Explained: Reddit NFTs and how you can get one for free

Reddit’s corporate launch post strangely omitted the term non-fungible token, instead describing the artworks as “limited-edition avatars made by independent artists, in partnership with Reddit.” However, make no mistake, in their simplest form, these avatars are nothing but NFTs.

Mainstream NFTs can be used in films, TV shows, and games. However, Reddit avatars have none of these features. Instead, these digital artworks are mainly used as profile pictures on Reddit and other platforms. These avatars are customisable but only with costumes and gears available on Reddit Avatar Builder. Another significant distinction was that these avatars can be bought only through fiat currencies and for a fixed price, ranging from $9.99 to $99.99.

These NFTs give artists within the Reddit community a way to share and profit from their work. The social networking site keeps only 5 percent of the sales revenue, with the rest of the proceeds being used to support the entire creator program and cover minting costs and blockchain fees. Artists will also benefit from secondary sales, ensuring that their work keeps on bringing income even after its initial sale.

And, in an interesting move, Reddit has also begun airdropping some of these avatars to select community members for free!

Reddit has begun airdropping its recently launched collectable avatars to some of its community members as a reward for their contributions to the popular online discussion platform. Those who qualify for free Reddit collectable avatars will have a message to this effect pop up on their Reddit feed.

The criteria to qualify for receiving free avatars are based on Reddit Karma, a kind of internet score where members are rewarded for their active participation on the platform. Users can get Reddit Karma points by creating content, commenting, upvoting or downvoting other people’s content, etc.

Beginning August 24, community members started posting images of Reddit avatars they received for free. The avatars were from four collections, Meme Team, Aww Friends, Drip Squad and The Singularity. These collections are also available on OpenSea; one artwork from The Singularity collection was priced at $15, while those from the Drip Squad were going for upwards of $42.

The Reddit avatars will be distributed on a user-by-user basis and are not limited to any group on the platform. These collectables are redeemable only by way of in-feed promotion, meaning the qualifying community members will receive the message in their Reddit feed that they’re qualified to claim free collectable avatars.

The process of redeeming the free NFT is relatively simple. Log in to your Reddit account and scroll down. If you qualify for the free NFT, you should see a banner intimating you off the same. Simply click on this banner, and you should be given a choice of free avatars. Users can customise their avatars using the avatar gear available on the Reddit Avatar Builder.

Reddit has been trying out the blockchain space for quite a while. It released a limited series of 4 CryptoSnoos NFTs in June 2021. These digital artworks were based on Reddit’s mascot Snoo. One of the four NFTs of this series had sold for 175 ETH ($398,000) at an auction in June 2021, which resold for only 42 ETH ($117,000) in February. Strangely enough, this collection was also announced without any mention of the term ‘NFT’.