unique.network/blog/monique-the-ethereum-universe/)

* Learn about Unique’s RFT technology and the need for cross-chain NFTs.

  * Read more: [RFT & Cross-Chain NFTs: Bringing Freedom and Innovation Back to the Blockchain](https://unique.network/blog/rft-cross-chain-nfts-bringing-freedom-and-innovation-back-to-the-blockchain/)

![image4.png](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/83f/th62z245m609mz4lcd4djzwf3fpp6bbg/image4.png)

## …and that’s not all — Unique is dropping an NFT Chest!

To celebrate Punks for the People and Polkadot Decoded, we introduced a new home for bundling your refungible (RFT) tokens, which you can trade as an NFT. All you have to do is register for “Punks for the People” to claim a free Chest! Read more about the Chest on our [blog](https://unique.network/blog/a-brand-new-nft-drop/).

![image7.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/a12/ko56c1v7y3g04bkrs4jwfprdusmeliu7/image7.jpg)

## Unique @ [NFT.NYC](http://NFT.NYC) & Polkadot Decoded

Over the course of the last month, we had an incredible time on the ground at two massive events for the NFT and community—NFT.NYC & Polkadot Decoded. In addition to seeing so many new faces and catching up with some of our loyal supporters (plus a few great parties, of course), the Unique team hit the stage to provide critical commentary and share what our platform is building via multiple panels.

* Our CMO Charu Sethi joined Moonbeams CEO Miami San and Mark Ryan fr om RMRK for a conversation on “Building NFT DApps in an Interoperable Environment.” Check out the panel recording on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV4qWkLygYE)! Charu also was part of a panel at NFT.NFT on how to “Stop the Mint Meltdown” with leaders from Coinbase, Civic Key, and Mint Meltdown, and moderated a [websh3](https://websh3.world/) panel on sustainability.

* At [NFT.NYC](http://NFT.NYC), our CEO and Co-Founder Alex Mitrovich went live for a presentation on how to enable the future of real estate with NFTs.

* Our Head of Ecosystem Growth and Business Development Irina Karagyaur joined Zoe team members from Phala, Parity, Centrifuge, and DOT Validator Alliance to discuss Polkadot’s road to mass adoption at Decoded in Berlin.

* Unique CTO Greg Zaitsev held another panel at Polkadot Decoded Berlin on Unique’s Sponsorship Palette and how it’s fueling a gateway to mass adoption. Greg also spoke at Polkadot India on Dot Friday for a presentation on the climate impact of NFTs. Watch [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCajLrCKfnE&feature=emb_logo)!

![image2.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/b17/h9lgtqcbfhyj46bm6khinsrpmzyqwd91/image2.jpg)![image6.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/3af/e4902i9jhurinir7xelblwkobib6zl2t/image6.jpg)![image8.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/5d6/a7af2l6dg3o10b4ej1039wpd89u70fey/image8.jpg)

## Polkadot Oscars Ceremony in NYC

It was a truly special experience to join our global Polkadot family in NYC at Decoded for the Oscars Ceremony, wh ere we celebrated the achievements of ambassadors and community members who go above and beyond to build growth and engagement in the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystem.

![image5.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/dac/q17ftzk1qlpy3sq05yssd7hw26bk1jgc/image5.jpg)

## You Joined Us to Unwind & Network with Manta and Moonbeam in NYC

Following the nonstop energy, panels, and events of [NFT.NYC](http://NFT.NYC) & Polkadot Decoded, we organized a networking event and dinner in NYC for our community—and it was a smashing success! Big thanks to everyone who joined us at Manhattan Penthouse for a night of conversation—and a few laughs!—courtesy of standup comedian [Francis Ellis](https://twitter.com/franciscellis). Are you enjoying one of your Unique network swag bags from the evening? Take a pic and show us on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Unique_NFTchain)!

![image1.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/1ab/9vmhc5zrewb0xxm1zh02vsjbhcxinfoa/image1.jpg)![image3.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/c5a/2t0aeoebyu7e72kvgn4v4fp6qnhw87o4/image3.jpg)

## Unique in the Press

* Unique and Charu were interviewed by the stellar team at Women in Blockchain to talk about our Punks for the People campaign, the need for RFT and fractionalization, social impact, economics and more. Watch the interview [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=XROD0ppLxeg&feature=emb_logo).

* Irina was on Meta Talkz to discuss a critical topic and one pivotal to our platform and mission: how web3 is a historic opportunity to overcome web2 challenges. Read [here](https://metatalkz.com/meta-talkz/web-3-0-is-the-historical-opportunity-to-overcome-the-web-2-0-challanges-by-using-a-combination-of-already-available-technologies-a-meta-talkz-with-irina-karagyaur/).

* Unique was in Hackernoon in a story by Jillian Godsil for a feature on Punks for the People and how we are fractionalizing Cryptopunk #3042 to show the power of re-fungibility and how it brings more access and innovation to the blockchain. Read [here](https://hackernoon.com/unique-network-plans-to-fractionalize-cryptopunk-3042-into-100000-pieces).

## Unique Network is live on Subscan

We’re proud to share that Unique recently went live on Subscan, a platform and community for easy access to detailed information on blockchain events, including info on blocks, accounts, transfers, and extrinsic. See Subscan in action [here](https://unique.subscan.io/).

## Product and Tech Updates

Big news! TGE for the UNQ token is now complete! Distribution of crowdloan rewards from the Diamond in the Rough sale started on July 11. [Read this guide](https://unique.network/blog/distribution-of-unq-explained/) or more info on how to claim your tokens.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and to everyone we connected with over the past month. Stay tuned on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Unique_NFTchain), [Telegram](https://t.me/Uniquechain), and [Discord](https://discord.gg/jHVdZhsakC) for more updates as we continue into the end of June.

— Unique Network

bafyreidrk64ntc7pt7e2mervhgxwryjzexqulpqdt2fdjk6wme2soi65ru

Unique Network : Mid-July Update

### Next in Unique Chronicles—Voting to find the winning Substrapunk is now open!

The last time we left our punks, Monique (aka CryptoPunk #3042) was close to giving up hope that the blockchain she called home (Ethereum) was past the point of no return. Monique feared that no one would ever rescue her from the limitations of her home because she believed that blockchains and assets could never be interconnected and were impossible to migrate across chains. Little did Monique know, a mysterious and brave stranger was on their way to freeing her and bringing her to a better, more efficient, and innovative new world...

Enter a mysterious punk, from the substra tribe, a hero from a faraway world known as Polkadot. While his or her full form is not yet revealed, following a vote from our community, the stranger will be named—and one step closer to freeing Monique the CryptoPunk to a better blockchain.

*It's now time to vote on our Substrapunk’s identity, to find out who will be the Substrapunk hero of our epic quest once and for all!*

[**Vote Now!**](https://unique.network/punk/vote/)

The first weeks of Punks for the People have welcomed members of our community and some fresh new faces to join our quest to bring more advanced use cases to the blockchain. We kicked off this process and opportunity by asking our community to list their Substrapunk NFTs for 100 KSM.

We want to show the world that there is more to NFTs than what sits in your wallet in its current form. Our campaign demonstrates that digital assets, like a CryptoPunk, can be reimagined to demonstrate the potential of [refugibility](https://unique.network/blog/rft-cross-chain-nfts-bringing-freedom-and-innovation-back-to-the-blockchain/), our version of fractionalization for the Quartz and Polkadot ecosystem. Additionally, we're flexing the power of cross-chain NFTs and bundling, which is coming soon to the community via a new NFT drop — a [Chest](https://unique.network/blog/a-brand-new-nft-drop/).

We are building for the most accessible and exciting experience possible for our users and the blockchain community. The next step on this quest is for you to vote on who will be the Substrapunk who will free Monique, aka Cryptopunk #3042, who we have purchased and will fractionalize and give away to our community. This next step follows selecting the Substrapunk through voting. The Winning Substrapunk will be bought by Unique Network for 100 KSM!

Here are the steps you will need to follow for voting on the SubstraPunk:

1. [Register for Punks for the People (if you haven’t already)](https://unique.network/punk/)

2. Go to the voting page ([unique.network/punk/vote](http://unique.network/punk/vote))

3. Connect your Metamask or Polkadot.js wallet

4. Vote for the Substrapunk you think Unique Network should purchase!

5. Share with your friends to gather more votes

The voting page shows Substrapunks that were listed for 100 KSM at the time of a snapshot , which was taken between 5-6pm UTC on the 27th June.

That’s it! Thanks everyone for their participation. Stay tuned for more Unique Chronicles updates.

— Unique Network

[**Vote Now!**](https://unique.network/punk/vote/)

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Monique has met a mysterious stranger, Vote Now on who you think the Subtrapunk Hero is!

### Hello, Uniques!

### Following our jam-packed mid-month recap, we’re back on the blog to close out July with some more exciting announcements and updates. See below to catch up!

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1400/1*332vc9eLS4lp10Sgp3jqPg.png)

### Punks for the People Updates

Last time we checked in with Monique, a.k.a Cryptopunk #3024, she was on her way to meeting a mysterious [stranger from the Substrapunk tribe](https://unique.network/blog/unique-chronicles-pt-2/). Last week, voting officially ended to vote on the Subtrapunk that Unique will purchase from the community for 100 KSM. Next week, we will unveil the winning Substrapunk who will join Monique in her quest for blockchain freedom and access. We’ll also be unveiling a special community-focused competition to help further tell this story, so stay tuned :)

Catch up on Punks for the People:

* We bought CryptoPunk #3024 to migrate it to Quartz-and give away fractions for free to our community through the power of refungibility (RFT).
* Learn about “Monique” (aka Cryptopunk #3024) and why we are bringing a Punk to Quartz and Polkadot.
* Learn about Unique’s RFT technology and the need for cross-chain NFTs.

### Rewatch a Twitter Spaces on NFT Utility

On Thursday, 4th August, we joined a Twitter Spaces with our friends from Tapx on one of the most relevant topics in the blockchain and NFT space: utility! Relisted to the conversation [here](https://mobile.twitter.com/i/spaces/1BRKjnwpeAeKw) — it was an essential and educational conversation alongside other industry leaders from [Vinci Protocol](https://twitter.com/VinciProtocol) and [Vault Hill](https://twitter.com/vault%5Fhill) metaverse platform.

### We Joined Polkadot’s Latest Community Call Alongside Fellow Parachains!

Communication and transparency are the key to growth! On 27th July, we joined an energetic Polkadot community call alongside some of our fellow parachains like Astar and Darwinia Network, as well as some other key members of the Polkadot community and ecosystem. Big thanks to everyone who joined, participated, and shared what their building in the best blockchain around. Relisten to the call [here](https://twitter.com/Polkadot/status/1551584799135043589).

### Revisit Unique Talks at Polkadot Decoded!

![](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1400/0*HGNqxsc96e7Q7hrs.jpg)

We are still buzzing from this year’s massive Polkadot Decoded, where Unique team members shared all of their NFT knowledge and web3 expertise! ICYMI, see below to revisit two talks from the conference, with our CEO Alexander Mitrovich and CTO Greg Zaitsev. Thanks everyone who joined live and online.

[Leveraging the Power & Flexibility of Substrate to build Advanced NFT Infrastructure w/ Alex](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhQZCuNq-pU)

[Sponsoring Palette — The Gateway To Mass Adoption](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK1sJPj8wd4)

### Our Head of Ecosystem Growth Dropped Polkadot Knowledge in Paris

We always love to see our team member Irina Karagyaur representing the Unique team and Polkadot community at key crypto events around the world. This July, Irina helped wrap a pivotal month for our platform with some words on how to work (and build!) together to bring the blockchain to the best possible future. Check out Irina’s stellar panel on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time%5Fcontinue=1480&v=jN7jLaL%5FS3c&feature=emb%5Flogo).

You can also hear more from Irina from a recent Web3 webinar she joined with the team from Metamind 3.0 and speakers from [Ultra.io](http://Ultra.io), JOURNEE, and Arts Dao. Watch back [here](https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN%5FpsWe%5FaujQuatNt0kgwmGjA).

That’s it for now! Stay connected across our channels and we’ll see you soon.

\- Unique Network

bafyreic7dc6y2hbku7x4vtflddtsyjpvtoezpysgwikevxjispwzqyvpmu

Late July Update

### As we continue to deliver on our mission to power next-gen NFTs, here is a quick look at how far we have come and what you should be ready and excited for in the coming months!

Hello again, Uniques!

What a year it has been already! From our Polkadot crowdloan win to the launch of Quartz, and our participation in marquee global blockchain events like Consensus by Coindesk, [NFT.NYC](http://NFT.NYC) and Polkadot Decoded, the energy from our community, investors, and the team has been remarkable and inspiring. As we wrap up what's been a massive summer, we are eager and excited to announce our roadmap for the remainder of 2022 and a recap of what's happened so far this year. The primary purpose of this roadmap is to bring more clarity and transparency regarding our plans and goals to you, our community, and the developer ecosystem. We believe this is the only way to build a successful blockchain: deep understanding and communication. Let's get into it.

This roadmap offers a more descriptive look into our progress and plans across three product categories: Blockchain, SDK, and Web tools. Note: we will soon share more public information on our SDKs, but if you want more clarity on what we're working on, please visit the [Unique Playgrounds](https://github.com/UniqueNetwork/unique-playgrounds) on GitHub!

Additionally, we are using our latest roadmap as an opportunity to announce Sapphire: a standalone mainnet with frequent releases for new features, small time-to-market timeframes, and a real-world economy that relies on QTZ tokens. Sapphire is a complementary product to Quartz; it allows developers to test our new features (like RFT) faster than they appear on Quartz. The Main benefit of Sapphire compared to Opal is its ability to use QTZ as an internal currency on Sapphire. The Opal token is free; there is currently no way to deploy production there safely. Sapphire deployments will still be the bleeding edge in terms of functionality but much safer in terms of application tokenomics: It will be much harder to DOS, spam, etc.

Now, let's take a deeper look at our mission before diving into the rest of our updates and respective roadmaps. If you need a bit of a refresher, remember: Unique Network's mission is to enable developers to create a new generation of NFT apps powered by advanced NFT tools with unlimited capabilities.

Read on for a recap of what has been implemented in Q1-Q2 of 2022 and what's planned for the remainder of the year.

bafyreih6ym2lvynn5xpsylzp4uwle543jta7xdq3l43mm2tqqh4zj25ch4

UNIQUE NETWORK: Our Latest Roadmap

### You listed, you voted! Now it’s time to share the Substrapunk NFT that will be fractionalized to join Monique (aka CryptoPunk #3042) on her quest to save the blockchain. But first, we need your help….

In June, Unique Network launched an advanced NFT campaign — [Punks for the People](https://unique.network/punk/)! This campaign demonstrates our many advanced NFT features like Re-fungibility, fractionalisation, nesting, bundling and more in our efforts to help create a more equitable and accessible future for web3 and its infrastructure. To do this, Unique will fractionalize Monique (a.k.a. CryptoPunk#3042) into tens of thousands of pieces and give it to our community for free, creating new equity and value across the blockchain.

Following the community's vote on the Substrapunk who join Monique on her quest, we now finally have a [winner](https://unique.network/punk/vote/winner/), Substrapunk #6123, which was purchased by Unique Network or 100KSM on 19 August.

![winner.jpg](https://unique.network/upload/medialibrary/8b9/ph6ial5lgxg3dinp363ncmihm6o9etna/winner.jpg)

This critical step in our campaign follows our call to the Unique community to list their Substrapunks for the price of 100KSM. Unique has now officially selected and purchased this Substrapunk following the community vote and listing process. Before the NFT is eventually fractionalized through our refungible (RFT) technology, we are asking you — our community — to write a short creative story that can help further educate the masses on Unique’s advanced NFT capabilities, which act as the core technology to the Punks for the People campaign.

## Winning Criteria

All submissions will be judged by creative writing experts and the marketing leadership at Unique Network on the following criteria:

* Entries must be 500-700 words.
* Entries will be judged by their inclusion of the technical concepts of Punks for the People. See [here](https://unique.network/punk/) to revisit the campaign framework and content.  
   * Technology/themes to consider including: RFT, fractionalization, bundling, Polkadot, Quartz, cross-chain NFTs, accessibility, openness, innovation.
* Creative Writing skills — How do you best communicate the technical features from Unique Network that are a part of the campaign?
* Your story should be posted on either Medium or Mirror.
* You must share a link to your story on Twitter and tag @Unique\_NFTchain with the hashtag #CryptoPunk3042

## Thought Starters

What will happen to Monique and Substrapunk #6123 Where will they go? Will they travel across other blockchain and parallel universes? Think about how some of the advanced NFT features we have built at Unique might help power and fuel their travels, interactions, and eventual outcomes. Remember that Monique and her savior will also eventually be fractionalized and given away to the community. No narrative is too big or small, but it always pays to keep utility and our technology in mind when shaping your story. All in all, be creative and have fun!

## Resources

* [Meet the Winning Substrapunk who Unique Bought for 100KSM](https://unique.network/punk/vote/winner/)
* [Unique Network is Buying a Subtrapunk to Star in an Epic New Quest](https://unique.network/blog/unique-network-is-buying-a-substrapunk/)
* [Goodbye Ethereum: CryptoPunk #3042 is Coming to Quartz in the Polkadot Ecosystem](https://unique.network/blog/cryptopunk-3042-coming-to-quartz/)
* [Unique Chronicles PT. 1: Monique & the Ethereum Universe](https://unique.network/blog/monique-the-ethereum-universe/)
* [RFT & Cross-Chain NFTs: Bringing Freedom and Innovation Back to the Blockchain](https://unique.network/blog/rft-cross-chain-nfts-bringing-freedom-and-innovation-back-to-the-blockchain/)
* [Monique has met a mysterious stranger, Vote Now on who you think the Subtrapunk Hero is!](https://unique.network/blog/unique-chronicles-pt-2/)

## Prizes

While Unique Network has a large supportive English-speaking community, we also have various communities across the world including Vietnam, Turkey, French, Italian and beyond.

We will select 1 winner from each language. English language winners will receive a $300 cash prize and a shout-out from all Unique social channels. Other languages (Russian, Indonesian, Turkish, Mandarin, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, French, Italian, Thai, and Arabic) winners will receive a $50 cash prize and a shoutout from our socials as well.

The last date to submit 5th September, 2022 12 PM UTC.

Thanks for reading and good luck!

— Unique Network

bafyreihgv63cl3gzh7awo3fxho3hyluolixfwbwnrlrtqpv5fserh56vem

bafyreibsxeslpcxe54ep2v6ltmbgsqo37qrtoyg6l7v3vv7yapyf7uymkm

Unique Network

bafyreieny52otr4tilkioeiy3hnpdzj6s26url7xoq62vn4okjqtm7dspy

Sumeet Zarkar

Following our crowdloan win back in April, it’s finally time to share next steps for our token generation event and full deployment on Polkadot.

2022 has already seen significant achievements for our blockchain and community—most notably, a crowdloan auction win for a parachain on Polkadot and...

Next in Unique Chronicles—Voting to find the winning Substrapunk is now open!

The last time we left our punks, Monique (aka CryptoPunk #3042) was close to giving up hope that the blockchain she called home (Ethereum) was past the point of no return. Monique feared that no one would ever rescue...

Unique Network is a scalable blockchain for composable NFTs with advanced economies — The NFT chain built for Polkadot and Kusama.

A day and a half’s worth of energy consumption in a typical household.

Operating a refrigerator for one month.

Riding an average car for 192 km.

A single NFT transfer on Ethereum.

What do all of these actions (and one transaction) have in common? They all equate to around 48 kg of CO2 emitted...

Following the use of Unique’s low-carbon NFT infrastructure during the Sovereign Nature Initiative’s (SNI) Winter 2022 Hackathon Challenge in February 2022, we’re excited up to share news of the sustainability-focused blockchain nonprofit’s upcoming event, Experimental Zone #1, happening on May...

Hello, Uniques!

Following our jam-packed mid-month recap, we’re back on the blog to close out July with some more exciting announcements and updates. See below to catch up!



Punks for the People Updates

Last time we checked in with Monique, a.k.a Cryptopunk #3024, she was on her way to...

Get to know our sponsored transaction staking model, which will help financially support a new generation of developers (and community investors).

Everyone loves staking rewards with big yields. But aren’t steady gains just a bit sweeter when holding directly enables developers to build...

Hello, Unique Network!

So many exciting things have happened lately, so we are back on the blog to share some reflections and updates! Read on to see what we’ve been up to! Thanks for reading and, as always, for your support.

Punks for the People Updates

We kicked off our epic quest for the...

The last time we spoke, we were entering the first chapter of an epic quest across a new era of the Pluriverse. We have asked our community members to offer their faithful Substrapunk for a bounty of 100 KSM to help identify the hero of a new story to unite the blockchains and embark on an...

Long ago in a universe far, far away. No, we’re not talking about that story, but another one, the story of Cryptopunk #3042, better known as Monique, and the Ethereum universe.

Monique (also known as Cryptopunk #3024) was born on Ethereum, a once idyllic ecosystem built on the ethos of...

As our "Punks for the People" campaign to free a CryptoPunk fr om Ethereum begins, read a deep dive into the unique power of refungible tokens and how they reimagine NFTs and the blockchain

For generations, value has been defined by fiat currency, fungible assets, and an unwillingness to think...

Polkadot parachain win, Quartz x Karura, Unique Ambassadors & lots more!

What a month April was. So many exciting things happened for our platform and community, including the massive win of the 14th Polkadot auction, which will enable us to be a fully-functioning parachain on the...

We are introducing a new home for bundling your refungible (RFT) tokens, which you can trade as an NFT. Register for “Punks for the People” to claim a free Chest!

Ahoy, frens. We know that for many of us, our NFT and crypto tokens are like little pieces of treasure that we hold near and dear to...

From crowdloan rewards and bonuses to MintFest winners, find out what’s coming up following our team’s monumental win!

Nearly a week after Unique Network’s win of the 14th Polkadot parachain auction, which will lead to our full deployment on slot #14 of their network with a lease from 4th June...

MintFest, our debut NFT competition and festival for the Quartz community, came to a close last month following our recent win of a parachain on Polkadot. Now, we’re thrilled to announce the winning tokens from the event, which were judged and selected by NFT artist and curator Anna Dart...

As we continue to deliver on our mission to power next-gen NFTs, here is a quick look at how far we have come and what you should be ready and excited for in the coming months!

Hello again, Uniques!

What a year it has been already! From our Polkadot crowdloan win to the launch of Quartz, and...

The info you've all been waiting to hear! Following the official Quartz distribution and the UNQ token sale in January, it's time to announce the distribution of UNQ tokens to those who participated in the crowdloan and the Diamond in the rough event.

We are excited to share that today is the...

You listed, you voted! Now it’s time to share the Substrapunk NFT that will be fractionalized to join Monique (aka CryptoPunk #3042) on her quest to save the blockchain. But first, we need your help….

In June, Unique Network launched an advanced NFT campaign — Punks for the People! This campaign...

Polkadot launch, MintFest results, Consensus Austin, and a new epic quest for the future of NFTs.

May has come and gone and summer is just about here at Unique Network! Here’s what happened in May—and what’s happening in June! Read on for more.

Unique is Going Live on Polkadot — Launch Plan...

Something big is coming to Unique and Polkadot. Want to be a part of a historic new story? List your spunk now for 100 KSM, and get ready for a special vote by our community.

In the beginning, there was mainly darkness. In the years after came an interconnected land of ideas, unconventional...