Discord NFTs & Crypto Wallets: What's Next?

Discord Exploring Deeper Integration with Crypto and NFTs

Discord has become a central platform for NFT communities, and the company may be preparing to significantly expand its involvement in this space.

Jason Citron, Discord’s founder and CEO, shared a screenshot on Monday revealing a potential integration between Discord and both MetaMask, a widely used crypto wallet, and WalletConnect, a protocol supporting numerous mobile crypto wallets. Citron playfully used the phrase “probably nothing,” a common expression within the NFT community to indicate a potentially significant development.

Early Stages of Exploration

Currently, the wallet support appears to be in the exploratory phase. Citron refrained from detailing how such a crypto integration might function or the extent of Discord’s commitment to exploring these possibilities. The company also declined to offer specific information.

A Discord spokesperson explained to TechCrunch that they are “always exploring and hacking away at things we think will improve Discord for all the communities we serve.” They clarified that the screenshot originated from a recent internal hackathon.

Potential Beyond Payments

While Discord’s interest in adding crypto features to its social chat application remains speculative, integrating support for Ethereum could extend far beyond simple payment processing. Recently, Discord also conducted a poll to gauge user opinions regarding NFTs.

This year has seen Discord emerge as a natural hub for countless NFT projects. These projects utilize dedicated Discord servers to maintain communication with their followers, disseminate updates, and monitor sales and market trends.

NFT Coordination and Trading

Discord is also the preferred platform for organizing distribution events, where NFTs are initially “minted” and sold or distributed to supporters before being listed on trading platforms like OpenSea, often at substantial markups.

Beyond facilitating transactions in Ethereum and other digital currencies, Citron’s mention of MetaMask support hints at a potentially more ambitious plan focused on NFTs. Ethereum serves not only as a medium for payments and transactions but also as the foundational technology for most NFTs, tracked and exchanged through smart contracts on its blockchain.

Digital Identity and Web3

Discord understands how individuals are leveraging NFTs to define their digital identities. The platform, primarily a text and voice chat application, relies on user avatars for identity expression – a concept central to the current NFT landscape. Users frequently showcase their rarest and most valuable NFTs as their profile pictures (PFPs) on platforms like Twitter and Discord.

With MetaMask integration, Discord could evolve into a space where users display their NFTs in galleries linked to their profiles or utilize “verified” avatar images, with ownership authenticated via the blockchain.

The company is strategically positioned to capitalize on its presence in the burgeoning Web3 space – the anticipated next iteration of the internet characterized by decentralization, digital assets, and ownership-based virtual identities. However, Discord currently enjoys a successful position as it stands.

User Reactions and Concerns

Citron’s tweet, combined with the company’s survey on “Discord & Web3,” sparked a mixed reaction on Twitter. Some users threatened to cancel their premium Nitro subscriptions, citing concerns about Discord fully embracing NFTs. One tweet, garnering nearly 10,000 likes, expressed strong disapproval: “Canceled my nitro sub, fuck @discord, and fuck NFTs.”

Others voiced concerns that Discord’s potential crypto plans could introduce scams and spam into their community servers. Citron addressed these concerns, assuring users that Discord has established a dedicated team to combat the problematic behavior prevalent on many servers, particularly those related to NFT swapping and sales.

“Spam and security are a top priority for us in this space,” Citron stated. “We have recently spun up team working on it specifically. More to come soon.”