Community. It’s one of the buzzwords in Web3, often stated by founders and holders alike as a key component of a successful project. After all, if you don’t have a community surrounding your NFTs, participating in your ecosystem, or using your tech, what do you have at the end of the day?
Few companies have taken this sentiment to heart as much as Galaxis. Through its technology, creators and projects can build decentralized communities, offering rewards to those who participate and delivering exciting experiences for members.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Andras Kristof, the CEO and Founder of Galaxis, for a quick interview covering the ins-and-outs of the company, including its resolutions for this year. Enjoy.
Could you identify yourself and the role you play at Galaxis?
Andras Kristof — CEO and Founder of Galaxis. I play a crucial role within the Galaxis leadership, handling all parts of the business.
For our readers who don’t know, what is Galaxis and what does it bring to the Web3 space?
Simply put, Galaxis is a decentralized community platform enabling members to create personalized membership cards across a magnitude of communities. From athletes to artists — there is no limit!
The platform empowers our users, enhancing their Web3 experience by connecting communities globally while offering unique cards that reflect their goals and vision. These cards come with an array of features, benefits and gamification. To enhance our community engagement, we provide digital vaults for the storing of assets such as NFTs and our reward token — GLX. Our platform focuses on sustainability and utility, offering creators complete ownership and control over their communities, promoting a sustainable economy over speculative models.
In a mere 2.5 years, we’ve made significant strides by distributing most of the CryptoPunks collection, selling over 225,000 NFTs, and generating substantial ETH in secondary sales. Galaxis has amassed over 55,000 unique cardholders and drastically reduced market time, while also having created collections for notable figures like Mike Tyson and LaMelo Ball.
Realizing NFTs’ potential and limitations, we have created a sustainable model for community support and funding through membership cards. This approach guarantees creators complete control over their communities, emphasizing long-term value over short-term speculation. In essence, Galaxis is about empowerment, community, and interconnectedness. Our focus is on empowering creators with the tools and autonomy to build and own their communities, ensuring sustainable growth and support.
What is its origin story — how did it start?
Picture a 10-year-old boy living in Hungary behind the Iron Curtain, where personal computers were more rare than gold. My fascination was truly heightened after I built a relationship with my neighbor who owned a ZX81 computer, after which I spent hours on it each and every day. By the time I turned 16 or 17, my friends and I each had our own computers which we collectively learnt how to use. In fact, one of our most respected consultants is a man who inspired me to start programming as a teenager!
I went on to work for Yahoo!, which I then left for a startup named Viki.com. After a successful run at Viki.com as CTO, we sold it for $200 million to Rakuten, which then catapulted me into the world of entrepreneurship. My first venture, Smart Grow — an IoT company automating sustainable urban food production — led me to a few other similar projects. 2013 was when I first entered the blockchain and crypto space, where I was part of the team who built the first Bitcoin ATM in Singapore, which was then followed by the development of a proto-ERC20 system for issuing tokens. The next move was building NFT infrastructures after the introduction of Ethereum in 2015, which essentially laid the groundwork for Galaxis.
My experience in the world of blockchain and NFTs essentially led to the final idea of Galaxis. This idea was conceived as a platform to change the scope of funding and monetization strategies for projects, in particular those with community-driven models. I wanted to give creators and entities an opportunity to sustainably support and grow their initiatives.
What exactly is a ‘decentralized community’ and how does your platform facilitate that?
The concept of a decentralized community is one where individuals and groups form a networked community without the management of a centralized authority. What this means, which ties in with how Galaxis works, is that control and decision-making are distributed amongst community members instead of being dictated by one central entity.
The concept of creators having authority over their creativity is exactly what makes our platform decentralized. The nature of the decentralized platform means that all of the assets on our platform are secure and allow members to efficiently interact and transact between one another. With our focus on sustainability and utility, creators have complete ownership and control over their communities. This model encourages long-term value and engagement.
If you were to elevator pitch a Web3 creator to join your platform, what would be the pitch?
Galaxis presents a novel opportunity for Web3 creators to transform their unique ideas into reality. You, as a creator, will have the power to create personalized membership cards for your community of choice, enhancing community engagement through a number of features including NFTs, exclusive perks and gamification. Galaxis provides you with all of the tools to build a sustainable digital ecosystem around your content, with the benefits of being community-driven. The potential of your creative work in the Web3 space is endless with Galaxis.
If I want to participate in Galaxis’s ecosystem, how should I do so?
You can participate in Galaxis’s node launch. By being a node owner, you can unlock rewards by participating and contributing to Galaxis.
Could you talk about your team – what is a day in the life of a Galaxis team member?
Working at a Web3 startup can be a challenging but exhilarating experience. We encounter a range of emotions, from the thrill of breakthroughs to the complexity of blockchain. Though we may face unexpected challenges and setbacks, we remain calm and collected, focused on the satisfaction of a successful launch. Our work may be difficult at times, but the excitement of what we’re creating keeps us motivated, even in the face of rapid technological advancements.
Now that we have entered 2024 are there any Galaxis New Year’s resolutions you are thinking of?
We want to continue building our platform for creators and communities around the world, and expand on our partnerships.
Finally, could you talk about your upcoming drop and the CryptoPunk giveaway?
Punk Royale is an exciting opportunity in the NFT space where participants have a chance to win their very own CryptoPunk. If you own an Ether Card with a Punk Ticket trait, you’re able to join. Each tournament requires separate registration and can be done on the Galaxis platform.
The event is essentially divided into two phases. The first, Preparation Phase, is your chance to prepare your game plan. In this phase, you have an opportunity to sacrifice a Punk Battle ticket to triple your chances of winning. Then comes the Fight Phase, where you bring forward your strategy from the Preparation Phase and it all goes down. Cards get randomly paired, and if you win, you move on. If you lose and have 1UP trait, you get another shot. If not…you’re out.
The cool part of it all is that every card has an equal chance at the beginning. If you play your cards right however, and sacrifice a ticket in the Prep Phase, your odds jump threefold… You aren’t guaranteed a win but your chances are definitely boosted.
If you win a round and advance to the next, you go through enough rounds until you’re the last one standing…which is when you win the CryptoPunk! If you don’t win, you’ve always got an opportunity to play in the next tournament.
Winners are sent their CryptoPunk NFTs directly. If you lost one tournament, there’s nothing to stress. As long as you have another Punk Ticket — you can jump back in at any time. On top of that, you can also sell your card mid-tournament, allowing the buyer to pick up from where you left off.
Understanding the rules and having your own strategy is all you need to get a solid shot at winning a CryptoPunk.
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