The Concept of the Selene Network

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To get a better idea of what the Selene Network is, it is worth understanding what it was modeled after, so you can draw comparisons to things you already understand.

The model

The Selene Network is modeled after a modern-day department store. Think of it as a store with multiple entrances, a bunch of specialty departments and products. Those departments have sales representatives and managers. On the shelf are the products of all different types.

When buying a product, you can take it to any register in the store. If a sales agent served you, the casher will usually ask who that was so they can be credited for the sale.

The products are created outside the store by the product creators. Each product has it’s own reason for existing and appeals to different types of customers. Some products are hard to sell, others easy – thus different profit margins.

Yet all of this comes together to form a store.

The logical components

The Selene Network simulates this functionality in a virtual way so anyone can shop for any product that is listed and shop on websites that specialize in particular content.

Think of the Selene Network core code (which is a free download which is installed on websites) as the place where you enter the store. The store looks like and functions the way you’re expecting across multiple websites.

Also think of the different websites as being specialty areas in the store. They will display the items that they are most interested in. The website chooses what to show you, or better yet, what they are selling. These websites also act like salesmen in that they show/teach you about the products.

In the store, any product can be purchased at any register(website) and the sales representative is credited for the sale. This functionality is partly hidden in that you modify the URL to contain the agent id and/or add the contract that you’re interested in. But, the money is handled at the blockchain level, thus any website interacts on the till in the same way – following the same rules.

The Players

You don’t need a store unless you have a product.

The product is a Selene Network compatible NFT smart contract. This can be a Theta Video API token gated NFT, a DRM Anything NFT, a custom designed NFT or whatever. Anyone can create content and launch it to the blockchain. When they do, the high-level code will be able to interface with it. Effectively, the NFT is the product for the virtual store and the act of launching it on-chain makes it available in the store.

The person that creates a product is the content creator. The wallet associated with the content creator is considered the owner of the project and the one that holds the property rights to the creation. It is the titled person. It is the person that brings value to market.

Because every product is different, the content creator defines what they offer, chooses a price and assigns the appropriate sales commissions.

It’s hard to sell a product if there are no sales people.

The registered agents in the network act as the sales people. For digital products like this, it makes sense that they are people that have a voice and/or following. It would be expected that they would have social media followings on different platforms – or a sales technique that get them in front of customers.

Because the act of minting requires an agent id, the code is designed to support sales agents with URLs that include the link. The idea is, the agent might be a YouTube social media influencer that has agent id 4242. If they talk about an item, they would simply add “agent=4242” to the link that they build to the product. When the customer mints, the agent is credited with the sale.

The managers of the sales agents

It makes sense to have people that are good at organizing sales teams as the owner of an Agent NFT. Partner agents (sales people) get registered to the Agent NFT.

With this being said, the Agent NFT holder (Founding Agent) is the one responsible for building out their sales team. Because they get a cut of the sales through their registered agents, it makes sense for the Agent NFT holder to register the best salesmen that they can. The goal would be to optimize the cashflow through their registered agents.

Being an Agent NFT holder is like being the manager of a sales team. It’s up to you to help your team shine.

The end result

The process of using the Selene Network more closely resembles shopping in a store than trading in a marketplace. Once you really focus on how a store operates, you’ll see similarities in the design.

The key difference is that the money trades between the customer and the product creator and in the process, the sales people are rewarded. There is no central repository for holding money nor is there anyone that can block you from interacting with the product NFT.

How the Selene Network uses the Participant NFT

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If you’ve visited the Selene Network install on this website (hint) this link:

https://amorstyle.com/dsn

The first thing you’ll notice is that you’ve got to connect Metamask for the code to actually work. The core code uses the functionality of Metamask to let the user interact with blockchains. Specifically, the Theta Mainnet, so hook up that blockchain network.

So, once you connect, the next thing you’ll see is a prompt to buy a Participant NFT. The UI looks kinda cheesy, but it’s the text in the blue section that you’ll want to understand. Because this is new technology, I’ve built in a little guidance to help stir you in the right direction.

Yet, what’s being presented to you is that you have to buy a Participant NFT in order to unlock the Selene Network core code.

The logical response would be, do I have to buy something before I can see it in action? In other words, was this written by Nancy Palosi? … Thank God, no.

The code in action

Just below the blue information section you’ll get to see the code in action. The section, which looks like the image here, is a demonstration of the code. It’s already interfaced with the Participant NFT on the blockchain and shown you information about it.

The top section (title trough total NFTs), which contains the NFT image is the project description section. Every Selene Network compatible NFT provides this basic info. This is the key part that allow the core code to interface with the smart contract.

Just below that is the minting section. The core code fetches the current price of tfuel so that it can show you 50 cents worth of tfuel. That’s the cost of unlocking this project for the visitor. When you click the mint button, the code launches Metamask to request payment.

If you choose to put a Participant NFT in the account that you linked to this website (might want to call it your Selene Network account), every time you visit any Selene Network compatible server, it will detect that you already own this NFT and unlock the code.

You can say that the Selene Network is tokengated on a Participant NFT.

Why is it designed this way?

Not only does the high-level code perform a Participant NFT check, but all Selene Network compatible smart contract NFT projects do too. Key functionality within the project NFTs check to make sure that you are from the Selene Network. If you don’t hold this NFT in the wallet that is interacting with the Selene Network compatible project, it will reject the key function requests.

The second reason is that this is one of the ways that the Selene Network designer gets paid. It’s not a lot, but if enough people use the network, it will add up.

Is there anything else the Participant NFT is used for?

Yes. Another key aspect in the design of the Selene Network is that in order to incentivize sales people to get involved, there needs to be some limits on how many agents can sign up. The network wants the right sales people, not just anyone.

So, inside the minting of the Agent NFTs, which are used to sign up sales agents, the minting code has a check that makes the mint relative to the number of Participants using the network. As the number of Participants grow, the numbers will allow for new Agent NFTs to be minted.

Summary

So, when you’re presented with the prompt to buy a Participant NFT, I’m saying thank you right now for that purchase. The code you’re using to mint that NFT is the Selene Network core code and it will deliver the key that allows you to be a participant in the Selene Network – which is software that anyone can run on this server.

Announcing – Where’s the Cheese?

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Where's the Cheese?

This is your opportunity to support project growth on the Theta Blockchain!

I am offering up NFTs to the community that can be redeemed for my time helping you launch NFT projects using the Selene Network.

Because it takes time to build and grow, the raffle will span the calendar year of 2025.

Key points

  • NFTs are about $10 worth of coin.
  • After the first raffle, tickets will be sold in ETH, BNB and POL.
  • This NFT pays Agents 65% commission for sales and 15% for IT support.
  • The prizes are outlined in the whitepaper, maybe $15k worth.
  • It’s all about growing the Selene Network.

There is time to get involved, for growing the network means getting Partner Agents registered so they can capture the commissions and installing the core software so multiple website can participate.

The prizes will be distributed throughout the year, thus buying in early gives you more chances to win (1 raffle, multiple draws, etc).

More importantly, it gives Partner Agents time to find the network and get signed up. And, as prizes are claimed and get dropped onchain, the Agents will have more to talk about.

Support this Project

This is a new way to sell NFTs using blockchain for settlement while empowering content creators to be able to manage how they compensate their fanbase or loyal influencers.

Install Metamask, connect to this website (or any partner website) and see the process in action.

Also note that the Selene Network core code is tokengated on holding a soul bound Participant NFT. The code will help you acquire that NFT.

Where is this NFT mintable?

Anywhere there is a server running the Selene Network software. Right now, there are two locations (I’ll edit this page as more installs request it).

Where you mint matters!

If you mint from me, my Partner Agent and website will collect the commissions. If you mint from an affiliated site, they get the IT commission and present their Partner Agent Id in order to collect commissions. If you mint presenting a Partner Agent id on the URL, that Partner Agent will receive the commissions.

Here are some examples

To mint from me using Tfuel:

https://AmorStyle.com/dsn/?contract=0x9aff5efe24084fb7788472193afe734be775e4e4

To mint from an affiliate using Tfuel:

https://ThetaPollinator.org/dsn/?contract=0x9aff5efe24084fb7788472193afe734be775e4e4

To use your own agent id, you have to build the URL:

[https://Affiliate.website]/dsn/?contract=0x9aff5efe24084fb7788472193afe734be775e4e4&agent=The_Agent_Id

To mint using ETH, BNB or POL:

Click the home button in this advertisement block at the top of the page.

If you want to mint from an affiliate site (like Theta Pollinator) and give them the commissions, follow

Disclaimer

As with launching any new project, there may be issues that need to be fixed. Hopefully, all the issues will be relatively small, thus fixable. If there is a critical issue, I have the ability to terminate the minting so that a reasonable solution can be found a presented in order to complete the process of enabling growth.

Why are my NFT projects demos?

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Today, Google’s AI is a little smarter than normal.

“A “demo project” in software development is a small, functional version of a software application designed to showcase its key features and functionality to potential users or stakeholders, essentially acting as a “preview” to demonstrate the concept and potential of the full product before significant development investment is made.”

Each demo on my website proves out a little functionality that an NFT could have while allowing me to build out the protocols and framework, which all need to work together in order to show something useful that is worthy of developing further – and, of course, using.

During this time, I’ve also built out tools to help make developing for this project more efficient. As I move into the next phase of this project (empower the propagation of NFT projects) I’m sure I will continue to add features to these tools and make parts free for download.

What do the demos show?

It is possible to have common high-level code that can live on multiple servers which can all work together as a unified sales network to empower commission-based NFT sales and these NFT can be custom designed by creators – all at a very low cost.

The decentralized design displayed in these demos, combined together with the ability to claim commissions in a leap forward for the NFT industry. Having decentralized access to a blockchain removes a significant point of failure for centralized NFT marketplaces. Being able to use the blockchain to distribute sales commission also means that you’re empowering the ‘right’ sales people to drive sales for the appropriate project.

Removing some centralized points of failure makes the system more robust and removes locations where ‘someone else’ could lock you away from claiming your property. These demos show that agents can get to their funds in any project without having to ask for permission. If one server is shut down, just install the code on another.

How do you use a demo?

All my demos are built using the same framework. The demos are an NFT project hosted on a server that gets launched in the blockchain. Because they are Selene Network compatible, the high-level code can extract useful information about the project out of the NFT which is reflected to the human that wants to interact with the NFT.

Most all my code is a zip file download. If the file is not already on my server, you just need to ask for it. The code is PHP and JavaScript and I try to make it easy with regards to showing where the changes need to happen – if you want to customize it.

You need help?

If you need help, message me on twitter(x) or connect with me in discord.

Download the Selene Network

https://amorstyle.com/dsn/dsn_latest.zip

Installing the Selene Network

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The Selene Network core code is a software download that just about anyone can install. The basic idea is to download it, modify the configuration file and then upload the code to your server. If you follow the instructions outlined within the zip file download, you will become a node in the Selene Network distributed sales system.

Where’s the code?

The zip file is located on this server. Clicking the following link will download the file:

https://amorstyle.com/dsn/dsn_v1.0.zip

SHA1 Hash: d79254049476a5f50c91677da792cafba4cda753

If you download on Windows, you can validate the zip file by running the certification tool like “certutil -hashfile dsn_v1.0.zip SHA1” and you should get the same SHA1 hash as above.

After Validating the download

Inside the zip file, there is a Selene_Network_Install_and_Setup.pdf file. Reading that document (carefully) and copying files to your server shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Setting up your own Gallery

There is another document in the zip file that instructs you how to launch your own gallery smart contract using https://ThetaScan.io. That document is Selene_Network_Gallery_Creation.pdf.

Empowering people to use the core code

Another document within the zip file is Selene_Network_User_Manual.pdf. This file explains a little bit about some of the configuration options that a website visitor can use in order to get different effects out of the core display.

Kickin’ the tires

What you see on https://AmorStyle.com/dsn is what you get. If you want to see what the download provides, just visit my site. Play with it a little. If you don’t believe, visit another site that has downloaded the software and see how it compares. 

Details and upgrades

When I develop new functionality in the core code, it will first be implemented on my server showing the new version number in the footer of the page. During this ‘jell’ period, anyone with projects that currently exist on the platform will be encouraged to test that the projects still functions as intended as seen my the new code on my server.

Once the test period is over, the new version of the code will be uploaded as a zip file for download and the dsn_latest.zip file will be updated to contain the newly tested code.

Upgrades

People running the code should take note of the current version they are running so that if they encounter a blocking issue, they can simply reinstall the last working version – and report a bug fix request (get ahold of me, or fix it in the code and give me the fix.).

Prerequisites

It is expected that the person that downloads and installs this code has a working understanding of how to install files on a typical website. You will need to create a few subdirectories that will be referenced by your domain name and upload (and maybe edit) files there.

To build your own gallery, you will need to have some understanding with regards to how to launch a smart contract using the https://ThetaScan.io smart contract HQ code.

Summary

If the install process is too complicated, give me feedback. If you like the code and want new functionality, let me know and maybe I’ll add it. If you want to make significant changes to the core, talk to me and I’ll help guide you. Party on!

The Pay with crypto demo v1

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In this latest Selene Network NFT project, I’m demonstrating how a project can accept one currency and then mint an NFT on the Theta blockchain.

The basic idea is built around the following fictitious scenario.

Scenarios

A musician wants to tokengate his discord channel so that only paying fans are allowed in. The musician downloads this demo code and launches his own version of the contract on the Theta blockchain. Because it provides all the interfaces needed for the Selene Network code, it displays perfectly fine for his fans. He knows that a few of his fans are Agents in the network so he pays 15% commissions on a $250 NFT. Knowing that a bulk of the people what support his music are also huge Ethereum fans, he chooses to accept ETH for minting (along with the standard Tfuel). He then funds the Theta blockchain account that performs the minting and the buttons are enabled in the webpage. At this point, the musician announces to the world that his fan-club NFTs can be minted using Metamask.

Details

At this point, the demonstration of this end-to-end solution is in action. Please go mint all the different versions of the NFT.

The complication is that the minting is done by an off-chain oracle that runs on a 15-minute heartbeat. The environment needed to run this local server is unique to developing web-based projects, thus my system is the only one currently setup to perform this background processing which results in the mint.

It wouldn’t take much to develop that backend solution, but that work won’t be done unless people like the direction of this project. You know, if there is a need, there is a solution.

So, if you like where this project is going, but the NFT and tell a friend. If enough people like this functionality, I might be motivated to develop the backend into something anyone could run and use.

Take a look at the Project

Pay with Crypto Demo V1

One last thing

I’ve designed this demo so that when you mint the NFT, you get a different image based upon the currency that you use to pay. And, if I add new payment methods, I can add new payment images to reflect that additional functionality. Thus, collect them all!

The Penny Oracle on Theta

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The Penny Oracle for Tfuel is now auto-updated. When the price changes more then 3% over 4 hours, the blockchain gets updated.

Been wanting to write this update for a long time. The Penny Oracle that I launched on the Theta blockchain is now auto-updated. In other words, I no longer have to manually update the price for minting any of my NFTs in any of my projects. This automation is a huge psychological win for me. Kinda makes me feel like the code is actually doing something useful.

Note that all the projects that use the Selene Network (distributed sales network) NFT functionality use a Penny Oracle. And, in order for a creator to stay in charge of their project pricing, they would either launch their own, or use a trusted Penny Oracle. If they use my official one, the price is kept current (automagically).

What is a Penny Oracle?

The Penny Oracle provides the amount of Wei that represents a penny’s worth of Tfuel.

Why is it useful?

People that visit my projects think in dollar terms. The Penny Oracle is used by the smart contracts so that they have a current ‘close enough’ representation of the amount of tfuel that it takes to buy their NFT.

By having a relatively accurate price for my NFTs, the value exchange that I’m looking for can be stated in dollar terms rather than Tfuel Wei.

How does this magic work?

The first step comes from a little program that makes API calls to a number of different exchanges that allow for the trading of different Tfuel pairs. From that, the software determines the average price at that current moment. If the code determines that the price has change enough, (three percent from the previous recorded price,) it signs a transaction and posts it to the block chain.

How can you view this?

Well, here is the contract address for the Penny Oracle Version 1:

0x945c5b985a0d4ba6c42a88c1330bded9cd442389

If you look at it’s transactions, you can see that the automation has just recently started. Each time the smart contract is updated, the price averaging code sends the current dollar price of Tfuel and the Wei that represents a penny’s worth of Tfuel.

If you want to view the values that are reported by the smart contract, you can do so by visiting the Interact with a Smart Contract page on ThetaScan.io and use the following ABI to go with the contract address above.

ABI:

[{“inputs”: [],”name”: “pennyPriceTfuel”,”outputs”: [{“internalType”: “uint256″,”name”: “_pennyTfuelWei”,”type”: “uint256”},{“internalType”: “string”,”name”: “_priceOfTfuel”,”type”: “string”}],”stateMutability”: “view”,”type”: “function”}]

When you read this function (pennyPriceTfuel) you’ll see that it returns two items: _pennyTfuelWei and _priceOfTfuel.

How can you help?

The wallet that broadcasts the updates for the Penny Oracle is projected to burn through 125 Tfuel per year. Because this is publicly accessible for any smart contract on chain, if you find it valuable, please support the project.

The Wallet that performs the broadcast updates would be gracious for you Tfuel love:

0x5673DdA6820E986F6fC77087504873B116A4D52c

If I can raise more than one thousand Tfuel, I’ll see about modifying this code to update other crypto currencies too.

How robust is this?

Would like to say that it’s failsafe, but nothing is.

In order for the Penny Oracle to get updated, the software on my machine has to run. With means, if the power grid goes down for me, the Penny Oracle will still report the older update.

The current design limits the number of updates to no more than 1 time every four hours and only if the price has moved more than 3% from the last recorded time. Simulation testing has shown that on average, the price will get updated about every 14 hours.

It shouldn’t take long before there will be enough transactions on chain to confirm this average update period.

The best news is that I’m motivated to make sure that this Penny Oracle stays current for the price it reports is what all my projects use.

What’s next?

Now that this automation is running, it’s time to refocus on smart contract functionality. It’s time to have a little fun with things. 

Marketplace Solutions for the NFT Creator

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The old-school brick-&-mortar approach of forcing a creator to ‘fit the mold’ with regards to content creation and distribution is quickly becoming a thing of the past. As technology advances, more creators are going to find that there are alternative paths for content distribution that don’t involve large, centralized organizations.

Ultimately, I’d love to see more creators leverage the power of blockchain to incentivize perfectly good strangers to sell their project for them. This is why I put together the Selene Network (DSN). The network protocols allow creators to own and manage their content while also incentivizing others in a trustless manner.

The latest addition to my Selene Network collection of demos is the ‘NFT with Marketplace demo Version 1’ (see the display section on this page). This NFT has a built-in secondary marketplace.

Imagine being a creator and offering a NFT collection that represents 100 pieces of something unique. Say, every day the creator posts something new to the collection. If this demo code is used (and slightly modified), not only would the creator be able to incentivize sales, but they would have a built-in marketplace where the unique items could trade.

No need for a third party centralized website. Instead, the functionality can be served right off the creator’s own website where there is a high level of trust in the content (and means to the content).

Take a look

MarketPlace Demo V1

So, install MetaMask and instruct it to connect to the Theta Network. Once you have, connect it to this website (AmorStyle.com) and visit the links in the display block above.

If you would like to see other examples built on the Selene Network core code, visit the Gallery.

Contacts

Feel free to tag me on Twitter @AmorStyleYoga. Every sample that I create is available for download and review. See the project JSON file for details.

The DRM Anything NewFunctionaliTee

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DRM Anything NFT

A while ago, I was asked to create the framework that would allow someone to hide a document on a server and then only allow access to someone that proved they owned a particular NFT. Likewise, provide functionality that downloads a file to the user machine after it passes the signature and if it holds an NFT of the given project.

Well, I have a demo and it is called the DRM Anything NFT.

I’ve updated this code again, so now not only does it present a link and download a file, but it also allows the ‘unlocking’ of a unlisted video on YouTube.

And yes, we both know that the content that is being delivered can be copied and shared. Most content online can be. What this demonstrates is that the server will only share this content with website visitors that demonstrate that they own an NFT in the project and that they are the owners of the wallet that holds the NFT.

More Info

Not only does this NFT support the basic Selene distributed sales Network (dsn) functionality (which offers sales commissions to sales agents and allows for common minting) but it uses the new infrastructure that I added which can be used to validate signatures.

The new functionality is the Instant Access button. If the visitor does not own the project NFT, the Instant Access button will be disabled. Once minted, the button is enabled. When it’s clicked, MetaMask is launched so as to sign a message that can be decoded on the server. The message is the timestamp and smart contract address.

When MetaMask returns the signature, the client browser sends that information to the server so it can be decoded and validated. When the info is found to be valid, the server validates that the signing address actually holds a non-zero balance in the project.

After all this checks out, the server returns the hidden information and it’s displayed to the visitor next to the Instant Access button.

What are the dependencies?

The good news is that the code that performs this work is all in the dsn core files. This means that the entire system (dsn) can be easily installed on just about any server.

The bad news is that there is no built-in database functionality with this NFT. This means that the file that provides the secret will need to be edited to change the prize.

What’s next?

Well, I’d kinda like to see this code evolve so that it could be modified using WordPress on the backend. Ultimately, the artist should be able to make simple modifications to their database and the signing process unlocks a database searchable list of secrets.

The classic example would be to sell an NFT that works as a membership ticket. The NFT has a lifespan and the owner uses it to unlock private content.

Let me know what you think.

A Theta Hackathon project – Selene Network

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Hack it 2024

Today, I officially entered the blockchain based distributed sales network(dsn) in the Theta Hackathon as the Selene Network project. I’m going to call is SelNet for short.

Here is a link: https://devpost.com/software/amorstyle-distributed-sales-network-selnet

If you missed my previous blog post, this dsn is flexible opt-in sales system that empowers creators to incentivize sales through influencers bypassing standard centralized marketing approaches.

In this system, creators determine the sales commission and influencers determine if it is worth talking about. Settlement happens at the time of minting and as long as the sales goals are met, there is no restriction on capturing the rewards.  

In really simple terms, if you are an influencer and you like talking about cool NFT projects, this is a way to get paid if people mint based on your endorsement as long as the NFT project build to this protocol.

Support my work!

In order to show off how it works, I created a time limited mintable NFT that can be minted throughout the Hackathon (last mintable block number: 26243000 ). This NFT pays 50% of the mint Tfuel to any Agent that makes the sale. It also pays 5% to any website that offers access to the network.

To qualify for this commission, you have to get registered as an Agent or a website. If you want to build a sales force, you mint an Agent NFT. If you just want to endorse projects and capture the commission, you need to find someone that is willing to register your MetaMask compatible Theta Network address into the Agent system.

If you want to learn more about the Selene Network, follow the link.

I want to support you!

The other part about this project is that it needs people to build and deploy projects that are SelNet compatible. For most people, this can be technically challenging or, even worse, daunting. I’m here to help simplify this. The infrastructure that I’ve created takes a lot of the complexity out of the process.

If you already know that creating a simple NFT is something that you need, pitch me your idea and I can help you realize the benefits of this decentralized sales network infrastructure.

If you are an influencer, getting setup as an Agent is another option. Nothing better than getting paid to talk about things that you already love.

Minimum requirements

It should be obvious, but the smart contracts and NFTs are all built on the Theta blockchain and require that anyone interacting with the network use MetaMask. It’s pretty easy to setup, search for the official MetaMask website and download the browser extension that works for you.

Once you install, you’ll need to make your MetaMask wallet Theta blockchain aware. After doing that, you’ll need to acquire some Tfuel, most likely through a decentralized exchange.

Unfortunately, when it comes to using the technology, the customer has to show this basic level of technical understanding. This is one of the reasons why the network checks for the Participant NFT in the connecting wallet. The thinking is, if the customer can’t get this far, they will not be able to use the NFT as designed by the creator.

The good news is that MetaMask currently have over a million customers and they are working to solve that onboarding issue. As they solve that issue, more customers will be available to use the network.

What’s Next?

If participating in a network like this appeals to you, feel free to contact me. Best way is via my twitter handle: @AmorStyleYoga.

If you’re an influencer and you love the Theta blockchain or NFT projects on the Theta blockchain, let the creators know that this network is available so they can drive sales through the people that teach people about the projects. It’s an Opt-In system!